Local Sports

Morristown baseball continues resurgence despite sectional loss to Lutheran

A 19-3 loss Monday morning to Indianapolis Lutheran in the Class A, Sectional 59 semifinal round was disheartening.

The Yellow Jackets expected a better result against a Saints squad they handily defeated earlier in the season.

What Morristown needed was a strong pitching performance from someone not named Grant Kessler. The lefty got the Yellow Jackets into the semifinals Saturday with a 7-6 victory over Greenwood Christian and he was dominant in a 9-1 win over Lutheran on April 16.

However, his pitch count in the sectional quarterfinal round was such that he would not be allowed to take the mound again in the sectional, per IHSAA mandates.

Morristown head coach Brandon Kessler opted for a veteran presence on the mound in the rematch with Lutheran.

Senior Jacob Rains struggled to get comfortable early, worked his way out of a first-inning jam but did not finish the second inning after continuing to struggle to locate his pitches.

“(Rains) has been extremely strong this last half of the season,” said Kessler. “He’s been able to keep hitters off balance. His (velocity) is not strong but his pitch selection has been extremely good. It just wasn’t there today.”

Rains hit Lutheran leadoff hitter Cole Perkins. The senior stole second base and scored on Micah Mackay’s double down the left field line. Sean Moore followed with another double and the Saints had a quick 2-0 lead.

Rains got a strikeout and infield pop fly to settle down and induced designated hitter Ryan Redding to fly out to left field but the ball was misplayed and Moore scored to make it 3-0.

Rains got the next batter to end the inning and Morristown’s offense took advantage of three Lutheran errors in the second inning.

Lukas Ellis and Kamdyn Gaines reached on back-to-back errors and Kane Snyder’s hit plated Ellis with the Yellow Jackets’ first run. Kade Rogers followed with a walk to load the bases.

With two outs and leadoff hitter Dyllan Rutledge at the plate, Lutheran pitcher Ryan Jeffers tried to pick off Rogers at first base but the throw was errant and Gaines scored to cut the lead to 3-2.

Morristown needed a quick second inning to get back up to bat. Lutheran had other plans.

Rains hit leadoff batter Gehrig Whitlock, Josiah King laid down a good bunt and Perkins singled to load the bases.

Rains hit a third batter, this time Mackay, to bring in a run and signal the end of his day.

Rogers took over on the mound and nearly worked out of the jam.

Moore delivered a sacrifice fly to right field that scored King and make it 5-2. Ethan Hill followed with a fly ball caught by Rogers for the second out of the inning.

Rogers walked the next two hitters and Jackson Brandenburg smashed a two-run single to break open the game.

The Saints (20-8) scored eight runs in that second inning and seven more in the third to cruise to a five-inning victory.

Morristown finished the season 12-12, the program’s most wins since 2014.  After going 1-21 in 2019 and losing the 2020 season to COVID-19, the Yellow Jackets went 9-15 in 2021 and sit at .500 this season with just two seniors on the roster and a talented group of eighth graders coming into the program.

“We have a lot to build off of, it was an extremely positive season,” said Kessler. “We went from the lows of lows a few years ago and brought it up to a .500 season and we’ve got five guys coming back as seniors next year that are the heart and soul of this team. I expect them to make a lot more noise next year.”

Grant Kessler, Rogers and Bryce Bryant, who pitched the final 1.2 innings against Lutheran Monday, all return next season and with the addition of two eighth-grade catchers to the varsity roster, Brandon Kessler believes Ruttledge will bring his strong arm to the pitching rotation.

“One arm that we weren’t really able to use this year for almost the entire season was Dyllan Rutledge because we don’t have a backup catcher,” said Kessler. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t bring him out from behind the plate.”

With a stronger pitching staff developed in the offseason, Morristown will carry high expectations into the 2023 season.

Search

Weather


Obits

Entertainment