Baseball: Bloomington area teams make their pitch for a sectional title

Will it be a swing and a miss again this year or can at least one of our area teams win a sectional baseball title?

Edgewood won back-to-back titles in 2019 and 2021 (no season in 2020 due to COVID), while Bloomington South last won in 2016 and Bloomington North and Eastern Greene in 2013, while Owen Valley has been waiting since 1975.

The break through, each team will likely have to go through one of the state's best to get the job done. Here's a look at how sectionals will shape up heading into their conclusions on Memorial Day:

Mooresville Sectional (4A)

SCHEDULE — Wednesday: Bloomington North (20-6) vs. Greenwood (14-14), 6 p.m.; Mooresville (23-4) vs. Martinsville (11-14), 8 p.m. Monday, May 29: Bloomington North/Greenwood winner vs. Mooresville/Martinsville winner, 10 a.m.; Bloomington South (18-10) vs. Center Grove (24-3), 1 p.m.; Championship, 7 p.m. (Winner advances to play at East Central Sectional winner on June 3).

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OUTLOOK — A new sectional alignment brought both Bloomington schools face-to-face with two state ranked squads with top-flight pitching and hitting. North is now ranked (eighth) and South is an 18-game winner so it could be a loaded final four. How everyone's pitching lines up could determine the champion. North will get things started against Greenwood, whose staff is headed by Logan Connor (5-0, 2.01 ERA), Micah Vessely (2-5, 1.83 ERA) and Cade Kelly (2-5, 4.75). North has a definite ace in Caden McCoy, but a mid-season injury made sure other arms got plenty of work this season. Jack Leonard and Drew Ogden got 11 starts while Lucas Alexander has been strong mostly in relief and Jackson Roberts has come in from short stop to save four games. Nobody worked more than 31 innings. No. 6 Mooresville's lineup has six hitters with 18+ RBI, headed by Hogan Denny (40), who is hitting .474. He also has six saves. Brendin Oliver (7-1, 2.70), freshman Hudson DeVaughan (4-0, 3.95) and Brady Chambers (2-0, 3.67) lead the Pioneers staff. Mooresville swept their Mid-State matchup with Martinsville in the first week of April, 8-3 and 11-4. The Artesians' top arms belong to Rhys Wolf (4-3, 2.84) and Kevin Reed (3-2, 2.01) Waiting until Monday is a highly anticipated semifinal between No. 1 Center Grove and South. The Trojans only losses are to Zionsville, Westfield and Cathedral. Missouri recruit Drew Culbertson (.474, 6 HR, 13 doubles, 27 RBI) leads the offense that has planted 17 homers. Its rotation includes Ben Murphy (5-0, 1.28) , Jacob Murphy (6-1, 1.18), Caden Cornett (3-1, 2.47) and Conner VanderLuigaren (4-0, 2.95) and there's still more for a team with a 1.73 ERA. South was carried through the season by Justin Zaleski (8-1) and Alex Shaevitz with Nico Walters hoping to round into shape for sectional, having mixed results in his two starts late in the season against No. 5 Evansville North and Franklin.

Owen Valley Sectional (3A)

SCHEDULE — Wednesday: West Vigo (23-3) vs. Owen Valley (12-7), 5:30 p.m.; Northview (7-16) vs. Edgewood (12-10), 7:30 p.m. Thursday: West Vigo/Owen Valley winner vs. Northview/Edgewood winner, 5:30 p.m.; Indian Creek (10-9) vs. South Vermillion (15-9), 7:30 p.m. Monday, May 29: Championship, noon (Winner advances to play host to Crawfordsville Sectional winner on June 3).

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OUTLOOK — No. 5 West Vigo is going to be hard to knock off. The Vikings have won 11 straight while scoring 125 runs and giving up a mere 15. They beat OV 4-1 in their WIC meeting. The Patriots finished 3-3 down the stretch. It's been a rollercoaster season for Edgewood, which started 0-4, went 6-1, lost four of five and then won five of six. Seven of Edgewood's losses have been by three runs or fewer. Edgewood has seven starters hitting .300 or better and the staff ERA is 2.85. The biggest thing holding the Mustangs back has been 62 errors, which has led to 27 unearned runs. They won't be able to have a game with five or more errors again and get far in this field. Edgewood handled Northview 11-1 over five innings in their WIC game, hitting four different Knights pitchers hard while Ziggy Teran fired a three-hitter. Edgewood had no luck against either OV (3-2) or West Vigo (7-0), which saw Ben Kearns fire a four-hitter with 11 strikeouts against the Mustangs.

Mitchell Sectional (2A)

SCHEDULE — Wednesday: North Knox (6-16) vs. Linton-Stockton (13-11), 5:30 p.m.; Mitchell (22-6) vs. South Knox (19-6), 8 p.m. Monday, May 29: North Knox/Linton-Stockton winner vs. Mitchell/South Knox winner, 10 a.m.; Eastern Greene (11-13) vs. Sullivan (13-15), 1 p.m.; Championship, 7 p.m. (Winner advances to play at Forest Park Sectional winner on June 3).

OUTLOOK — Eastern Greene continued to improve this year under a new head coach while raising its win total. The T-Birds did not play Sullivan this year and they'll wait to meet in the semifinals with the winner in the title tilt. The T-Birds enter the playoffs on a four-game losing streak but also tested themselves late with games against 1A's Nos. 1 and 2 (Barr-Reeve and Clay City), an 18-win North Daviess team, 3A Edgewood and 4A Bloomington North. Meanwhile, the other half of the field will have to deal with No. 6 Mitchell, which has the toughest route to a title, starting off with a 19-win South Knox squad and then likely two-time defending sectional champ Linton.

AREA STAT LEADERS

BATTING

Average — Caden McCoy, North .443 (35-79); Will Lawson, Edgewood .426 (29-68); Andrew Good, Edgewood .391 (25-64); Luke Abram, Eastern Greene .380 (19-50); Reece Wagner, Edgewood .377 (26-69); Kasen Cullison, Eastern Greene .375 (21-56); Keegan Walker, South .375 (12-32); Connor Osborne, North .357 (30-84); Carson Druckrey, Edgewood (23-65); Will Eads, North .351 (13-37); Jonas Hawk, Eastern Greene .347 (17-49); Graham Freund, North .329 (26-79); Mack Headdy, Edgewood .329 (23-70); Isaac Lawson, Edgewood .329 (23-70); Lucas Waldon, South .325 (27-83); Jacob Bellman, Eastern .324 (11-34); Brayden Ault, Edgewood .322 (19-59); Brayden Blevins, South .319 (29-91); Jeremy Patton, Eastern .318 (14-44); Drew Ogden, North .308 (16-52).

Runs batted in — Brayden Blevins, South 22; Carson Druckrey, Edgewood 21; Caden McCoy, North 21; Graham Freund, North 17; Connor Osborne, South 17; Cole Grupenhoff, North 16; Peyton Lewis, Eastern Greene 16; Justin Zaleski, South 16; Reece Wagner, North 15; Andrew Good, Edgewood 14; Will Inman, Eastern 14; Dillon Elkins, South 13; Ziggy Teran, Edgewood 13; Lucas Waldon, South 13; Brayden Ault, Edgewood 12; Luke Abram, Eastern 12; Jonas Hawk, Eastern 12.

Runs — Lucas Waldon, South 32; Connor Osborne, South 24; Chris Barnett, North 22; Isaac Lawson, Edgewood 21; Mack Headdy, Edgewood 20; Logan Wright, South 19; Will Inman, Eastern 18; Jackson Roberts, North 18; Kasen Cullison, Eastern 17; Graham Freund, North 17; Cole Grupenhoff, North 16; Brayden Blevins, South 15; Peyton Lewis, Eastern 15; Will Lawson, Edgewood 14; Andrew Good, Edgewood 14.

Doubles — Graham Freund, North 10; Luke Abram, Eastern 7; Caden McCoy, North 7; Brayden Ault, Edgewood 6; Isaac Lawson, Edgewood 6; Peyton Lewis, Eastern 6; Connor Osborne, South 6; Brayden Blevins, South 5; Ben Ridner, South 5.

Triples — Kasen Cullison, Eastern 3; Lucas Waldon, South 2; Brayden Blevins, South 1; Andrew Good, Edgewood 1; Jonas Hawk, Eastern 1; Will Inman, Eastern 1; Isaac Lawson, Edgewood 1; Will Lawson, Edgewood 1; Max McCammon, South 1; Jeremy Patton, Eastern 1; Gunnar Perry, Edgewood 1; Jackson Roberts, North 1; Gavin Whitfield, Eastern 1; Logan Wright, South 1

Home runs — Peyton Lewis, Eastern 5; Caden McCoy, North 3; Jackson Roberts, North 2; Jake Arnett, South 1; Brayden Ault, Edgewood 1; Will Eads, North 1; Dillon Elkins, South 1; Graham Freund, North 1; Jonas Hawk, Eastern 1; Max McCammon, South 1; Ty McKnight, Eastern 1; Jack Rees, Eastern 1; Ben Ridner, South 1.

Stolen bases — Will Lawson, Edgewood 13; Lucas Waldon, South 13; Cole Grupenhoff, North 11; Kasen Cullison, Eastern 10; Reece Wagner, North 9; Isaac Lawson, Edgewood 7; Logan Wright, South 7; Chris Barnett, North 6; Mack Headdy, Edgewood 6; Ty Knight, Eastern 6; Connor Osborne, South 6; Jeremy Patton, Eastern 6; Jackson Roberts, North 6.

PITCHING

Wins — Justin Zaleski, South 8-1; Graham Freund, North 5-0; Alex Shaevitz, South 5-3; Lucas Alexander, North 4-0; Jack Leonard, North 4-2; Jacob Boggs, Edgewood 3-3; Ziggy Teran, Edgewood 2-0; Carson Druckrey, Edgewood 2-1; Caden McCoy, North 2-2.

Earned run average (IP)— Jack Leonard, North 1.35 (31.0); Lucas Alexander, North 1.87 (30.0); Graham Freund, North 1.91 (18.1); Justin Zaleski, South 2.49 (53.1); Jackson Roberts, North 2.57 (16.1); Anthony Shields, Edgewood 2.33 (15.0); Carson Druckrey, Edgewood 2.71 (31.0); Dylan Gann, South 2.86 (22.0); Caden McCoy, North 3.37 (27.0); Gavin Whitfield, Eastern 3.50; Jacob Boggs, Edgewood 3.71 (28.1); Alex Shaevitz, South 3.72 (32.1).

Strikeouts — Caden McCoy, North 40; Alex Shaevitz, South 36; Justin Zaleski, South 36; Jacob Boggs, Edgewood 32; Brayden Ault, Edgewood 28; Carson Druckrey, Edgewood 28; Lucas Alexander, North 26; Jack Leonard, North 24; Drew Ogden, North 22; Brady Leonard, North 22.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Baseball: Bloomington area teams make pitch for a sectional title