Baseball: Hebron jumps on Noll early in regional semifinal rout
By Anthony Nasella Post-Tribune correspondent June 2, 2012 8:16PM
Hebron's Kyle Joyce connects with the ball and hits a single allowing teammate Kyle Hernandez to score from 3rd base putting the Hawks up 4-0 early in the 1st inning during the Class 2A baseball regional at the Oil City Stadium in Whiting, IN on June 2, 2012. | Jim Karczewski~for Sun-Times Media
Article Extras
Updated: July 7, 2012 8:14AM
WHITING — After watching his team drop a 10-0, six-inning defeat at the hands of Hebron in the semifinals of Saturday afternoon’s Class 2A Whiting Regional, Bishop Noll coach Paul Wirtz admitted that it was one of those days when nothing went right for his team.
The Warriors found themselves in a hugh hole after the first inning, as the Hawks sent 12 men to the plate and took a commanding 7-0 lead. From there, Hebron left-handed hurler Cody Hayes did the rest. He threw a no-hitter, walking three batters, hitting two and striking out five.
Bishop Noll starting pitcher Julian Guerrero failed to record an out in the first while facing the first six batters. Chad Mateja picked up the pitching slack, giving his team a chance to come back with four strong innings with five strikeouts. But the Warriors were unable to solve Hayes’ fastball, slider or curve ball.
“Things snowballed quick in the first,” Wirtz said. “We had a couple of fluke balls drop, and we were behind hitters. And we didn’t do anything to get back into the game. We stopped the bleeding at seven, which is tough to say. But, again, we didn’t do anything offesnively.
“We didn’t have a good approach, and we were taken out of couple of counts. It was us getting behind, and we were never able to recover.”
Hebron started the game with singles by Damon Wallace (3-for-4, RBI) and Hayes and a walk by Alex Anderson. Kyle Joyce (1-for-3) cleared the bases with a triple to put the Hawks on the board 3-0. Joyce, John Moneta, Mike Mikulich and Wallace all drove in runs in the first.
“We got behind the four-hitter, 2-0, with the bases loaded. There’s no place to put the pitch,” Wirtz said. “He sits on pitch and drives it, and from that point on we were in trouble.”
