Extra-base hits were the norm for winning teams Saturday in Class 4A high school baseball sectional semifinals at Elkhart Memorial.
The Northridge Raiders pounded out six during an 8-4 win over the host Crimson Chargers while the Concord Minutemen also had six in a 9-1 victory over the Goshen Redskins.
Northridge (19-8) and Concord (17-10) square off the championship game Monday at 7 p.m.
Concord vs. Goshen
Sophomore Logan Draus belted a solo home run in the first inning and added a two-run shot in the fourth for Concord.
“Draus had a great day,” Concord coach Mike Jackowiak said. “He has had a good season, but had been slumping a little bit.”
Draus has four round trippers this season.
Also adding extra-base hits for the winners were senior Kyle Konarski with a two-run double in the sixth, senior David Yoder a double in the sixth, junior Doug Acker a run-scoring triple in the fourth and junior Kyle Gavin a double in the fourth.
“We hit the ball,” Jackowiak said. “We have been stressing with the kids all season, but especially the last week about getting set and waiting for a pitch they can drive.”
Konarski (8-3) was the winning pitcher. He allowed three hits in the complete game to go with nine strikeouts, four walks and four hit batters.
“He didn’t have his best stuff, but battled. He is a veteran pitcher,” Jackowiak said. “He did a nice job changing speeds. That kept the Goshen hitters off-balance.”
Redskin coach Hal Farmwald said, “We had Konarski in trouble and let him off the hook. We couldn’t get the hits when we needed them.
“This game went kind of the way our season did. We left a ton of runners on base (13) and had too many strikeouts. Those are some of the things we dealt with all season.”
There are 11 seniors on the Goshen roster.
“The seniors played a big role in last season’s sectional championship,” Farmwald said. “I’m so proud of the way the kids battled all season. We had a lot of injuries to contend with.”
Saturday’s starting pitcher for Goshen had one of those injuries. Senior Brandon Farver broke an ankle two weeks before the season.
“It was as bad a break as I’ve ever seen,” Farmwald said. “His ankle was shattered. It took a plate and six screws to repair it. A lot of kids would have said the season was over. He is a kid with a lot of courage.”
Goshen finishes 13-16.
Northridge-Memorial
Sophomore Garrett Yoder had a two-run homer in the fifth to lead Northridge, senior Cody Troyer an RBI triple in the third, junior Gatlin Rassi a run-scoring double in the third, sophomore Daimon Buck an RBI double in the first, senior Alex Summy a double in the third and sophomore Cameron Nord a double in the fourth.
“We hit the ball exceptionally well. This was a good team effort,” Northridge coach Andrew Brabender said.
Memorial coach Scott Rost said, “We were not aggressive at the plate and didn’t take advantage of some opportunities. We took too many fastballs.”
Senior Landon Miller lasted 6 2/3 innings in earn the win. Rassi had to come in to record the final out in the seventh with the bases loaded. He struck out a Memorial batter representing the tying run.
“Miller had his highest pitch count of the season,” Brabender said. “And Rassi is a tough-minded kid.”
Memorial had an early 2-1 lead after junior Zach Corpe slugged a two-run homer in the first.
Northridge intentionally walked Corpe the next three times he came to the plate.
“I wasn’t going to let him beat us,” Brabender said. “I would have to go back and look at the statistics, but I think he is 7-for-9 with three home runs against us.”
Sophomore Ben Brewers had a double and single for Memorial (16-14).
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