New Palestine High School

The New Palestine baseball team rallied late, but fell just short in Tuesday's conference opener against Shelbyville, falling 4-3 to the Golden Bears. The Dragons trailed 4-1 going into the sixth, but drew within two in the sixth and then rallied in the seventh, scoring a run and then loading the bases before a strikeout ended the game. Pinch-hitter Carsyn Baker led off the seventh with an infield hit and advanced to second on a base hit by pinch-hitter Holden Hughes. A doubleplay slowed the threat, but Baker scored on a passed ball. A walk to Rigg Mahurin put the tying run aboard. Jacob Morris followed with a hit and Jackson Kamp a walk to load the bases, but the Dragons were unable to score the equalizer. NP fell behind early on a leadoff double and a sacrifice fly in the first. The Dragons threatened in the third, but left two men on. In the fourth, they broke through to equalize, as Gavin Neal led off with a bunt single. He stole second, moved to third on an errant pickoff attempt and scored on Kingston Hedges' sacrifice fly. However, the tie game was short-lived. Two walks and an errant pickoff throw allowed Shelbyville to take a 2-1 lead in the fourth. The Bears extended it to 4-1 with a pair of singles and a two-out double in the fifth. In the sixth, Kamp led off with a hit and scored on a passed ball to draw NP within 4-2. The Dragons outhit Shelbyville 7-5. Morris led the Dragons, going 2-for-4 at the plate. Mahurin, Kamp, Neal, Baker and Hughes also had hits. Mahurin pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing five hits, three earned runs and striking out eight. Ajay Kropp pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. The Dragons are now 1-1 overall and 0-1 in HHC play. They host Shelbyville at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. NewPalRadio.com will broadcast the game.