New Palestine High School

The New Palestine baseball team staged a late rally, but fell 2-1 to Guerin Catholic in the semifinal game of the Class 3A Jasper semistate. The Dragons finished the season with a 24-4 record, with all four losses by one run. NP was held to two hits by Guerin starter Tate Troxell, who struck out 11 batters in six innings. The Dragons fell behind in the top of the first, as Guerin staged a two-out rally with two singles and a walk to load the bases. A balk brought home the game's first run. The Golden Eagles extended the lead to 2-0 in the second, with a single followed by a one-out double to the right-centerfield gap. From there, Rigg Mahurin settled in and kept the Golden Eagles at bay, allowing two hits the remainder of the game. He retired the side in order in the third, then pitched around a single and a walk in the fourth. In the fifth, the Golden Eagles had a leadoff hit, but a 6-4-3 doubleplay ended the threat. The Dragons finally struck in the fourth. With two outs, Jackson Kamp drew a walk on a full count. The next batter, Kingston Hedges, roped a line drive into the rightfield corner for a double. Kamp came home to cut the deficit to 2-1. Hedges was thrown out trying to extend the play into a triple. In the bottom of the fifth, the Dragons again threatened, as Liam Atkinson led off with an infield single. After two strikeouts, Ryan Haines was hit by a pitch to bring runners into scoring position, but a flyout ended the inning. Kamp drew a two-out walk in the sixth, but was stranded. In the seventh, the Dragons' pitching quelled a rally - as three consecutive walks loaded the bases, but reliever Jacob Morris was able to finish it off with a flyout. Atkinson was hit by a pitch leading off the bottom of the seventh. He was bunted into scoring position by Jesse Isaacs and moved up to third on a groundout. The next batter laced a hard grounder up the middle, but Guerin's second baseman made a backhanded stab to retire the side with the tying run in scoring position. Hedges' fourth-inning double and Atkinson's fifth-inning single were the Dragons' lone hits in the game. They drew three walks and three hit batters - Kamp reached in all three of his plate appearances, with two walks and one hit by pitch. Mahurin allowed six hits, two runs, four walks and struck out four in 6 2/3 innings.