New Palestine High School

The New Palestine baseball team rolled to a 14-0 five-inning victory over Muncie Central in Thursday's sectional opener at Mt. Vernon. The Dragons (20-9) advance to face Pendleton Heights in Saturday's semifinal round. First pitch will be at approximately noon. Mt. Vernon will face Anderson in the other semifinal, with the championship game slated for noon Monday. Brayden Marrow pitched a one-hit shutout - coming within one out of a no-hitter. The Bearcats' lone hit came with two outs in the top of the fifth inning. Marrow walked two and struck out 10 in the victory. Wyatt Mathies drove in three runs and Jackson Kamp had three hits to lead the Dragons offensively. The Dragons had three big innings that led to their victory. They wasted little time getting started, plating four in the first. Nic Deering drew a one-out walk. Wes Stiller, Jacob Morris and Kamp followed with consecutive singles, plating two runs. Mathies later added a bases-loaded two-run single to put the Dragons up 4-0. In the third, the Dragons added five runs to their lead. Kamp and Adam Rickey led off with singles. The Bearcats mishandled an attempted sacrifice bunt by Ben Hirschy, loading the bases. Mathies lined a two-run single into center. Nolan Cox walked to again load the bases. Blaine Nunnally grounded a single to left to add two more runs. A fifth run came home when Cox scored on the lead end of a double-steal. In the fourth, the Dragons again extended their lead. Kamp led off with a double. After a walk to Rickey, Nunnally lined a single to right, plating a run. A second run came home on the play via an error. The Dragons loaded the bases after a pair of walks. Stiller was hit by a pitch, forcing in a run. Two more runs came home on an error. The Dragons had 12 hits, led by Kamp, who was 3-for-4 with a double, three runs and an RBI. Mathies was 2-for-3 with three RBI. Stiller was 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI. Nunnally was 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI. Deering was 1-for-3 with a run. Morris was 1-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Rickey was 1-for-2 with two runs. Hirschy was 1-for-1 with a run and an RBI. Cox scored twice.