Momentum takes Central Catholic baseball back to semistate

LAFAYETTE − Saturday's word of the day was momentum.

Rossville coach Brad Scott used it in a postgame interview.

So did Central Catholic coach Tim Bordenet, CC senior Evan Dienhart and sophomore catcher Jackson Cain.

Unfortunately for Scott and his Hornets baseball team, momentum was shortlived and once it flipped to the opposing dugout, it snowballed and the Knights added another week to their season with a 9-0 victory at Leming Field in the Class A regional championship game.

"They had the bases loaded and nobody out in the first inning and we were able to get out of that without any runs,," Bordenet said. "That was a big momentum switch. We go out and put up four and put the pressure on them."

Scott warned his team all week that Central Catholic, a program with eight state championships including last season, doesn't cost itself in pressure situations.

Early Saturday, Rossville got firsthand evidence after squandering an opportunity to jump on the board in the top of the first.

"I know my players get tired of hearing it, but they just don't beat themselves. They play the game the right way," Scott said, pointing to Central Catholic as it was celebrating a victory in the foreground. "They do the little things the right way. Unfortunately today, we didn't. That is so stressful to me.

"You go back to that first inning and you can't script it any better. Your first three hitters on base with no outs and we just can't execute team baseball. Game 31, it's unacceptable. I hate to say we got beat because of that, but it sure did give them all the momentum and we never got it back."

Ben Mazur got out of the first inning jam, then had all the support he needed by the time he stood back on the mound. Mazur struck out 11 and gave up just two hits in five innings.

Mazur also delivered at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two runs batted in.

Dienhart scored a pair of runs during a two-hit day, Cain drove in three runs on two hits and Hudson Gutwein padded the lead with an RBI double for Central Catholic, which faces Wes-Del in the semistate semifinal at 2 p.m. Saturday at Loeb Stadium.

"The culture here is we're not going to hit a lot of home runs. We're going to have to play small ball, execute on defense, minimize errors and hope we come out on top," Dienhart said. "They shot themselves in the foot early. We were able to come in and capitalize and get things going and it kind of went from there."

Rossville has just two seniors on the roster − Carter Hornbeck and Clinton Roudebush − and Scott hopes that with so much youth, including 10 freshmen, Saturday's painful loss is a motivator and a learning experience.

With the lead and that all-important momentum, CC knew it was important to step on the gas rather than let up after a big opening inning where the Knights avoided disaster on defense, then supplied the first punch when they got their chance to hit.

"You've got to stay locked in," Cain said. "We've had times this season where we got up big and let the team come back. We've got to stay on the gas pedal and keep scoring."

Those teaching moments for Rossville on Saturday were moments Central Catholic went through during the regular season against a challenging schedule.

That panned out in being prepared when CC had a less than ideal start three batters into the regional championship game.

"We always preach making routine plays. We haven't been pretty all year. We've had some games where we didn't execute very well," Bordenet said. "That is a benefit of playing a tough schedule and having to perform all the time, playing under pressure. Every tournament game, there's pressure built into it. The games we have during the regular season really prepare us for the tournament."

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.