INDIANAPOLIS — The New Palestine Dragons never quit.
Down 5-0 after the first inning during the Class 4A Sectional 11 championship game at Franklin Central High School on Monday night, the Dragons cut the deficit by three, one and two runs, but the breaks unfortunately never materialized.
After defeating Warren Central, 2-0, in the afternoon semifinal round to advance, the Dragons tried to string together their longest winning streak of the season, but the host Flashes held on, 10-6, in the evening’s title game.
The Dragons (15-16) won four consecutive games to reach the sectional finals and were chasing the program’s 17th sectional title all time and first since 2015.
Instead, the Flashes (9-19), who opened the season 0-9, knocked off the favored Roncalli Royals, 4-3, in eight innings during the semifinals and captured their ninth sectional crown and second in four years (last occurring in 2018).
“We thought if we threw strikes, made routine plays, we’d be in the ball game, and we probably didn’t do that to the best of our ability tonight,” New Palestine head coach Shawn Lyons said. “That kind of hurt us, but like I told our group after the second inning. They didn’t knock us out. We were still in it.”
Bent but not broken was the mindset after Franklin Central plated five runs in the bottom of the first on three hits and two errors while loading the bases to take control early.
Despite the rough first frame, Dragons starter Maddox Manes recovered and limited the Flashes to three more runs and four hits through the remainder of his 4.0 innings pitched, striking out four and walking three.
He retired Franklin Central 1-2-3 with two strikeouts in the bottom of the second as the Dragons chipped away with back-to-back two-run innings in the second and third.
“I came into the dugout and I told the guys to keep their heads up. It’s only the first inning,” Dragons senior outfielder Kaiden Kirkwood said. “We just put the bat on the ball and good things happened.”
In the top of the second, Manes led off with a five-pitch walk, which Wes Stiller followed up with another free pass. With two outs, Kirkwood worked a full-count, two-run single that made it 5-2.
“We didn’t even have a season last year because of COVID, so we barely played together or knew each other coming in, and then this year from trips to Jasper and weekends being with each other outside of school, it became a brotherhood,” Kirkwood said.
The Dragons stood collectively in the face of adversity, scoring another two runs in the top of the third to make it 5-4 with RBI sacrifice flies by Zayden Stiller and Manes.
“They grew a little bit through adversity this season. They went south sometimes, but tonight they made it 5-4, and we were right back in the ball game, so that’s a testament,” Lyons said.
The Flashes extended the lead 6-4 in the bottom of the third with a two-out, RBI single by Cayden Mouzon. Gavin Haltom caused the most damage in the bottom of the first with a three-run double.
In the bottom of the fourth, Franklin Central went up 8-4 as Aiden Ewers (1-for-3) drove in a run on a sacrifice fly with two runners on base, while Corbin Napier (1-for-3) grounded out for his first of two RBI.
“It’s just a game where you have to be good, but you also have to get some breaks,” Lyons said.
The Dragons caught some momentum with runs scored in the top of the fifth and sixth.
A Flashes’ error scored Reise Quillen, who reached on a single in the fifth inning. Quillen brought Blaine Nunnally home with a single in the sixth that sliced Franklin Central’s lead 8-6.
The Dragons were able to chase Flashes’ starter Sam Mettert after 2.0 innings due to his pitch count stemming from the semifinal, but reliever Cyrus Robinson kept the Dragons to two runs charged through his 5.0 innings.
The Flashes scored two more runs in the bottom of the sixth with two outs following an error in the outfield that put a runner on base. Two ensuing RBI singles padded the margin 10-6.
“We were right there, made it 5-4, and we got back into it, then low and behold we didn’t make another play or two, but that’s just athletics,” Lyons said. “I asked them, if they would rather have had what happened this year, lose in the championship game or what happened last year? I had a bunch of players that weren’t able to play last year in the stands tonight. They would have traded with (these guys) in a heartbeat.”
The Dragons had three hits compared to the Flashes 10, but New Palestine had three ill-timed errors, left five runners on base, including two in scoring position, and were without Anderson University recruit Brendan Tabor, who was out due to injury.
Kirkwood finished 1-for-2 with two RBI. Quillen went 2-for-3.
Eli Bruns pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout in the sectional semifinals against Warren Central. Bruns struck out six, walked two and retired the seven batters he faced.
Blaine Nunnally went 1-for-3 with an RBI single in the second inning against Warren Central. Luke Legavit (2-for-3) drove in the semifinal game’s second run with an RBI double in the third. The Dragons had six hits.
“These guys are my family. They have been ever since July when we first came together,” Kirkwood said. “I couldn’t be more proud of the season we had. We’ve come a long way and got to the championship. We couldn’t pull through, but it is what it is.”
