(Game Played Saturday, May 3, 2008) – BRAZIL, IN
TERRE HAUTE NORTH NIPS NORTHVIEW, WEST VIGO
The Patriots sent nine batters to the plate in the opening inning in getting off to a 5-0 lead over the host Northview Knights in the first game of the Big Four played on the campus of Northview High School. Unfortunately, the lead was lessened quite quickly as the Patriots committed three errors in the bottom of the first to spot the Knights three runs of their own. After two complete, it was Terre Haute North 8 and Northview 4. The feisty Knights continued to chip away at the lead, and after six innings, the score was 10-9 in favor of the Patriots. The Patriots went 3 up and 3 down in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the seventh, Stephenson led off the inning by reaching first base the victim of an errant pitch. An ill-advised pickoff attempt sent the Northview runner to third base with nobody out. Junior J.T. Bailey came in and promptly walked the first hitter he faced. He then erased the runner at first base by faking a pickoff attempt at third and then stepping and throwing to second baseman Mark Merrill for the first out in the inning. With the infield in, the Patriots’ Parker Fulkerson fielded a groundball at shortstop to retire Lancaster for the second out. Stephenson was left stranded as Bailey was able to get the final out via a strikeout.
Highlights for the Patriots in the first game of the Big Four included senior Joe Meggs going 3-for-3, with two runs scored and two runs batted in. Mark Merrill, also a senior, went 2-for-3 with 3 runs scored and a run batted in. Junior Jared Eller added two runs batted in. Fellow juniors, Nick Pilipovich (1-for-3 and two runs scored) and Wade Bush (1-for-1 with a run scored and two runs batted in) added doubles for the visitors. Chad Wilguess, Shawn Walker, Brandon Dorsett added singles for the Patriots. Robertson added a three-run towering shot for the Knights.
Game two began eerily similarly to game one. The Patriots opened up a 6-0 lead after two innings over Wabash Valley favorite West Vigo who happens to be the state’s 10th-ranked team in 3A. The score remained the same until the fourth inning when the Vikings got on the board to make the score 6-1. West Vigo added four more runs in the fifth inning. The Patriots added another run to make the score 7-5 after five complete innings. West Vigo stranded two runners in the sixth. The Patriots went down in order. In the top of the seventh, West Vigo scored an additional run and had runners at second and third before junior J.T. Bailey completed his valiant effort of pitching on the day by getting a groundout, a runner thrown out at second by leftfielder Andrew Bledsoe trying to stretch a single into a double, and a game-ending strikeout to close the book on the afternoon. All-in-all, the Patriots escaped with a 7-6 win over the Vikings.
Joe Meggs continued his hot hitting going 3-for-3 with three runs scored and a run batted in. Jared Eller added a double. Mark Merrill, Parker Fulkerson, and Andrew Bledsoe each added singles. But the offensive hero for the Patriots was senior Brandon Dorsett who went 2-for-2 with a 3-run home run and a 2-rbi single for his career high for RBIs in a single game.
West Vigo (11-5) dropped their second game of the day to the Terre Haute South Braves. Northview (5-11) then defeated the Braves in the nightcap setting up Monday night’s game between the Terre Haute South Braves (9-10) and the Terre Haute North Patriots (10-11) to be for the Big Four Championship. The winner of Monday’s clash will also take home the coveted Gold Glove Trophy awarded to the winner of the North-South game. First pitch is set to be thrown at 6:00pm.