Goshen bats boom in sectional shutout of Concord
· Yahoo Sports
GOSHEN — Goshen's veteran and deep baseball lineup was all right Monday, June 1 versus Concord's ace lefty.
In fact, the Goshen hitters were outstanding from start to finish to earn the sectional hardware.
Visit extonnews.click for more information.
The host RedHawks came with bats ready from first pitch to blank the Minutemen, 10-0, in six innings in the title tilt of the IHSAA Class 4A Goshen Sectional in front of a huge throng of fans from both schools.
Goshen piled up 15 hits to claim the 19th sectional crown in program history and second straight. Goshen added a regional title last season as well before reaching the semi-state championship game.
The RedHawks (22-6) advance to the one-game regional on Saturday, June 6 to face Lake Central. The game site and time for that contest is slated to be announced on Wednesday, according to the IHSAA website.
Concord, with a roster sporting 15 seniors, finishes at 18-9.
Goshen jumped on senior southpaw Joey Hauger from the get-go. Hauger had beaten the RedHawks 4-0 at Goshen on April 29. The Northern Lakes Conference champion RedHawks, who won the league crown at 13-1, had won 9-3 at Concord on May 15.
Leadoff hitter Spencer Elliott legged out a slow roller to start the home half of the first inning. Star senior Braxton Cline, Goshen's top hitter at .483, then smoked an RBI double to right-center for a 1-0 lead. Senior Jensen Meikle then belted an RBI single for a 2-0 lead and senior Brayden Hoag, who pitched a no-hitter in the sectional semifinal win over Elkhart, delivered a two-out RBI single to make it 3-0.
Goshen scored a pair in the second on a two-run single by sophomore Jaxon Miller to make it 5-0. The hosts got three more runs in the fourth frame as senior Colton Rapp hit a sacrifice fly and senior Bryson Wilson got a two-run single.
The RedHawks added a run in the fifth on an RBI single by Cline, then ended the game in the sixth as sophomore Brycen Eaton got an RBI single to walk it off with two outs.
"Our kids were ready to go," said Goshen coach JJ DuBois, who got a nice drenching from his team with the water bucket in the postgame interview session. "They hit off me this morning and I think that helped them facing a lefty.
"We knew (Hauger) would be in the zone and we worked on being on time. One through nine in our lineup was ready to hit. Our seniors have carried us. Braxton (Cline) has carried our offense all year. Tonight, we had a lot of guys have good nights."
The RedHawks got a complete game gem from ace Ryen Diaz. The senior righthander allowed just five singles. He fanned fan and walked one in just 77 pitches.
"Ryen is our rock," DuBois said of his ace, now 7-1. "We lean on him. He's always going to give us a chance to win. The moment is not too big for him."
Goshen has now outscored its foes 221-85 this season. They entered play Monday night hitting .351 as a team. The RedHawks received votes in the final Class 4A coaches poll of the season last week.
Concord coach Greg Hughes was short and to the point in his postgame interview.
"They are a good hitting team and he (Hauger) got the balls up a little tonight," Hughes said. "It seemed like everything they hit found a hole and everything we hit found a glove.
"Hat's off to them. We just got outplayed tonight. They were the better team. We did not play bad. We played errorless baseball. They just hit the ball and were better tonight than we were."
Wilson, one of seven senior starters for Goshen, had three hits and a walk. Sophomore Elliott also had three hits and Cline a pair, as did Meikle.
Senior leadoff hitter Jordan Flores led Concord with two singles.
The Minutemen, who finished 9-5 in the NLC, had eight seniors start Monday night.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Host Goshen beats Concord to win IHSAA baseball sectional