Written and permission given by Jesus Jimenez to publish: Thank You Jesus LOGANSPORT, Ind. – Seniors put exclamation mark on extraordinary career – advance to semistate The Union City baseball team left for Logansport knowing that there was heavy rain in the forecast right around the time of the scheduled first pitch. They also knew that, because the IHSAA Class A Regional championship would be on turf, the game would most likely be completed on Saturday, regardless of the conditions. But as the skies opened up in the fifth inning, things started to unravel and Wes-Del took advantage. The game was finally suspended for about a 45-minute rain delay, but as championship teams do, the Class A No. 7-ranked Indians came together, rallying back to defeat No. 6 Wes-Del 7-6 for the program’s first ever IHSAA Class A regional championship Saturday, June 1, at Logansport High School. “What a day!” head coach Jason Dowler said. “We woke up and it was beautiful today. We left the school a little before 11 – looked beautiful, came into rain, so we knew before we even got here that we’d be playing in the rain. “We just always teach our kids to never give up – I don’t care if we’re down 100 runs or leading, we just never give up, we always still try to score runs and fortunately for us this year, we hit and we scored runs when we needed to.” The Indians improve to 16-6 and advance to the Class A semistate next Saturday against No. 3 Lafayette Central Catholic, the back-to-back reigning state champion in Class A. The Knights (22-5) defeated Frontier 22-1 to win their regional on Saturday. “It feels great,” said junior right fielder Brennen Hoggatt, who drove in three runs and had two hits for the Indians. “We worked hard all season for this, and we’ve had some ups and downs, but I think this is what we needed. This is exactly what we needed, I’m so happy to win.” Union City defeated Wes-Del 19-4 on April 15, but although the Indians were confident, they knew another 15-run rout was unlikely. Senior ace Zack Fulk started on the mound and took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, and Union City outhit 12-2, but the Warriors (14-11) capitalized on the elements to remain in the game. Hoggatt gave UC a 2-0 lead with a 2-run double in the top of the second inning and Wes-Del responded with: a hit batsman, sacrifice bunt, passed ball and RBI groundout in the bottom of the frame. In the third, senior first baseman Owen Dowler tripled and scored on an RBI double by junior centerfielder Trendon Spence, who then scored on an error to make it 4-1. Wes-Del again responded with a run in the bottom frame, courtesy of four consecutive walks. “We had a two-run lead going into the (fifth) inning when it got really rough and I was struggling to throw a lot of strikes,” said Fulk, who earned a no-decision after striking out four and walking seven. He allowed just two hits but surrendered six runs – five earned – over 4 2/3 innings. “Our team is so resilient,” Fulk added. “We didn’t give up – we just told each other that we were going to come back and win this game.” Sophomore shortstop Jayson Connor relieved Fulk on the mound with the bases loaded and nobody out. Wes-Del’s Kyle Banter drove in a run on a sacrifice fly, making the score 4-3. On the play, junior left fielder Brayden Huggins threw to home plate, and as Wes-Del’s baserunner attempted to advance to third, senior catcher Corbin Richards gunned him out at third base for an unconventional double-play. As the skies opened up, Wes-Del strung together three walks and a single to take a 6-4 lead, and the game was finally paused for about 45 minutes. “(The rain delay) was important because we really just didn’t want to play in the pouring rain,” Owen Dowler said. “We had been playing in light rain all day, which hadn’t been a big factor, but also, during the rain delay, the (athletic director) got new baseballs, and that was huge, because playing with a wet baseball is just not safe and is just not good for the game.” The Indians came out re-energized with Connor opening the sixth with a single and scoring on an RBI single from Fulk. Richards and Huggins both singled to start the seventh, and Hoggatt flared a ball into right field to tie the game, before junior third baseman Caleb Lutz gave the Indians the lead with a sacrifice fly to center. “I was really nervous going into the seventh inning, because we were the away team, and they still had the chance to hit, even if we did come back,” Hoggatt said. “If we didn’t come back, we were losing. Whenever I went up there, I knew I had to hit the ball, and I hit it and scored the tying run, so it was just really exciting.” Connor pitched a perfect seventh, executing a perfect curveball to catch Wes-Del’s Tyler Summers looking to end the game. “It was the first curveball I could actually locate all game, and I was just very certain it was going to be called a strike on that one,” said Connor, who earned the win with 2 1/3 scoreless innings. He allowed four walks and struck out five. “It was surreal,” he added about the final out. “It just felt amazing. It had never been done in school history – and it’s just amazing to be a part of it.” Huggins went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and a stolen base, while Hoggatt drove in three runs and had two hits, including a double. Connor and Richards each also had two hits, while Richards, Fulk, Spence and Caleb Lutz each tallied an RBI. Richards scored twice and Connor, Dowler and Spence each scored once. Semistate information TBA Morgan Township will face Fremont in the other half of the Class A North semistate semifinals, while Lafayette Central Catholic will face Union City. Details for the time and place of Union City’s game will be announced this week. Indianapolis Lutheran defeated South Decatur 8-0 and advances in the South semistate, but awaits the winner between South Central and Trinity Lutheran. In the other half of the South semistate, Shakamak defeated Bethesda Christian 12-1 and awaits the outcome of the Barr-Reeve vs. Tecumseh regional. INDIANS 7, WARRIORS 6 Union City 022 001 2 - 7 12 0 Wes-Del 011 040 0 - 6 2 5 Batteries- UC: Fulk, Connor (5, WP) and Richards; WD: Ladd (LP), Freeman (7) and Mealy. 2B- UC: Hoggatt, Spence; WD: Mealy. 3B- UC: Dowler.