Castle, Central advance to Class 4A baseball sectional championship at Bosse Field

EVANSVILLE — The baseball sectional at Bosse Field continues to never disappoint.

Castle and Central advanced to the championship with their respective semifinal victories on Saturday. The final is scheduled for Monday at 1 p.m., pushed back because of impending poor weather the day prior.

The Knights toughed out a 5-2 win against No. 10 North. The Bears followed with a 4-1 victory against Reitz. Even in a single-game setting, there is plenty to unpack. Three takeaways from the Class 4A sectional semifinals:

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Castle had its top players meet the moment

The scenario wasn’t ideal: a 2-0 deficit less than three outs into the game against a lineup capable of more. How the Knights responded was more telling than their start. Castle (18-9) claimed the lead by the third inning and pushed its winning streak to seven games.

The Knights (18-9) haven’t lost a postseason game to the Huskies since 2013.

“We stayed in the game," said junior Noah Drake. "Team effort and everybody hit. Will (Coleman) pitched a great game. He's a competitor."

Widespread credit is deserved. The defending sectional champions had nine hits and Ryan Lambert’s two-run single in the third flipped the scoreboard. Big-time players however need to play like it in the postseason. It was Coleman and Drake in the semifinal.

Coleman, a Missouri commit, only allowed two hits after the first inning with both runs unearned. The junior struck out nine and went the distance on 115 pitches. His strikeout on an 11-pitch at-bat against Brayden Huebner in the fifth with the bases loaded felt like the exclamation point on this game. Drake was 3 for 4 with a triple and double, both to the wall in center field. The Indiana commit gave the Knights much-needed pop.

“You always tell them somebody is going to step up," said Castle coach Curt Welch. "When it happens, be ready. That was Noah today. Stepped up and had a really good game. We've kind of been looking for that."

One big inning was the difference for Central

The second semifinal had the potential to go either way. One sequence altered the outcome.

Central (16-11) scored three in the sixth inning of its victory against Reitz. It was the difference between a potential loss in extras and playing for a sectional championship. The Bears struggled with quality at-bats against Reitz starter Ty Wilzbacher until recording four hits in their final trip to the plate.

"We found a way," said senior Jaxon Henke. "People lower in the lineup who haven't been producing stepped up too. Can't ask for much more out of our pitchers this weekend. Fought and got through it."

Josh Ferguson and Henke, the Bears' top hitters, started the inning with back-to-back triples to right center. Trevor Bell and Jaxton Reeder padded the lead with sacrifice flys. Central only had three hits until the sixth and Ferguson had previously struck out twice.

Devon DeJarnette (two runs) and Toby Reinitz had two hits apiece. Xavier Monroe allowed only three hits and struck out five in six innings.

"Our guys battled through it and did a nice job in the sixth inning," said Central coach Robbie Frank. "Josh had struggled a little bit with the curveball. It was a matter of time before he broke out and Jaxon has been doing it all year. He's been our leader at the plate."

The tournament paths for both teams were difficult

The postseason isn't designed to be easy. The team playing its best or making plays at the right time always advances. That's been Castle and Central this week.

The Knights defeated co-SIAC champion North after spotting two runs in the opening inning because of two errors. Yes, they had the best pitcher in the sectional but still needed to string five runs between the second and fourth innings. Even then, Welch didn't think it might be enough.

"We had to find out what we were made of," said Welch. "Once we got a run, we settled down at the plate. We'll take it."

More: The SIAC completed one of its wildest baseball seasons with three champions

Central, the other co-SIAC champ, arguably had the longest journey to the championship. It defeated Harrison 2-1 in the opener on Thursday before coming up clutch against Reitz. The Bears haven't won a sectional championship since 2017 and started the season 3-5.

Both will be without their top options on the mound because of required rest. Central defeated Castle 8-6 on May 2.

"We knew (the opener) would be an absolute war," said Frank. "Harrison is a great team and Houston (Dillman) has done a great job with them. Reitz is the same thing. We talked yesterday and this morning about not overlooking anybody. Anything can happen."

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Castle, Central advance to Class 4A baseball sectional championship