By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Good things come to those who wait, and Indianapolis Cathedral did an abundance of that for a marathon road victory.
After a lengthy bus ride, after enduring two rain delays that totaled 30 minutes, after drawing an alarming number of free passes with patience at the plate, after slogging through almost 3 1/2 hours of baseball – after all of that, the Irish were rewarded.
Cathedral, impervious to the steady rain and the down time when the Friday evening storm became temporarily unplayable, took advantage of 14 walks for a 14-5 victory over Bedford North Lawrence. The Irish (2-2) showcased the talent that makes them a solid contender for a Class 3A title, while the Stars (2-3) gave away too many free bases.
The rain delays in the second inning worked against the Stars. Cathedral owned a 3-2 lead when the first wave forced a five-minute halt, then gripping the baseball become impossible during the next frame, sending the teams back to cover. From that point, the Irish took control with a five-run fourth and pulled away.
Cathedral scored twice in the first as BNL starter Cutler Chastain struggled with control. He walked four in that frame, and the Irish scored on Michael Gallagher’s RBI single and a double steal.
Chastain evened the score in the bottom of the first. Cam Gates walked, and Chastain crushed a bullet home run that screamed over the fence at the 325-foot sign in right field. But Cathedral scored three (without benefit of a hit) in the choppy second, then erupted for five in the fourth via a RBI double by Chase Nickols, a BNL error, and a two-run single by Tyler Carlos.
“When we don’t have the pitching depth, the numbers and the people to chose from, we’re pretty strapped,” BNL coach Steven McNabb said. “Cutler obviously didn’t have his best stuff. It was a recipe for what happened.”
“These guys know each other, so we knew we would see a good arm,” Cathedral coach Ed Freije said. “We’re just trying to be patient with our approach, take what’s given. We came out ready to play.”
Cathedral totaled 10 hits, with Gallagher, Callum Birdzdell and Cameron Koers collecting two each. Cathedral starter Henry Haley struck out seven in four innings.
”They’re a 3A favorite to win the state title for a reason,” McNabb said.
For the Stars, Gates totaled three hits while Lirot cracked two doubles.
”It’s not all negative, not all dark clouds,” McNabb said. “There are things we can take away from playing these good teams. We just have to find ways to compete a little bit better. There were some highlights.”
BNL will host Bloomington South on Monday.
