By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Cam Gates strides from the dugout to the pitching mound as a man with a purpose. Like the cowboy in an old-time Western movie, trudging through the dust on the street for a showdown. Measured steps, confident and stern, eyes squinting and dark with determination, with a mission to complete.
Bedford North Lawrence was going to die on that hill, with no compromise or Plan B, convinced that the junior right-hander atop it would get the job done. Was there ever a doubt? With another bulldog effort, Gates propelled the Stars to the doorstep of destiny.
With Gates in stare-down, lock-down mode, unwilling to surrender the territory to anyone else, BNL rumbled into the final round of the Hoosier Hills Conference tournament with a 6-1 triumph over Jennings County on Wednesday. Gates struck out 10 while firing a 111-pitch complete game, and the Stars struck for four runs during the key fourth inning.
That semifinal victory was Phase Two of the week. Now the Stars (10-8) are poised to make history. BNL, the answer to one of the most inexplicable pieces of trivia, has never the conference title. The program has won 14 sectional titles and competed in three state finals. And everyone, inside and outside of the dugout, wants to end that streak. BNL will visit Jeffersonville on Friday night with a chance for an epic triumph in the championship game.
“It’s quite mind boggling, all the good baseball teams and baseball players that have played on this land right here,” BNL coach Steven McNabb said. “It would mean a heck of a lot, one heck of an accomplishment. We’ll do the best we can. We’re playing for more than just the 27 guys in the dugout, we’re playing for anyone who has ever put on the uniform.”
The main man in uniform was Gates, a recent recruit for Boston College. With his fastball humming and slider snapping, Gates was in hardball heaven. The Panthers (6-14) threatened a few times, finally broke through with a run in the seventh, but there was no questioning who was in control. Gates didn’t walk a batter. He wasn’t going to beat himself.
“I just try to go out there and get ahead, throw strikes,” Gates said. “Every team in our conference is a tough out. If I don’t get ahead, they’re going to put it on us.“
BNL played excellent defense behind him, and scored more than enough runs for him. In the second, J.J. Lirot led off with a sharp single, Riley Sons dropped a sacrifice bunt, and Jett Alvey singled to center. Reece Goodgame plated the run with a sacrifice fly. And with two outs and the bases loaded, Jennings right fielder Carter Hudson made a catch worthy of a SportsCenter highlight. Cutler Chastain crushed a drive to the fence, but Hudson climbed above it for a sensational grab that robbed a grand slam.
That kept the Panthers alive, but only prolonged the inevitable. The Stars played station-to-station baseball for the four runs in the fourth. Singles by Sons and Alvey set the stage, RBI singles by Gates, Chastain and Jaden Gilbert kept the merry-go-round twirling with runners and runs. Chase Rynders drove home the final run with a ground out.
BNL added its final run in the sixth on Gilbert’s RBI single.
“Our offense is hot right now, scoring runs when we need to,” Gates said. Gilbert was 3 for 3, Alvey collected two hits, and made multiple defensive plays at shortstop. Lirot made a snag of a wicked line drive to left to squelch a mess in the third, and Gates fanned a batter with the bases loaded in the fifth.
“Cam is just a competitor, a gamer,” McNabb said. “He wants to win, he wants the baseball. I’ve got a lot of faith in Cam Gates. He’s one of the best players in the conference, and he proved it tonight.
“Jett is really coming into his own, he’s getting a lot more comfortable. As a sophomore shortstop, that’s a big job. He’s fighting every day, and I couldn’t be prouder of how he’s growing as a player.”
Zane Weinhorst had two hits from the leadoff spot for Jennings, which will face Columbus East in the third-place game.
“It’s always a gauntlet. It’s always tough,” McNabb said of the tournament. “We’ve given ourselves an opportunity to do something that’s never been done, and that was the mission. Now we go on the road for our biggest test yet.”
The Red Devils reached the final with a tense 2-1 win over East.
“Winning would be huge,” Gates said. “We’ll come out with a lot of energy and ready to play.”
