The Pilot News

“I felt confident,” said Houlihan of opening on the mound in the championship game. “I don’t throw nearly as fast as the guys in the first game, but my changing speed worked. They were way out in front of it the whole game and hitting pop-ups.”
“What a great game by Houlihan,” said Post 27 baseball head coach Tony Plothow. “He pulled us through. I think this team owes him a game.
“He threw that off-speed stuff, and they were in front of him... He had them off balance the whole game for the most part.”
Houlihan worked off a sneaky breaking ball that gave Post 94 players fits all day long. Although he recorded only two strikeouts — both batters went down looking — Valpo batters struggled to find a solid connection as they either hit shallow pop-ups or pounded the ball in the dirt for easy outs.
Houlihan got plenty of support from his teammates in the win as Plymouth players committed just two errors in the nightcap and made some highlight reel-worthy plays in the process. Post 27 shortstop Brandon Elliott was his usual dazzling self with four put-outs and three assists, including a 6-3 double play in the top of the first inning that nullified an earlier throwing error in the frame, and Joel Solis looked sharp in his own right at third with three assists.
Plymouth’s outfield was equally impressive in the win.
Jake Bloom made some outstanding run-downs in right field en route to five total put-outs, while Steve Cornett gunned a Valpo runner down from deep left to prevent Post 94’s Brandon Hogue from scoring in the third frame.
When fatigue began to take its toll on Houlihan in the seventh, and the young Triton pitcher — who had never pitched more than seven innings prior to Sunday’s championship — gave up a pair of runs and walked two batters back-to-back, Jeff Himes caught a long fly from Jason Hogue on the warning track in center and hit Elliott at second for another out after Valpo leadoff hitter Terry Howard neglected to tag up on the play. Himes’ double play retired the side and kept both Howard and Post 94 catcher Steve Williams from scoring and possibly stealing Plymouth’s momentum late in the game.
“I had confidence my teammates would make the plays,” Houlihan said. “There were some diving catches that some outfielders had, and I knew I had the defense behind me. Even when I got behind in some counts I knew I could put a strike in there and the defense would back me up.”
Both Houlihan and Post 27 got off to rough start in the final game, however, as Howard hammered a leadoff homer on Houlihan’s second pitch of the day. Houlihan settled in, Plymouth’s defense held Post 94 to just the one run for the frame, and Plymouth batters turned the tables with back-to-back homers to take a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the inning. Designated hitter Brent Easterday busted a two-run shot straight out to center to score Elliott after the shortstop reached on a catching error at first, and Culver Military alumnus and Post 27 catcher Mo Weddington followed it up in the No. 5 spot with a solo shot to left. Weddington also recorded an RBI double as Post 27 batted around during a five-run fourth, and Nate Wottring clocked his own stand-up double in the frame as well.
All total, Plymouth recorded 12 hits in the nightcap, including two home runs and four doubles.
Weddington was an offensive juggernaut even in Post 27’s earlier defeat, as he finished the championship doubleheader with two doubles and two homers for five total RBI and four runs scored.
“I had a lot of support from the team,” Weddington said. “Them just cheering you on is pretty encouraging for you to get a hit.”
Also in the final game Sunday, nine-hole batter Bloom recorded his first hit of the day with a base-clearing, three-RBI line double for some added insurance in the bottom of the seventh. Bloom scored Post 27’s final run as Cornett tapped out a consecutive double to bring the score to its final.
“I thought it was a pretty gutsy performance coming back,” said Plothow of his team’s championship victory. “(Valpo) had the momentum, they started out with it, and Easterday got us going.
“I’m real happy to move on in the tournament here at Plymouth,” he added, smiling. “We don’t have to just get the field ready for other teams.”
Plymouth initially took a 4-3 lead in the opening game Sunday, as Cornett, Easterday, Jay Badell and Weddington all scored runs in the top of the first inning. Easterday, Weddington and Post 27 first baseman Chase Byerly added three more runs in the third, and Valparaiso responded with three runs of its own to keep it close.
Post 94 broke it open with seven runs off six hits in the fifth inning, including three doubles, then tacked on another six off seven hits in the following inning to give the team a 19-12 edge over Plymouth. Valpo added three more runs in the seventh and eighth to dime Post 27 22-12 and force the second game.
• American Legion Plymouth Baseball Sectional
At Plymouth
Game 2
PLYMOUTH POST 27 12,
VALPARAISO POST 94 3
Post 27: 3 0 0 5 0 0 4 0 x — 12 12 2
Post 94: 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 — 3 5 3
Brett Houlihan (W) and Mo Weddington. Ryan Smith (L), Kyle Ferber (4), Dick Havens (7) and Steve Williams.
2B: Terry Howard (94), Weddington, Nate Wottring (27), Jake Bloom (27), Steve Cornett (27).
HR: Howard, Weddington, Brent Easterday (27).
Game 1
VALPARAISO POST 94 22,
PLYMOUTH POST 27 12, (8 innings)
At Plymouth
Post 94: 4 0 3 1 0 4 0 0 — 12 12 3
Post 27: 3 0 3 0 7 6 1 2 — 22 28 5
Tyler Shook, Ryne Sweeney (L, 3), Michael Fansler (5) and Mo Weddington, Cody Bucher (8). Josh Biggs (W), Ryan Smith (8) and Steve Williams.
2B: Biggs, Smith 2, Kyle Ferber 2 (94), Steve Cornett (27), Brent Easterday (27), Weddington.
HR: Jason Hogue (94), Weddington.