Bloomington South baseball coach Phil Kluesner had a little more leash to work with in the top of the seventh inning.
He had considered going to his bullpen to close out thecritical 6-4 Conference Indiana victoryagainst Bloomington North on a chilly Tuesday at Groh Field.
Instead, now up three runs thanks to Brayden Blevins' sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth, he sentNico Walters back out looking for his second complete game and third league win of the season.
It's what aces do.Kluesner had handed him the keys to all five CI games when the season started, including thisbiggie against their crosstown rivals.
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"I've been thinking about it ever since the beginning of the season, when coach told me that I'd be pitching all the conference games," Walters said. "I just made sure I had a positive thought process and I just thought about succeeding."
Despite eight strikeouts and just four hits, he wasn't cruising along by any means.
The pesky Cougarshad still gottenthe tying or go-ahead run to the plate in each of the last three innings, including the seventh after two walks and an RBI single by Dylan Barrow that scored pinch runner Ryan Mooney on a close play at the plate. It put runners at first and second with two outs in the top of the seventh withNo. 3 hitter Caden McCoy due up.
"I was in my head a lot," Walters said. "But I just took a step back, took a deep breath. It's just me and him. (Catcher Max McCammon)says that a lot, 'Just you and me.' And I just focused on keeping it there."
Kluesner joined them, goingto the mound intent on making a change. The junior, closing in on 120 pitches,had other ideas.
"We were monitoring him," Kluesner said. "He was still strong at the end. The last time I went to talk to him I was probably going to pull him, but he said, 'Naw, I've got this. I'll take care of him. I struck him out before."
And he didto keepSouth (7-5, 3-0) atop the league standings.
"I knew it was mine," said Walters.
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Point, counterpoint
McCoy (1-2), North's pitching starter, got out of a first inning jam, then was handed a 3-0 lead in the second.
Aiden Murphy stood at first with two outs after reaching on a fielder's choice. Lucas Alexander walked, then Cougar catcher Walter Harvey turned on the first pitch he saw from Walters and crushed it over the left field wall.
"Walter's done a good job," North coach Richard Hurt said. "Coming into this year, he had the role of backup catcher. Our starting catcher (Will Eads) is still hurt. Hopefully, we'll get him back. But Walter's done a very good job behind the plate. He's met and actually exceeded our expectations and offensively tonight, obviously, got his pitch and hit the ball hard."
So did South's catcher, McCammon, who belted a McCoy fastball for a solo homer to start the bottom half.
"It was big," McCammon said. "But most of all I have to give glory to God, he gave me the strength and put me in this position. And I had my teammates behind me. The seniors are great. They keep everybody up."
An error after a dropped third strike and a hit batter kept the inning going, then AJ Brinson singled to load the bases.With two outs, Cooper Webb (3-for-4) singled to left, scoring two to tie it.
Not only was North's momentum gone, South took the lead in the third when McCammon had a ground rule double. Pinch runner Lucas Weldon flew home on Blaise Oeding's base hit to make it 4-3.
"We struggled with that at the beginning of the season," Walters said. "Now, to see the bats come alive and especially so after getting down 3-0, it's big for a pitcher."
Walters settles in
If it seemed as if Walters (3-2) got stronger as the game went on, he did, using whatever pitch was humming at the time.
"I came in the game a little sore," Walters said. "And as I settled in, the nerves came down ... That's what I've been doing, I've been throwing what works."
North (3-7-1, 0-3) went down in order the next two innings and after getting out of trouble in the fifth, struck out five of the next six batters he faced.
"So I think he learned and battled through adversity," Kluesner said. "When they punched him, they punched pretty hard in the second inning. I think he was stunned when I went out to talk to him. He hadn't had that all year in conference yet.
"He was resilient and I think a lot of that had to do with his teammates picking him up in the bottom of that inning. I think that went a long way for him."
McCoy searching for answers
South made it 5-3 after back-to-back doubles by Webb abd Mason Younger with two outs in the fourth. Cole Grupenhoff walked his first two batters but got a strikeout to keep North within striking distance.
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"Caden has struggled this year, no doubt about it," Hurt said. "He really struggled with his off-speed pitches there and then he'sget down to a one-pitch pitcher. And it's a lot easier to hit someone like that.
"He'll certainly get it straightened out. He's still very good even though he's having a tough year right now. Maybe his at-bats hurt a bit, too.He hasn't pitched as well as he did last year, so now, he has to learn to pitch when he doesn't have his 'A' game."
On to the next
The rivalry game lived up to its billing.
"We stranded some guys," Kluesner said. "I'm not going to take anything away from (North's pitchers). They stretched a little bit, but they didn't break.
"Andthat's what we did. And we have confidence in our defense. If we can get any distance at all, we're in pretty good shape."
North is still trying to round into shape and reach its potential. The Cougars have Bishop Chatard at home on Friday and a trip to Danville on Saturday.
"No. 1, I think we're playing at about a 60% clip of what we're capable," Hurt said. "We haven't really played well yet this year. And yet we're in games, so that's a good sign to take away.
"The bad sign is, it's hard to win with only four hits. You can't stand around and wait for a three-run home run and expect that to stand up. And if you get one, you gotta make it stand up in that you can't give up three in the bottom half of the inning. We've got to make pitches, make plays. And we struggle with that right now."
Coming off Wednesday's trip to Jennings County, South has a 10 a.m. home doubleheader on Saturday vs Columbus East in which the 1972 Bloomington High School state champs will be honored between games. A tough slate of games looms in May.
"The momentum, it's crazy," Walters said. "Coming into practice after these conference wins, the morale is up. We're practicing hard and not going through the motions."
Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on Twitter @JimGordillo.
