PLYMOUTH — Minutes before first pitch Monday night, Cooper Pritchett gathered his teammates.
“It’s our time,” Pritchett repeatedly exclaimed, with maybe a colorful word or two mixed in there as well. He proceeded to give everyone a fist bump and one last word of encouragement a few moments later before the game officially began.
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Even if few outside the Mishawaka baseball program thought a sectional title was possible heading into the week, the Cavemen never lost faith. That belief paid off around 8 p.m. Monday when Mishawaka capped off a 6-3 win over LaPorte to claim the Class 4A, Sectional 3 championship at Bill Nixon Field in Plymouth.
The victory gives the program its first sectional title since 2019.
“We’ve been heartbroken the last three years,” Pritchett said. “We’ve been so close every single year. We’ve been in tight games, but haven’t been able to get over the hump. Even though we had a .500 record, we knew this was the year that we could do it. We’ve been clicking at the right time, even if the wins weren’t coming.”
Pritchett backed up his words by going 4-for-4 at the plate and scoring twice, including part of a four-run first inning for the Cavemen (15-14) that set the tone for the rest of the evening.
“He’s a competitor and he’s a leader,” said Mishawaka coach John Huemmer of Pritchett. “He says the right things to get everyone pumped up. He just wants to win. With basketball, he did a great job, and now with baseball, he’s going out with a bang.”
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How the Cavemen won
The big hit of the first inning came from junior Gage Spychalski, whose double with the bases loaded scored senior Trey DeBroka and Pritchett. Sophom*ore Kamdon Putz followed up with an RBI single, and junior Izaiah Bute drove in the last run with a sacrifice fly to right field.
The Cavemen added two insurance runs in the third. Bute was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Pritchett. Senior Tyler Thomas drove in Spychalski on the next play with a single to right field.
Senior Brady Gallo and DeBroka combined to throw all seven innings for Mishawaka. Gallo went the first five, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out four Slicer batters. DeBroka earned the six-out save, only allowing one hit in his two innings of work. DeBroka induced a Gage Raymond flyout to Spychalski in right field to end the game – kickstarting the Cavemen celebration in the process.
“There were a lot of people saying that we weren’t going to win this game, that we were going to get blown out,” Pritchett said. “We just don’t listen to that. We know we have the talent here to win and compete in ball games. We just embrace being the underdog every time, and it works out.”
Mishawaka puts it all together at the right time
It’s been an up-and-down season for Mishawaka, which entered the sectional with a 13-14 record. It had a favorable draw in the five-team field, as it opened with a struggling Michigan City team in the semifinals. The Cavemen dispatched the Wolves, 10-3, Saturday, advancing them to Monday’s final with LaPorte (16-11).
“Coming together with the team bonding and knowing what we had to do as a team,” said Huemmer is what keyed the sectional win. “I gave the leadership to the seniors. They took control, and they kept us alive. Every guy in that dugout, from the first pitch through the last pitch, were in the game the whole time and gave us energy. It was a team win.”
Mishawaka will now face a familiar foe in this Saturday’s one-game regional championship. The Cavemen will battle Concord, which beat Goshen 3-0 to win the Sectional 4 title game Monday afternoon. Mishawaka and Concord (19-10) faced off twice as part of the Northern Lakes Conference schedule with the Minutemen winning 4-0 on April 22 and Mishawaka earning a 10-7 victory on May 8.
The time and location of the game will be announced by the IHSAA by Wednesday afternoon.
“We cannot take them lightly, even when we’re ahead because they can come back and get us,” said Huemmer of Concord.
