“On the mound I like to think absolutely about nothing. I just had to clear my mind and have confidence in my pitches.”
Not even Hornets coach Bob Hunt knew if this was as deep into the postseason that Monroe has ever ventured. What is known is Monroe, 22-9 and winners of 19 of their last 21 games, has a regional final date today against Jonathan Alder, a 4-0 winner over Bellefontaine in Thursday’s other regional semi.
Today’s regional final will be at 5 p.m. at WSU, with the winner advancing to next week’s state final four at Columbus.
Mitchell was tagged for two first-inning runs and Monroe’s bullpen started warming up before the inning ended. But instead of folding, like Mitchell, Monroe seemed to find itself.
Mitchell (6-1) allowed just five hits and struck out six. Tipp mounted a rally in the bottom of the seventh, but reliever Troy Beck secure the win by recording the final out.
Said Hunt of Mitchell, “He was phenomenal.”
The Hornets slapped 13 hits and benefitted from three costly Tippecanoe errors. Monroe pulled even at 2-all in the third inning on Zack York’s two-run single. Connor Curtis pounded a triple over the Tipp center fielder to score Brice Cable with the go-ahead run an inning later.
Monroe broke losing pitcher Ben Hughes (7-1) with a four-run fifth inning after loading the bases with no outs.
Monroe unloaded a methodical beat-down throughout the lineup that ensured Tipp’s fourth straight regional exit. Cable, York, Beck, Roman Rothwell and Cheyne Carpenter all had two hits apiece.
No one was more appreciative of that than Mitchell.
“I love pitching and love my teammates,” he said. “To go out there and play for my teammates is amazing. I love doing it.”
Monroe started the season just 1-6, but hasn’t been the same since. A rowdy dugout during the games seems to have sparked a turning point.
The Hornets sound more like a softball dugout, with multiple animated cheers and antics throughout games.
“What a fun group,” Hunt said. “We have fun in the dugout. We started opening up and having fun. Maybe I don’t know enough about baseball. I’m not too big of a man to realize that maybe there’s a different way to coach. If kids like it and they’re having fun, it bugs the heck out of other teams but (we) love it.”
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