LAPORTE — At the pivotal moment of Monday’s Class 3A baseball regional, Jordan Davis didn’t hesitate.
Having just chased Joe Kinney’s sixth-inning wild pitch to the backstop, New Prairie’s senior catcher didn’t hang his head. Instead, he glanced toward third base and saw Hanover Central’s lead runner round the bag aggressively.
A seven-run lead had now been whittled to just two, and chaos seemed to be unfolding by the minute at Schreiber Field. That’s when Davis decided to trust his rocket arm and the glovework of sophom*ore Dylan Bishop.
“I knew I could make the throw,” Davis said after New Prairie’s 8-6 win, its ninth straight and 12th in its past 13 games. “I just saw it, so I threw it and hoped for the best. It was just instinct, basically.”
More:Erb's homers for Western end New Prairie softball season in IHSAA Class 3A semistate final
The third-ranked Cougars (24-5) advance to Saturday’s semi-state, where they will face Fort Wayne Dwenger. Twins Lakes and Delta are in the other half of the semi-state grouping.
Hanover Central, ranked second in the state by MaxPreps, finishes 22-8 after waiting two extra days due to the June 1 rainout.
Two innings earlier on Monday, while playing first base, Davis had airmailed a throw across the diamond that sailed well over Kinney’s head, allowing the fourth Wildcats run to score.
Davis didn’t let that stop him.
One month earlier, in a 6-5 loss at Hanover Central on May 4, the Cougars held a pair of three-run leads before giving up a deciding three-spot in the bottom of the sixth. Kinney was on the mound that day, and Bishop, just a sophom*ore, was charged with three of the four New Prairie errors.
“I was not happy about my performance last time,” Bishop said. “It got the best of me.”
Bishop didn’t let that memory stop him from sneaking in behind the runner and calling for the ball. He snared Davis’ seed of a throw and made a perfect swipe tag to stun Landon Sarkey and stem the tide.
“I know Jordan has quick reaction time and a great arm, so I’m signaling for him to make the throw and he just puts it right on the money,” Bishop said. “I don’t really have to do much when he puts it right there for me. All I had to do was put the tag down.”
Kinney’s reaction?
“I wanted to kiss him,” he said of Davis. “Jordan is one of the smartest baseball players I’ve played with. He knew that guy was going to get a little overzealous with that round and caught him. That was an amazing moment in the game, definitely a momentum shifter.”
Kinney, who earned the three-inning save in relief of starter Tyson Greenwood, needed just 10 more pitches to set the Wildcats down in order in the seventh. Upon ending the game with his fourth strikeout, Kinney didn’t wait for Davis to rush the mound.
Instead, the senior right-hander flung away his glove and made a beeline toward first base. Kinney hopped into Greenwood’s arms, but at least the senior lefty had been given fair warning.
“Coming out for the seventh, I said, “We’re not losing this game,’ “ Kinney said. “I told Tyson: ‘Hey, we’re going to win this game, and when we do, I’m running into your arms.’ He’s been my best friend, my rock, my whole life.”
Davis didn’t take offense.
“I ran to Tyson, too, because Joe went over there,” Davis said. “We all ran to Tyson.”
Penn softball:Penn softball's quest to repeat as IHSAA state champs falls short in semistate final
How New Prairie built an early lead
Davis delivered a two-run single in a seven-run uprising in the second inning, chasing Hanover Central starter Matt Cook, a sophom*ore right-hander. Eleven Cougars batted that inning, thanks to three straight infield hits, all with two outs.
Reed Robinson had a two-run double, and Greenwood banged out two of his three hits in that inning. The Cougars finished with 12 hits to offset three miscues in the field, and Greenwood worked the first four innings on 89 pitches.
The lefty-righty combo gave up just two earned runs and held the Wildcats to 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Greenwood and Kinney gave up seven hits and five walks while fanning eight.
“They’re the most dominant pitchers anywhere in Indiana,” Davis said. “They’re some of the best pitchers I’ve ever seen.”
Bishop offered a description that is apparently beyond “nasty” and “filthy” on the pitch-o-meter.
“They’re both just gross,” Bishop said. “Joe’s really good at messing with hitters’ timing. It really gets in their heads.”
While New Prairie softball saw its dream of a repeat state championship end Monday, their baseball counterparts are thinking big.
“They definitely set the tone,” Bishop said. “The first state championship in school history. We always get compared to them, softball and baseball, so we wanted to make a name for ourselves.”
Said Kinney: “I was actually just thinking about that to myself the other day. No one really (thought) about winning a state championship until softball did it. They opened the door, and we’re going to follow them.”
Follow staff writer Mike Berardino on social media @MikeBerardino.
