TERRE HAUTE —
T.J. Decker tossed a complete-game three-hitter to lead Wayne Newton Post 346 to a 6-1 victory over Floyds Knobs Post 42 in the championship game of the American Legion regional baseball tournament at Jennings Field on Sunday.
Indeed, Decker was dominant. But the true test of a winning pitcher is when he faces adversity, with Decker’s signature moment occurring in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Post 346 was clinging to a 1-0 lead when Decker threw eight straight pitches out of the strike zone for a pair of walks. He exacerbated his situation by attempting a pickoff at second base, his errant throw bouncing into center field, placing runners at second and third with no outs.
While the Floyds Knobs players and fans were serenading Decker with “you’re rattled,” he rattled their cage instead. Decker retired the next batter on an infield popup, fielded a tapper to the mound, tagging out the runner at third in a rundown, then fanned the final batter.
He did allow himself a quick staredown to his tormentors as he departed the mound.
“I rallied a little bit,” Decker smiled. “Had guys at second and third … it was huge to get out of that inning. They were getting on me a little bit. But you know, you got to stay in the game and keep going.”
“He got out of it,” Wayne Newton manager John Hayes laughed. “Sometimes that motivates you. When they were hollering at our pitcher, I told the kids ‘Let the bats do the talking, just don’t respond to that from the dugout.’ We did.”
Indeed they did. Post 346 responded with a pair of runs in the fifth, one in the sixth, then added two insurance tallies in the seventh.
Post 346 scored its first run in the second inning. Tony Rosselli singled, stole second, then scored on a two-out single punched into left field by Zach Milam.
Soon after Decker dodged his fourth-inning jam, Post 346 scored its next two runs with two outs. Daniel Marlow singled and Kodie Girton doubled, with Marlow scoring as Post 42’s center fielder bobbled the ball for an error. Scott West followed with an RBI single, scoring Girton for a 3-0 lead.
Post 42’s only run came in the fifth. Josh Wenning reached on an infield single and went to second on a wild pitch, scoring on Colin Book’s tweener double to shallow left field to get within 3-1.
Post 346 got that run back in a hurry. Rosselli hit the first pitch of the sixth inning for his sixth home run of the summer season, putting his team ahead 4-1. For the game, Rosselli was 3 for 4 with two runs scored, one stolen base and a pair of RBIs.
In the seventh, Girton singled, West was hit by a pitch and Colton Rupska walked to load the bases with one out. Rosselli plated Girton with a single, with West scoring on a sacrifice fly by Sam Wolf to go up 6-1.
Decker took it from there, retiring 13 of the final 14 batters he faced. He allowed two infield singles, the only hit out of the infleld the bloop double by Book. He walked four but fanned eight, including the last batter of the game.
“First nine-inning game I’ve ever pitched,” Decker said. “Struggled a little bit at the beginning, but the defense came through and helped me out quite a bit. Towards the end I got my stuff working. Glad we had the lead the whole game … kind of nice.”
In fact, Decker pitched the final 92⁄3 innings of the tournament for Post 346. He earned his first save in perserving its tight 7-6 win over St. Leon Post 464 on Saturday, then improved his record to 6-2 with the win on Sunday.
“[Decker] pitched a tremendous game,” Hayes stated. “You don’t get very many kids going nine innings at this level. To have a one-run game, he was phenomenal.
“He was hitting his spots. His changeup was nasty today, he got a lot of outs with his changeup. His curveball was good. If you can throw three pitches for a strike and hit your spot you’ll be successful … and he was today.”
Wayne Newton (32-10) advances to the five-team American Legion State Tournament, which begins on Thursday at Plymouth. Post 346 received a bye, so its first game is 4 p.m. on Friday.
“We’ll play who we’ve got to play,” Hayes stated. “It’s going to be good to be there again. We’ve won state tournaments our last two times at Plymouth.”
Wayne Newton 6,
Floyds Knobs 1
W.Newton ab r h bi Floyds Knobs ab r h bi
Girton lf 5 2 2 0 Willinger cf 4 0 0 0
West ss 3 1 1 1 Book ss 4 0 2 1
Sexton dh 3 0 0 0 Jones rf 3 0 0 0
Rupska dh 1 0 0 0 Franz b 2 0 0 0
Rosselli rf 4 2 3 2 Kissel p-3b 4 0 0 0
Wolf 1b 4 0 1 1 Reister 3b-p 3 0 0 0
Thornton cf 4 0 0 0 Mantas p 0 0 0 0
Milam 3b 4 0 2 1 Romans ph 1 0 0 0
Tofaute c 4 0 0 0 Wortham c 3 0 0 0
Marlow 2b 4 1 1 0 Sunderhaus lf 3 0 0 0
Wenning 2b 3 1 1 0
Totals 36 6 10 5 Totals 30 1 3 1
Wayne Newton 010 021 200 — 6
Floyds Knobs 000 010 000 — 1
E — Decker, Willinger, Book, Wenning. DP — FK 1. LOB — WN 8, FK 6. 2B — Girton, Book. HR — Rosselli (6). SF — Wolf. SB — Rosselli. CS — Rupska.
IP H R ER BB SO
Wayne Newton
Decker (W, 6-2) 9 3 1 1 4 8
Floyds Knobs
Kissel (L) 5 2-3 8 4 4 1 2
Reister 2-3 1 2 2 1 0
Mantas 2 2-3 1 0 0 1 2
WP — Decker. PB — Wortham. HBP — by Reister (West). T — 2:11.
Next — Wayne Newton Post 346 (32-10) will play in the American Legion state tournament at Plymouth beginning Friday. Floyds Knobs Post 42 (20-11) concluded its season.
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Related Photos
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Tribune-Star/Bob Poynter Post 346 shortstop Scott West leaps to catch a ball thrown to second base from the outfield as a Floyds Knobs base runner gets to the bag during Sunday's regional championship game. Post 346 won the game 6-1.
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Tribune-Star/Bob Poynter Two-man game: Post 346 first baseman Sam Wolf (left) throws to first base with a gentle assist from second baseman Daniel Marlow on Sunday afternoon.
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Tribune-Star/Bob Poynter Score: Post 346's Kodie Girton slides into home and scores just ahead of the tag by Floyds Knobs catcher Logan Richey during Sunday's regional championship game.
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Tribune-Star/Bob Poynter Solo shot: Tony Rosselli shakes hands with manager John Hayes as he rounds third base after hitting a solo home run during Sunday's regional championship game against Floyds Knobs.
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