Andrew Jumonville didn’t want to take up any more time.
Munster and Lowell were tied in the ninth inning. The Munster junior came up with the bases loaded and none out.
He hit the first pitch he saw into left field for the game-winning single as the Mustangs topped the Red Devils 3-2 in a Northwest Crossroads Conference game on Monday at Munster.
“My teammates put me in a great position,” Jumonville said. “I knew I just had to hit the ball hard. My teammates made it real easy for me.”
Jumonville went 1-for-4. The one hit came at the perfect spot for the Mustangs (6-3, 2-1).
“That’s why he’s in the No. 2 spot in the lineup, to make contact,” Munster coach Bob Shinkan said. “He made pretty good contact with it. He was aggressive and that’s what I wanted to see.”
Xavier Unzueta started the ninth-inning rally when he got hit by a pitch. Garrett Manous reached first with a bunt hit. Connor Manous followed with an infield single.
That brought Jumonville to the plate. He knocked in Unzueta with the single.
“I was calm in that situation because my teammates put me such a good spot,” Jumonville said.
His hit made sophomore Alex Weakland the winning pitcher. The left-hander pitched two scoreless innings and struck out four in relief of Mike Madura.
“That’s what we expect from him,” Shinkan said of Weakland. “That’s why he’s one of our conference relievers because we know he’s pretty strong. And hopefully he’ll only get better.”
Madura allowed one earned run on seven hits in seven innings.
“He mixed his pitches well and kept them off-balanced,” Shinkan said of Madura.
Nate Buss pitched well in defeat. The right-hander gave up one earned run on nine hits while pitching the entire game for the Red Devils (2-3, 2-3).
“He battled all game, he did exactly what we always ask him to do,” Lowell coach Bobby Wong said. “He competed. I can’t ask much more from him.”
Lowell made four errors. Two of them proved costly.
Trevor Brooks singled and later scored on an error to give Munster a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
Lowell’s Justin Thomas tripled and scored on a throwing error to tie the game at 1 in the top of the fourth inning.
Munster regained the lead in the fifth. Zach Kall singled, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and advanced to third on a wild pitch. He scored on a two-out error, making it 2-1.
Lowell tied the game again in the sixth. John Cory led off with a double. Ryan Missal drove him home with a two-out single. Missal led the Red Devils with two hits.
Munster had a runner in scoring position in the seventh and eighth innings, but came up empty both times.
Jumonville made sure the ninth inning was a different story.
“We finally came through with runners in scoring position,” Shinkan said.
Gelon to play in North/South All-Star Classic: Crown Point forward Grant Gelon, an Indiana recruit, will represent the Region in the North/South Indiana All-Star Classic on Sunday at Vincennes University. Gelon, who will play for the North boys, was the only local player selected.
VU’s Molitor earns Horizon honor: Valparaiso senior infielder Shea Molitor was named Horizon League Batter of the Week after getting 11 hits and 11 RBIs in five games. Molitor boosted his batting average from .330 to .362 and pushed his team-high RBI total to 30.
Post-Tribune staff contributed to this story.
Twitter @lamondpope
