Hobart’s Matthew Benton would have liked a few more runs, but he’s the kind of pitcher who can make due with whatever he gets.
Benton led the Brickies to a heart-stopping 1-0 victory over Crown Point in Wednesday’s first round of the Class 4A Chesterton Sectional.
Benton, a sophomore right-hander, struck out eight and didn’t issue a walk. He ended the game by getting Crown Point leadoff hitter Jake DeFries to fly out to deep left field with runners on first and third.
Benton finished with 115 pitches, five short of the limit for a high school game. The Brickies (20-8) had Adam Eck, a reliever, warming up in the bullpen.
There was no way Hobart coach Bob Glover Jr. wanted to go there.
Benton (7-1) finished off the Bulldogs (21-8) just in time. He was prepared for the craziness.
“I knew it was going to be a low-scoring game,” he said. “I was comfortable with that. I knew we weren’t going to get a lot of runs.
“I just told my teammates I’d pitch my heart out, but they needed to back me up on defense.”
The Brickies did just that.
In the seventh, Hobart catcher Jaden Deel made a diving catch of a bunt attempt by Josh Lindeman for the second out. That came after a one-out single by Christian Mojica. Deel collided with third basemen Jose Guevara, who left the game with a head injury.
In the fifth, Hobart first basemen Jack Huber threw out Scot Ferkul on a grounder, with Benton covering on a bang-bang play. That saved another run.
Hobart scored its only run in the first inning when Benton led off by getting hit by a pitch. Brock Cooper reached on an error and Benton stole third. He scored the only run when Ryan Earp grounded out to the shortstop.
The Brickies only reached second base twice after that — in the third and fifth innings.
Hobart finished with just one hit, coming on a bunt single by Bobby Babcock in the fifth.
Benton’s performance overshadowed only slightly the effort by Crown Point pitcher Marek Bauner, who struck out nine and walked three.
Glover said the Brickies were fortunate.
“That was wild stuff,” he said. “I mean, what an unbelievable game. Those guys were both outstanding. It’s unfortunate that one of them had to lose.”
“The difference was the first inning,” Crown Point coach Steve Strayer said. “Marek didn’t pitch well and their guy did. Marek did a nice job (overall). We have to score some runs.”
The Bulldogs led off with singles in the first and second innings and had runners on first and third in the seventh, but couldn’t push a run across.
It was frustrating way to end the season.
“We didn’t do a very good job,” Strayer said. “I thought we were pressing at the plate. It was a big game and we pressed. When we press, we get out of the strike zone and we make bad decisions.
“Evidently, I didn’t get them ready to handle it.”
