PENDLETON — The Pendleton Heights Arabians entered the final weekend of the regular season with a shot at the Hoosier Heritage Conference title. The championship would not be decided until Saturday, May 20, but the Arabians first needed to take care of their business in a Friday doubleheader against Delta.
There could be no better occasion for the team’s biggest strength — the pitching — to flex its muscle.
Chayce McDermott and Eston Stull shut down the Eagles’ bats, and the Arabians produced plenty of offense, as Pendleton Heights got the sweep it needed with 9-1 and 11-1 wins against Delta, clinching a share of the conference crown.
Thirteen hours later, New Palestine, tied with Pendleton Heights for first place in the HHC entering the weekend, lost to New Castle 4-1, handing the outright championship to the Arabians.
Pendleton Heights will enter the postseason at 19-5 and will play host to New Castle at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday to open sectional play.
The Arabians success has not come easily. Corbin Cox and Jake Harris were out due to suspension at the start of the season, and Harris was injured three games into the season, missing 19 games, and starting third baseman Matt Vetor was lost for the season last week after being diagnosed with blood clots.
For coach Travis Keesling, those factors made this achievement particularly satisfying.
“The adversity we’ve faced this year has been crazy,” Keesling said. “The guys have just battled through and picked each other up. Things are starting to come together; we’re out Vetor the rest of the year, which is a tough loss, but guys are starting to figure things out at the right time.”
McDermott and Stull have been the anchors for a pitching staff that has been remarkably consistent this season. McDermott, heading to Ball State University next year, pitched more than 5 innings and gave up just one earned run and two hits while striking out nine. After laboring through the first inning, throwing 27 pitches, he settled into a groove, facing the minimum number of batters until a one-out walk in the sixth.
“Once he gets into a rhythm, he does pretty well,” Keesling said. “There is just no taking pitches off or hitters off, but once he settled in, he did a nice job.”
Stull, in Game 2, was equally tough, giving up one run on just one hit while striking out five. With the wins, the Arabian team ERA drops to 1.67 for the year.
Offensively, Phil Lawson could not be stopped. In the first game, he reached base four times with three hits and a walk, driving in two and scoring once. In the nightcap, Lawson collected two more hits and an RBI while scoring twice.
“(Lawson) had a couple-game stretch there where he was struggling a little bit,” Keesling said. “But Phil stayed positive, kept working at it, and he’s a good hitter. All he has to do is stay with the same approaches and attitude that got him here, and that’s what he did.”
For the two games, Harris drove in four runs total, and Nate Norris drove in two and scored two.
In the first game, the Arabians took advantage of eight Delta errors to score eight unearned runs.