MUNCIE — Jaren Cravens spent the first five and a half innings of Thursday’s game at Muncie Central in the dugout. When his number was finally called, the Lapel senior stood tallest during the game’s biggest moments to help spark a huge Bulldog comeback.
Cravens kept Lapel close by pitching out of a sixth-inning jam in relief and capped a six-run seventh inning rally with the go-ahead hit as the Bulldogs edged the Bearcats in come-from-behind fashion, 8-7 in Muncie.
Trailing 6-2, Cravens came on in relief of starter Dustin Dowden with two out and runners at the corners. He struck out Bearcat junior Andrew Stephenson to leave the runners aboard and give the Bulldogs a chance in the seventh.
“It feels good to come in, knowing your team is behind you and making the outs,” Cravens said. “And I’m there to do my job on the mound.”
The Lapel offense had been stymied for much of the first six innings by sophomore starter Jacob Clark. He held Lapel to just two earned runs on seven hits while striking out eight. But the Bearcats went to their bullpen for the seventh, and junior Xavier Cleaves had trouble immediately with finding the strike zone.
He walked the three of the first four batters he faced with a run coming home on a wild pitch. After junior Levi Frazier beat out an infield hit to load the bases, junior Cameron Holycross walked to force in a run to cut the deficit to 6-4.
Another infield hit by sophomore Seth Baugh and a fielder’s-choice grounder by junior Satchell Wilson tied the game at six with two out and runners at the corners with Cravens coming up.
Wilson stole second, and Cravens slapped a 2-2 pitch past the pitcher for an infield single, but the ball ricocheted off the second baseman into centerfield, allowing Wilson to score as well for an 8-6 lead.
“I’m doing anything I can to help the team out, just trying to get on base,” Cravens said. “It was a pretty exciting feeling.”
Cleaves led off the seventh with a hit, stole a base and later scored for Muncie Central (5-9), but Cravens retired the next three batters to preserve the 8-7 win for Lapel (5-4).
Coach Matt Campbell said it was a big win after back-to-back losses for the Bulldogs.
“It’s good for confidence more than anything,” he said. “We needed a win real bad. And that’s one that we will absolutely take, and it will help us grow as a family. It was good timing for us.”
Sophomore Caden Shirley had three hits and scored twice for Lapel, while Frazier and Baugh had two hits each with Baugh driving in two runs.
The Bulldogs will host Cowan today before taking part in the Heritage Christian Invitational Saturday in Indianapolis.
