It’d be hard to imagine a loss that’s harder to take for a team than the one the Elkhart baseball team suffered Wednesday night at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock.
A quick recap: The Elks fell to Jarrell, 3-2, in 13 innings in the state semifinals.
In that game, the Elks had plenty of opportunities, stranding 11 runners on base and getting thrown out on the bases trying to steal three different times.
But, for all the missed opportunities and the miscues from Wednesday night, the Elkhart baseball team shouldn’t hang its collective head.
There is plenty for this team to be proud of.
The Elks fought back from adversity time and time again during these playoffs.
They could’ve gotten down in the regional quarterfinals, after Crockett had just throttled them 16-6 to even that series at one game apiece.
They didn’t. Instead, they went on to take Game 3, 7-2 to move on to the regional semifinals.
After rolling through Queen City in that round, 2-0, the Elks were again faced with some strong adversity.
In Game 1 of the Elkhart/Central Heights regional final, the Elks trailed 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning to the Blue Devils.
Again, no panic. Instead, the Elks put together a rally in what could’ve been their final at-bat to tie the game at 5-5 and force extra innings.
In those extra frames, the Elks again responded to the challenges, as Cam Reeves knocked in Cole Bridges for the game-winning run to take a 1-0 series lead.
Elkhart had another chance to get down the next day, falling to Central Heights 2-0 in Game 2 as the Blue Devils evened that series. Even worse, the Elks’ offense was shut down in that contest by Central Heights’ Hunter Haley.
But the Elks didn’t take long to show they weren’t daunted by that adversity either, scoring six first inning runs in Game 3 to take control early as they clinched a trip to state.
Even in the state semifinals, the Elks showed their resilience. After Jarrell took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning, Elkhart immediately responded with a run in the bottom half of the inning to cut the deficit in half.
Cam Reeves and Jacob Cheatham kept Jarrell at bay from the pitchers’ mound, keeping Elkhart in the game.
The offense responded in the seventh, with Elkhart down to its final out. Once again, the Elks responded.
Cole Bridges’ single to knock in Brian Johnson evened the game and forced the extra innings.
From the top of the lineup to the bottom, from the ace pitcher to the fourth reliever, it seemed as if a different Elkhart player stepped up when his team needed him.
So no, the season didn’t end the way the Elks wanted it to. The players and coaches wanted to bring a state title back to Elkhart and Anderson County.
But, sometimes these things don’t happen the way we want. Still, the Elks were one of the four final teams from Class 2A playing baseball this week.
It’s probably hard to get past the way Wednesday night ended, that’s to be expected.
But, hopefully, there will be a day sooner rather than later when the Elkhart players, coaches and fans can look back on this season and remember it not for the way it ended, but for the way it went from start to finish.
36-5 is something to be proud of. So is a trip to the state tournament. That’s something to remember.
Local Sports
From the Sideline: Even in a loss, Elks show their heart, perseverance
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He played in the 1A-3A all-star Saturday, batting in the clean-up spot for his team. But, it was the show he put on Friday that probably turned the most heads. -
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Sports Briefs: Week of 6/3/13
Sports briefs for the week beginning June 3, 2013, including a Lady Elk garage sale and updated information on Adrian Peterson Day.
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H.S. Football: Palestine's Owens picks up third college offer
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The coaches in District 19-3A took notice as well, and Worsencroft was honored as the district’s Defensive Player of the Year on the league’s all-district team released recently. - More Local Sports Headlines
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