It took about five hours longer than expected, but coach Shannon Barger’s Switzerland County Pacer baseball team advanced out of the first round in Monday’s IHSAA Sectional being played at the Pacer field.
Switzerland County and North Decatur were supposed to open the tournament at 1 p.m., but a mixup by the North Decatur athletic director meant that the Charger team thought that the game was at 5 p.m.
Switzerland County athletic director Kent Dunning flipped the opening games, asking Southwestern and Lawrenceburg to play the first game, giving North Decatur time to make the drive to Switzerland County.
With everyone cooperating, the Rebels and the Tigers battled to a 3-0 win by Lawrenceburg to open tourney play – and finally it was time for the Pacers and the Chargers to hit the field.
And that’s exactly what Switzerland County did – they hit.
Zach Osowski, the offensive star of the game, doubled to get things rolling in the opening inning. He then scored what would be the only run at Switzerland County would need when Ryan Peters followed with a double moments later.
The Pacers blew the game open in the second inning, scoring six runs.
Switzerland County got five hits to support the six runs, and with a 7-0 lead, the Pacer defense went to work to secure the win.
“We had a couple of innings after we went up 7-0 where we lost a little focus, but we regained it,” Coach Barger said after the game. “The one thing about this team is that we have been hitting the ball. This makes three games in a row where we’ve scored at least 10 (runs).”
Switzerland County pushed three more runs across the plate in the sixth inning to end the game by way of the “mercy rule”.
Zach Osowski was 4-for-4 at the plate including three doubles. He also had two RBI and scored three runs.
Ryan Peters was 2-for-4 in the game with a double, a run scored, and two RBI; and Luke May was also 2-for-4 with a run scored.
T.J. Sefton and Brandon Otter also collected two RBI each on hits, and Travis Webster, Jordan Hewitt, and Danny Schira also had hits in the game.
On the hill, Travis Webster went five scoreless innings, striking out five to run his record to 8-0 on the season.
The win moved the Pacers into the second round, where they were to play Lawrenceburg last night (Wednesday) at 7 p.m., following the South Ripley versus Milan game. The two winners of those games will play for the Sectional championship tomorrow (Friday) beginning at 6 p.m.
Tickets are available at the gate.