Hauser boys win sectional trophy

My one and only baseball trophy was won in 1965 when my cousin suggested to the coach in North Vernon that he knew another country kid who could play the game. For some reason, I never thought about trying out for the Jennings County High School Baseball Team, possibly due to living a good distance away close to the small town of Lovett. I did play a lot of softball with memories resurfacing.

The only one I will share is how we would have our softball games during the school day when playing for the Lovett Cubs as seventh and eighth graders. All classes would be dismissed to watch us compete against another small country school. It was one of those events that brought the entire school together during the spring. I still recall all the cheering from the sidelines, an atmosphere once experienced never forgotten by those who were there even with the school and diamond long in the past.

Well, the Community of Hope was cheering Monday evening around 9:30 p.m. or so at Osgood when our Hauser Jets defeated the Jac-Cen-Del Eagles 11-5 in a hard fought battle to claim our first Sectional Championship since 2007. The celebration continued well into the night. I know due to stopping at Wendy's to eat and then getting behind our bus and several Hauser cars. Once in Hartsville, fire trucks and police cars then led the team bus and many other vehicles into Hope and around the Town Square. While being a part of this wonderful caravan, I thought about the many positives of the IHSAA Class System as well as smaller school corporations.

Jac-Cen-Del went up in the first inning 0-1 and left the bases loaded. Momentum definitely swung our way when we were able to go up 5-1 in the bottom of the first.

The Eagles scored another run in the second inning but left the bases loaded again. We scored a run too due to a home run after a misplayed infield pop-up in foul territory making the score 6-2 after two innings. There was no scoring in the third inning even though the Eagles left two runners on base.

Each team scored a run in the fourth to make the score 7-3. The Eagles left the bases loaded again.

Jac-Cen-Del made it much closer with two runs in the fifth, 7-5, while we went down in order for the second time. Then, without a word being stated, all the Hauser bats from the dugout ended up outside on the ground for a few seconds.

The Eagles left two runners on base in the sixth without scoring. We apparently got the bat message earlier and scored 4 more runs in the bottom of the sixth increasing our lead to 11-5 before the seventh and final inning which ended with an Eagle's player at first.

I suspect the coaching staff, the players, and the fans would agree it was not one of Hauser's best games of the season; however, the team found a way to keep the game under control and to pull out another victory. It is a sign of a great team!

Our next game will be at the Morristown Regional on Saturday, June 2nd. We will play Shakamak in the second game at 12 p.m. while Indianapolis Lutheran will play University in the first game at 10 a.m. Winners will play at 7 p.m.

Our Lady Jets have advanced to the North Daviess Semistate on the same date and will play North Central in the second game at 1 p.m. I know there will be plenty of support for each team. It is just an important part of our local community character.

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