Pitching and defense did the heavy lifting for the Logansport baseball team Wednesday in a 4-1 win over Tipton at Jim Turner Field to complete a two-game series sweep.
The Berries (4-1, 2-0) swept their inaugural series in the Hoosier Conference East Division with two wins over the Blue Devils (1-6, 0-4).
Josh Middleton held Tipton in check through six innings to get the win. The big junior righthander allowed one run on four hits and one walk, striking out five.
“I thought the team played really well overall,” Middleton said. “The bats were a little slow at points, but I think we got timely hitting when it mattered the most. And I think that’s what we do really well as a team. Sometimes our bats aren’t the best, but we hit at the time.”
The Berries scored all four of their runs in the first three innings to give Middleton an early lead to work with.
Micah Rogers led off the game by lacing a double to left center. Bryson Herr and Deagan Kitchel drew back-to-back walks to load the bases with no outs. Camden Chapman hit a deep fly ball to left that could have been caught but was misplayed and dropped in for a single that allowed Rogers to score the game’s first run. Following a strikeout, Carson Dubes reached on an RBI fielder’s choice groundout that gave Logansport a 2-0 lead.
Wildness led to the Berries’ two runs in the third inning. Herr was hit by a pitch and Kitchel drew another walk. Herr moved to third on a wild pitch. Kitchel later stole second. It was one of the Berries’ eight stolen bases in the game as once they reached base they were off to the races. Chapman lifted a fly ball into short center field that the shortstop caught on a backpedal. Herr was able to tag up and score on the play for Chapman’s second RBI of the game. Kitchel later scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-0.
That would be all the offense the Berries would muster up but it was plenty for Middleton, who ran into a bit of trouble in the sixth after allowing a leadoff double to Gabe Wiggington. The courtesy runner advanced to third on a fly ball when it appeared the Berries had a chance to get the runner, who had stopped running, but the cutoff throw was dropped. The runner later scored on a passed ball. Middleton later got out of the inning leaving a runner stranded at second.
Middleton said he had good stuff for most of the night.
“Usually my curveball’s a little shaky, but today it was pretty good and I was able to get more strikeouts than I normally am able to because of that,” he said. “And honestly, just throwing first-pitch strikes.”
Freshman righthander Kuper Jones was brought in for a save opportunity for a second straight night and he recorded a 1-2-3 seventh on three straight fly outs for his second save in as many nights.
The Berries had a clean night defensively outside of the tag up and passed ball that led to the run in the sixth. Middleton said that shortstop Aiden Swank and third baseman Jose Portilla were good in particular.
“The defense was really good and I really liked what Swank did out there and Jose on the left side,” he said. “Everyone played really well overall.”
Dubes added a double and Portilla added a single during the Berries’ four-hit attack.
Tipton’s Zach Goshern held Logan to four runs on three hits, five walks and a hit batter, striking out two in 3 2/3 innings. Wiggington pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, allowing two hits and a walk.
Logansport coach Dan Frye told WSAL in his postgame comments that he expects the offense will warm up with the weather and that the Berries aren’t hitting to their capabilities in the early season.
Middleton agreed that he is expecting the offense to pick up soon.
“All our guys can hit the ball,” he said. “Deagan hit obviously really well last year. B Herr hit really good last year. And we also have more guys that came up this year that also hit really well.”
The Berries are looking to make a big splash in their first year in the Hoosier Conference and Class 3A.
“Conference is a big goal and after we get through conference, we obviously want to keep going all the way to state,” Middleton said.
The Berries travel to West Lafayette on Friday for a non-divisional game. They then compete at the Athenian Baseball Invite on Saturday at Crawfordsville.
