By Justin Sokeland
JEFFERSONVILLE – With history hanging on his dead-tired left arm, with nothing but adrenaline and ice water coursing through his weary body, Cutler Chastain was determined to finish what he started. Even when his worried coach approached the mound, asking the toughest question a pitcher doesn’t want to hear or honestly answer, there was no way he was surrendering the baseball.
Win or lose, with a memory-making victory or heartbreaking loss at stake, Chastain was the horse Bedford North Lawrence rode in on. And the Stars were rewarded for their faith in the junior hurler with a triumph for the ages.
After weaving through more traffic than a Kentucky Derby winner, Chastain was the stallion that powered BNL to a gutsy win and program history. As Chastain completed a heroic performance with his 16th strikeout, the Stars exploded in euphoria with a tense 3-2 win over Jeffersonville in the Hoosier Hills Conference championship on Friday night.
The league dates back to 1973, and the baseball title is the one with the most parody. Jeffersonville owns the most conference crowns with 11, and the Red Devils were the defending champion. BNL, for all its glory and tradition, for all the outstanding players and teams that have graced the diamond, had never won the coveted jewel.
Until now. The Stars exorcised a curse, the demons, whatever had been keeping them from joining the list of champions. That’s over. That’s why they erupted with unabashed glee, with the emotions spewing out like a volcanic eruption. This was for 50-plus years of frustration, for all those who have worn the uniform.
”What an accomplishment,” BNL coach Steven McNabb said. “They can’t take it away from them now. They were the first ones.”
Heroes were everywhere as BNL won at Jeffersonville, officially known as Don Poole Field but a den of devils for the Stars during their history, for the first time since 2016. Chastain allowed only four hits while hurling 123 pitches. Grady Dalton was a key figure during the two-run sixth that gave the Stars the lead, and he threw out a runner at the plate in the seventh to cut down the tying run. Reece Goodgame came through with a clutch two-out RBI in the seventh for what proved to be the winning run.
“It’s awesome,” Dalton said. “We showed a lot of perseverance. There’s been a lot of ups and downs, injuries, and this shows a lot about us. It shows the kind of teams we are.”
For the first five innings, pitchers ruled. Jeff starter Evan Shelton was working some devilish magic, throwing a no-hitter until Gates ripped a two-out double down the left-field line in the sixth. Dalton followed with a soft ground ball to third base, but he reached when the throw to first was dropped. Gates never slowed to score the first run, and Chastain crushed a triple to deep right-center for a 2-0 lead.
The Red Devils (13-9) did not die easily. They scored a run in the sixth on a BNL error, but with runners on second and third, Gates fanned Grant Smith looking to escape.
In the seventh, Chase Rynders singled and Riley Sons reached on an error. With two outs, Goodgame stroked a solid single to center for what would be a crucial insurance run.
The Devils threatened immediately in the seventh when Chastain allowed a single to the first batter and hit the next. When Carter Durbin dropped a sacrifice bunt, Chastain’s throw to first went to an uncovered bag as the ball bounced into right field. With the first runner already home, Dalton hustled in from right to back up the play at first and fired a high strike to the plate. Gates skied to snag the rocket throw and fell to the turf to tag out Jeff’s Braylon Gray.
“He was waiting for that play,” Chastain said. “That was amazing.”
“That was unbelievable,” Gates added. “All I had to do was jump up and tag him.”
With Durbin perched on third, still representing the tying run, Chastain struck out the next two batters, both looking, to set off the wild celebration.
Wow. What a finish, what a win. Jeffersonville came in as the hottest team in the league with an eight-game winning streak. BNL left with the crown.
“It was not easy at all,” Dalton said. “There’s a lot of nerves in these kind of games.”
“It’s awesome,” Chastain said. “This group has been working for something like this, dreaming about this since we were little kids.”
Chastain, the Indiana State recruit, was the workhorse. After throwing six innings in the HHC opening win over New Albany on Monday, he came back with a gritty complete game, with no fuel left at the end. Only fumes and heart.
“I can’t say enough good things about Cutler,” McNabb said. “I knew Jeff would not go away quietly, and we made a couple of bad mistakes. When you have a guy like Cutler, and guy like Cam behind the plate, you give yourself a chance.
“We overthrew him a little bit, but the HHC championship for the first time in school history was worth it. He wanted it, he wouldn’t let me take him out, and the guys wouldn’t let me take him out. They were all in on him.”
“If it wasn’t for adrenaline, that would have been tough to get through,” Chastain said. “But in that spot, as the ace, I have to get through it and get it done for my guys.”
Almost lost in all the celebration was the Goodgame impact.
“What a senior he’s been, what a senior leader he is for our school, for our team,” McNabb said. “A great young man, it couldn’t have happened to a better kid. You have to get those things done, two-out hitting and timely runs. That got us to a HHC championship.”
The Stars improved to 11-8 with their fourth straight win. That last three mattered the most.
“It means everything, it’s huge,” Gates said. “We started off the season rough, but man, have we brought it back.”
BNL will have to bounce back for a rematch with Jennings County on Monday.
