Valparaiso sophomore Caden Crowell is in a groove.
With sectionals beginning next week, the timing couldn’t be better for the Vikings.
“His last three starts really has been the Caden of last year,” Valparaiso coach Todd Evans said. “He really can take over and dominate a game.”
Crowell, who committed to Louisville in September 2021 before he even threw a pitch in high school, has been on fire since the calendar turned to May.
The 6-foot-2 left-hander has thrown a complete game in each of his past three starts, allowing two runs on 14 hits and one walk for a 0.67 ERA while striking out 38. Two of those games were shutouts, including a no-hitter against Merrillville. Until this stretch, he hadn’t pitched seven innings in a game this season.
“He just wasn’t as sharp early on. That’s all,” Evans said. “The tools are still there. He just wasn’t as sharp. The weather starts to warm up, the arm feels a little bit better. He definitely has been a lot more dominant these last couple of starts.”
Crowell’s latest performance was a gem, as Valparaiso edged visiting LaPorte 1-0 on Tuesday.
In a matchup with LaPorte ace RJ Anglin, with second place behind Duneland Athletic Conference champion Lake Central on the line, Crowell tossed a seven-hitter with no walks and 12 strikeouts. Anglin allowed just one hit, a bunt in the decisive fifth inning, with 10 strikeouts and two walks.
Crowell improved to 3-2 with a 2.21 ERA for the Vikings (14-9, 10-3). He has 68 strikeouts and nine walks in 38 innings.
He debuted as a freshman by going 7-0 with a 0.98 ERA, 77 strikeouts and 19 walks in 43 innings.
“At the beginning of the year, I was struggling a little bit,” Crowell said. “The last three starts, I’ve been really good. But as a team, we’re starting to turn it on at the right time. We’re starting to pick it up at the right time, which is huge.
“That was a big win for us because coming in here I knew Anglin was going to be tough to pitch against. I knew it was going to be a pitchers’ duel, and he had a phenomenal game. That’s just good baseball right there.”
A relatively small change has made a big difference, according to Crowell.
“At the beginning of the year, I wasn’t attacking the hitters as much. I was trying to work around them,” he said. “But then I realized I’m that guy in the area, I’m going to attack hitters and I’m going to get them out. I’m going to put them away.
“I just have to get ahead with my fastball, and I’ve used my fastball a ton more than the beginning of the year. And I feel like I have a lot more confidence in my team the last few games because we’ve really cleaned it up defensively, for sure.”
Neither the Vikings nor the Slicers (16-8, 9-4) committed an error on Tuesday, with the teams scheduled to conclude their series on Wednesday at LaPorte.
Valparaiso scored the lone run in the fifth. Ian Wilson led off with a walk. With Wilson on second, Miles Cvelbar attempted to advance his teammate to third and wound up rolling a bunt for a hit to put runners on the corners. Trevor Fenters followed with a sacrifice fly to left field.
“I was trying to push it to the right side, and it just landed in the perfect spot,” Cvelbar said.
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Crowell worked around a double with two outs in the sixth and then a leadoff single in the seventh, when he stranded the runner at third to complete the shutout.
“The kid’s a stud,” Cvelbar said of Crowell. “Great kid. He did his thing (Tuesday). He was in the zone the whole day.
“I always knew he had it in him. Last year he really showed himself, and he’s starting to even beat his outings he had last year. He’s really coming into himself and throwing the ball well.”
What Crowell, who also plays first base and was hitting .288 with 17 RBIs, accomplished last season heightened the intensity this season.
“At the beginning of the year, it was a little hard coming in here with all the high expectations,” Crowell said. “I don’t feel like my teammates put it on me, but I just put more pressure on myself than anyone else.
“I just had to refocus and be like, ‘Yeah, you don’t have to be as good as last year. You just have to be yourself and go out there and perform to the best of your abilities every single time and know you’re going to come out on top.'”
It’s not as though Crowell is a stranger to expectations. His father, Jim, a 1992 Valparaiso graduate, appeared in 10 games over three seasons with the Reds, Phillies and Marlins. A left-hander, too, Jim Crowell also spent parts of nine seasons at Triple-A, and he’s the Vikings’ pitching coach.
“He’s such a huge part of my life, not just on the field — off the field too,” Caden Crowell said. “If we’re at home, we’ll watch a baseball game, and I can ask him questions all the time about pitching. Or we’ll go throw a bullpen before I pitch, and he’ll catch me and make sure my stuff looks good.
“I love having him in the dugout. I’ve gotten to this point with him, and I appreciate everything he’s done.”