It took Munster’s Ben Greiner three at-bats to find the right approach.
The senior shortstop struck out in his first two plate appearances Monday, operating on the wrong side of the aggression spectrum each time.
“In the first at-bat I watched all three,” he said. “In the second at-bat, I was too aggressive. The third at-bat I stayed patient and waited for my pitch, and I applied the same thing to my fourth at-bat.”
That fourth at-bat was the most crucial as Greiner drove in the winning run for the Mustangs to clinch a 2-1 win over Lake Central in the Class 4A Merrillville Sectional championship game.
The win gave Munster (20-11) its first sectional title since 2016, snapping a three-year streak of sectional championships for Lake Central (22-8).
Munster’s offense didn’t come to life until the fifth inning because Lake Central senior Carter Doorn — a Purdue commit — was unhittable through the first four innings.
Doorn racked up 10 of the first 12 outs via strikeout, carrying a no-hitter into the fifth. Then, in the sixth, Greiner led off with a double and later scored on an RBI single by sophomore Denham Kozy to force a 1-1 tie.
A successful approach in that at-bat set the stage for Greiner’s heroics in the seventh. His hit scored senior Derrick Wiening from second base after Wiening opened the inning with a walk.
“In my last at-bat, I hit a curveball pretty far into the gap, so I was sitting on it,” Greiner said. “He just hung it and I took it down the line.”
Lake Central was in cruise control early, riding Doorn’s arm to a 1-0 lead after junior right fielder Connor Misch drew a bases-loaded walk in the fourth to put the Indians ahead.
But Lake Central didn’t add any more runs in that inning and failed to capitalize on other scoring chances in the early going, something coach Mike Swartzentruber lamented after the game.
“When you’re up 1-0 and you don’t add on when you have chances, it always seems to come back to haunt you,” he said. “Then they started putting a few balls in play, and it seemed like every ball they put in play was a hit.”
Munster senior Bryce Schaum was the architect of those escaped jams, leaving the bases loaded twice during his five-inning start. He scattered two hits and eight walks, surviving enough to only allow one run.
Schaum said the early inning dominance of Doorn fueled his own adrenaline rushes on the mound.
“Those are the most fun games, when you’re facing one of the best pitchers in the area,” Schaum said. “I didn’t have close to my best stuff, but I’m just glad I was able to get out of it.”
Munster coach Bob Shinkan also pointed to Schaum’s ability to work through those pressure situations as a vital component of the Mustangs’ win.
“We got out of some jams when they could’ve scored a few more runs,” Shinkan said. “But Bryce just reached back and pitched out of it while the defense helped him out a bit.”
The perseverance shown by Schaum was prevalent across Munster’s roster in this game and throughout the season, according to Shinkan.
“Doorn had some of his best stuff,” Shinkan said. “He was hitting 92 or 93 (mph) in the first couple of innings and had us baffled.
“But I’m just so proud of these kids for not giving up and for my coaching staff because they’ve all done such a tremendous job this year.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.