Cats Come Up Short

The Norwell Knights (35-0) completed an undefeated season behind the strength of senior pitcher Jarrod Parker as he struck out seven batters from Evansville Mater Dei (22-13) en route to a 5-0 victory in the Class 3A state finals. Parker pitched a complete game to extend his record to a perfect 12-0 while Mater Dei senior Cody Brandenstein took the loss finishing the season 8-5. The Knights plated two in the bottom of the first as Parker drove a pitch over the left field wall with junior catcher Rhett Goodmiller aboard who had reached on a walk. That would prove to be all the scoring the Knights would need as Parker scattered six hits and only one Wildcat runner reached third base. In the second inning, Norwell added three runs as senior second baseman Andrew Gerz led the inning off with a single. Junior first baseman Ryne Otis’ deep fly ball to left bounced off the top of the scoreboard and over the fence for a ground-rule double. With runners at second and third, senior designated hitter Brandon Huggins was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs. A perfectly executed squeeze bunt by freshman Klay Fiechter scored Gerz and all runners were safe as no Wildcat was covering first base. Senior center fielder Scott Woodward then reached on an infield single and senior shortstop Kreigh Williams flew out to left field scoring Huggins. Goodmiller came to the plate and singled to left scoring Fiechter to round out the scoring for the Knights. The greatest Mater Dei threat came in the fifth inning after singles by senior designated hitter Ryan Wink and junior left fielder Alex Weinzapfel. Sophomore second baseman Jake Weinzapfel added to the drama with a two out walk. With the Mater Dei crowd sensing a rally, Parker forced senior shortstop Adam Schenk to fly out to right field to end the inning and any Mater Dei title hopes. Schenk accounted for two of the six Wildcat hits as he doubled down the left field line in the first and singled in the fourth. Coming into the championship game, Parker had allowed only 19 hits in 63 innings. Mater Dei, coached by 11th year coach Darin Knight, was making its first appearance in the 3A finals as their state title in 1999 and runner up finish in 1998 came as a 2A school. Norwell head coach Kelby Weybright is in his sixth year at the helm of the Knights. His squad gave up only four runs in the six post season games while Parker allowed only one earned run all year. Parker was drafted ninth overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks in Major League Baseball’s draft earlier this month. Courtesy: IHSAA