Baseball
Nisle, Bandura deliver big hits as Indians overcome Valparaiso
Nick Bandura's two-run homer in the seventh inning Wednesday in Lake Central's 4-2 victory over Valparaiso was the winning hit.
But it wasn't the most important hit.
That belonged to Ben Nisle.
Nisle's two-out double before Bandura's home run kept the game alive for the visiting Indians (13-6, 7-3).
It turned what could have been a heartbreaking defeat into a wild win that neither team will forget.
Nisle's double drove in Max Pattison and tied the game. It also took the pressure off Bandura.
Bandura drilled a fastball from Valparaiso pitcher Ray Kreloff, who had given up just two hits in the first six innings, over the 320-foot sign in left field.
The Lake Central dugout erupted.
The Indians had flipped the game on the Vikings after looking lost at the plate for six innings.
Bandura said he was just trying to find something to drive.
“I wanted to do what Ben did,” he said.
One extra reason for the euphoria was that the Vikings (10-7, 7-3), for a split second, thought they might have won.
Before Nisle's double, Tyler Frank struck out for the second out in the inning.
Pattison, who led off with a double, stole third on the play.
Vikings catcher Adrian Casaday made a nice throw to third, but Pattison was called safe on a close play.
Valparaiso coach Todd Evans protested the call by the base umpire, asking the plate umpire for help.
He got nowhere.
That's when Nisle came up and drilled the first pitch to right field for a double.
“I was just trying to keep it simple and not do too much,” Nisle said. “I was going to hit it if it was over the plate a little.”
Lake Central coach Mike Swartzentruber was happy to get out of town with a victory.
The Vikings came back to beat Lake Central 2-1 in the opening game of the series, scoring twice in the sixth on a balk and a wild pitch.
That ending left the Indians on edge coming into Wednesday's game.
The Vikings took a 2-1 lead when Marcus Gholston scored on a suicide squeeze bunt by Kreloff.
Swartzentruber acknowledged the game could have gone the other way.
“You thought you had the third out and then bang, bang and you get a home run,” he said. “I'm glad I'm not an umpire. I'll leave it at that. Those are two of the strangest games I've ever seen back to back.”
On the strange ending, Nisle said “there was a lot going on there.”
Evans, who didn't want to talk about the safe call on Pattison, said the team played well.
Just not well enough to win.
“I thought we played a good game,” he said. “We did things right when we needed to. Sometimes you do that and you still lose.”
PREVIOUS ARTICLE
