Baseball draw: Rochester to get Manchester again in sectional

Valley, Pioneer get byes; Caston gets rematch of W. Central slugfest

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

After beating Manchester in extra innings in last year’s sectional quarterfinals and again in extras in their Three Rivers Conference meeting this year, the Rochester baseball team will encounter the Squires again in this year’s sectional, according to the IHSAA draw Sunday.

Meanwhile, Tippecanoe Valley, Pioneer and Winamac received byes. Also, Argos and Culver could meet in the semifinals while being assured of not having to face sectional host South Central (Union Mills) until the sectional final.

Also, Caston will get a rematch on their home field against a West Central team that edged them in a slugfest last week.

Sectionals will be held statewide from May 28-June 2. Due to a one-year change in the IHSAA calendar, sectionals will not start until after Memorial Day and will not end until the Monday after Memorial Day. Regionals are June 7, semistates are June 14, and the state title games will be played at Victory Field in Indianapolis June 20-21.

Sectional tickets are $7 per session, regional tickets are $10, semistate tickets are $12 per session, and state championship tickets are $15 per person per day.

Here is a closer look at the draw.

Rochester

No. 3 Rochester will travel to Oak Hill for their Class 2A, Sectional 38 quarterfinal showdown with No. 11 Manchester. This marks the first time since 2015 that Rochester has traveled somewhere other than Wabash for their sectional.

Rochester beat Manchester 2-0 in eight innings Wednesday with Carson Paulik throwing a no-hitter to win a pitcher’s duel from talented sophomore Harper Sturtsman. Paulik also beat Manchester 3-2 in eight innings in last year’s sectional quarterfinals.

Rochester went on to win the sectional and then their first regional title in school history before beating Westview in the semistate semifinals. Illiana Christian eliminated the Zebras in the semistate final.

The Rochester-Manchester survivor will face the Wabash-Eastern (Greentown) winner in the semifinals. Wabash and Eastern are not scheduled to meet during the regular season. Eastern is ranked No. 6.

In the other half of the draw, Lewis Cass and Oak Hill received byes and will meet each other in the semifinals. Oak Hill defeated Lewis Cass 9-6 April 16.

Tippecanoe Valley

Valley is 1-11 and struggling on the mound with a 10.50 team ERA. However, they drew a bye and will face West Noble (7-7) in the Class 3A, Sectional 20 semifinals at NorthWood.

Valley will be facing West Noble for the first time in the postseason since a 6-3 loss to the Chargers in the 2017 sectional.

Valley has won five sectional titles in its history. They won three in a four-year span from 2009-12, but they have not won one since.

In the other half of the draw, NorthWood drew Columbia City, and Fairfield drew Wawasee. NorthWood won their 13th sectional title last year.

Caston, Pioneer

Caston was leading West Central 10-1 in the sixth inning in Francesville April 28 when West Central detonated a 13-run explosion on the Comets to take a 14-10 lead. Caston rallied with four runs in the top of the seventh to tie it, but West Central eventually won 15-14 in eight innings.

Now they will meet again in the Class 1A, Sectional 50 quarterfinals at Caston. West Central is 6-9 while Caston is 13-5.

This will be the first sectional meeting between the Trojans and the Comets since a 4-2 Caston win in the 2022 quarterfinals at Caston. The Comets went on to win the sectional that year.

The West Central-Caston winner will meet the North White-South Newton winner in the semifinals. North White swept a doubleheader from South Newton (0-12) in their Midwest Conference meetings April 11.

In the other half of the draw, Pioneer received a bye and will play either Tri-County or North Newton in the semifinals.

Tri-County is 7-2, but one of their losses was a 9-8 loss to Pioneer in eight innings April 8. 

Tri-County swept a two-game Midwest Conference set from North Newton April 10-11.

Argos, Culver

Rivals Argos and Culver split a two-game Hoosier North series last week. They could meet for a third time in the Class 1A, Sectional 51 semifinals at South Central (Union Mills).

First, Argos must get by Elkhart Christian, and Culver must beat Oregon-Davis.

Elkhart Christian is 2-9 with both wins over South Bend Career Academy, who is winless.

Oregon-Davis is also winless and has scored five runs in 10 games. Meanwhile, Culver is 3-10 and has as many wins as Elkhart Christian, Argos and Oregon-Davis combined.

In the other half of the draw, North Judson drew Triton with the winner to face South Central, who received a bye.

South Central has won 18 sectionals. The other six schools in the sectional have won 23 sectionals combined.

Winamac

With South Bend Career Academy not fielding a team, that leaves a five-team field for Class 2A, Sectional 34 at Jimtown.

Winamac is one of three teams receiving a bye, and they will play Bremen in a semifinal. Winamac is 11-5 and coming off a doubleheader split with Caston Saturday. 

Winamac is seeking its first sectional title since 2022.

Bremen, who won a sectional title as recently as 2023, is 10-4 with all four losses coming to Class 3A and 4A teams.

In the other half of the draw, Jimtown will play LaVille in the quarterfinal with the winner to meet Knox in the semifinals. Jimtown and LaVille have not met yet; they will play a two-game Indiana Northern State Conference series against each other May 15-16. 

Knox is 9-6. Two of their losses are to Jimtown, but they also have a win over LaVille.