Good: Zebras ‘calm,’ ‘loose’ on eve of 2A semistate

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

On the eve of their first semistate game in program history, the Rochester baseball team has stayed focused in practice this week, according to coach Cory Good.

Rochester will play Westview in a Class 2A semistate semifinal at 2 p.m. today at Oak Hill. The winner will play either Illiana Christian or Madison-Grant in the final at 8 p.m.

Players can just focus on baseball now as they do not face any more school work. 

“Anytime you get to after school and graduation’s past and there are lot more options on the table for these kids, it’s always interesting to see do they still want to be there?” Good said. “And they definitely still want to be there. And that’s been something that’s been super encouraging to me is just seeing those guys want to come in and get better every day. Just calm, loose. It doesn’t seem like we’re wrapped up in the moment and getting too far ahead of ourselves or worried about what’s around the corner.”

With Rochester winning their regional over Benton Central on Saturday and with Westview’s regional win against Eastbrook being pushed back to Monday due to rain, that allowed Good to see Westview in person.

“Very solid team, top to bottom,” Good said of Westview. “I think they have a very competitive lineup. Honestly, it reminds me of our lineup a little bit. They have a couple left-handed sticks that we don’t have, but it’s a pretty solid one-through-nine.”

Junior Max Engle is 8-3 with a 1.72 ERA, and he pitched both Westview’s sectional final win over Eastside and the Eastbrook game. He has 118 strikeouts over a gargantuan 69-inning workload.

His twin brother Jaxon is the catcher and leadoff hitter. 

Rochester has faced “not many” lefties like Max Engle, and he has big-game experience after beating Fort Wayne Luers to win the school’s first regional title in 2023.

“They’re quite a duo back there,” Good said of the Engle twins. “Very strong team. Experienced, been there, done that before too, you know. … He’s got a good mix of pitches. He’s got a good fastball that he can bring in there at pretty good velocity. Looks like he’s got a curve ball he likes to throw. I’ve heard people call it different things. I’ve heard the term ‘slurve.’ I’ve heard he has both a curve and a slider, but he just has a good mix of pitches and is very experienced on the mound as well too.”

Other keys to the lineup include senior shortstop and No. 2 hitter Braden Kauffman; senior center fielder and No. 3 hitter Micah Miller, who had two triples and a double in the Eastbrook game; and senior third baseman and cleanup hitter Mason Wire, who is hitting .388 with a team-high 37 RBIs.

“They start with a non-prototypical leadoff hitter with the catcher there, but it’s just solid,” Good said of Westview’s lineup. “I think they’re really probably a good six-deep, and anytime you can get past five or six-deep, your lineup’s going to be pretty potent, so that’s what stood out.”

Rochester has seen potent lineups all season. They played 16 nonconference  games against teams that won 10 or more games. That included a season-opening road trip to play Madison and Jeffersonville and games against Warsaw, Twin Lakes and Concord, all of whom won 20 or more.

Twin Lakes will play in the Class 3A semistate at Kokomo today, and Concord will play in the Class 4A semistate at Lafayette Jeff’s Loeb Stadium.

“That’s one thing that I’ve really tried to make sure we have every year is a tough schedule to go against,” Good said. “That’s really one reason why I like playing our conference opponents one time is just to beef up that nonconference schedule. I’ve been in meetings or stuff with different coaches or district meetings and guys that aren’t that familiar with us, and one thing they always say once they look at it is, ‘Wow, you guys play a tough schedule.’ We added to that this year by going to Jeffersonville and Madison, and I think it prepares us for this.

“I don’t know that many people would have thought we’d be playing in the semistate after the first month of the season or maybe even more, but I truly think from all aspects of the game, from pitchers facing better hitters to hitters facing better pitchers to people putting pressure on our defense, A through Z I think it prepares uis better for these moments, and I think part of the resiliency that our team’s had is, ‘Hey, they may not be any better than teams we’ve played during the regular season, so we can handle this. So I think that’s been a huge part to this.”

TODAY’S CLASS 2A OAK HILL SEMISTATE MATCHUPS

Madison-Grant vs. Illiana Christian, 11 a.m.

Westview vs. Rochester, 2 p.m.

Final, 8 p.m.