Hendryx: Jimtown’s 2-strike hitting impressive in Winamac sectional loss

‘It just got away in a hurry from us’

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

ELKHART — The Winamac baseball team and Jimtown were in the midst of a scoreless pitcher’s duel between Cody Wheeler and Jimtown’s Dalton Cook through two innings of their Class 2A, Sectional 34 semifinal at Jimtown’s Booster Field Friday.

What was shaping up as perhaps an intense postseason nailbiter turned into a nightmare for the Warriors.

Jimtown scored seven runs in the third, eight more in the fourth and four in the fifth and went on to win 19-0 in five innings.

Cook and Camden Flores combined on a one-hitter for Jimtown. Cook pitched the first two innings, and Flores pitched the final three. 

Cody Wheeler’s two-out double in the fourth was Winamac’s lone hit. Their only other baserunner was Luke Clemons, who reached first to lead off the game on a third strike wild pitch.

Winamac did not get a runner further than second base.

“Hey, Jimtown’s a good team, but they’re not 19 runs better than us, but tonight they were,” Winamac coach Mark Hendryx said. “We just couldn’t get any hits. We were kind of in a funk all night long.”

Meanwhile, Jimtown’s plate approach impressed Hendryx.

“They had 10 hits, and I bet eight of them were with two strikes,” Hendryx said. “That I think was the key to the whole game. They just poled the ball the opposite way when they got down, just what you teach your kids to do. Kudos to them. That’s the way you play baseball, and they did it really well.”

Wheeler took the loss. Hutch Martin and Bryant Galbreath followed him to the hill. Winamac pitchers combined to walk six, hit seven batters and throw four wild pitches.

Winamac also had four errors that led to nine unearned runs.

“We let some questionable calls mentally derail us, and that’s never happened before,” Hendryx said. “We got kinda rattled at a couple things that happened that is part of baseball. You can’t let it get under your skin. We kinda did, and it just got away in a hurry from us.”

Hendryx later said that the team “mentally became unglued.”

“The good thing is we’re starting four sophomores and two freshmen, so we’ll come back a little stronger and a little better,” Hendryx said.

The sophomore starters included first baseman Clemons; catcher Xavier Adriano; and Martin, who started at third base but who has also seen time at second base and shortstop in addition to the mound. Liam Burton is another sophomore who did not play Friday but saw extensive action during the season. 

Galbreath and Peyton Burke are the freshman starters.

Jimtown improved to 13-11. Winamac finished 11-12.

After the game, Hendryx talked to the whole team and then dismissed seniors Will Malchow, Kaden Runk, Charles Cottrell, Carter Ulerick and Rylan Holly and talked to the non-seniors. He reminded the non-seniors that the leader in every statistical category on the team was within that group.

The loss ended a season in which Hendryx could not be with the team during offseason activities after he received a cancer diagnosis last year. He had surgery last year and is still going through treatment.

Hendryx is in his second stint as Winamac coach. He coached from 1998-2012 and returned in 2023.

“Because of my illness, I wasn’t there this winter,” Hendryx said. “It was a weird winter. My three coaches did a great job, but it’s not the same when the head coach isn’t there going through all your drills. They’ll come back hungry, and I’ll remind them of this next October.”

Hendryx said his health is improving and said he plans on being an assistant coach on new football coach Eric Davis’ staff this fall.

“I got one more treatment, and I got some radiation and stuff,” Hendryx said. “I expect by mid-July I’ll be all done and on the path to recovery.”

The rest of the sectional

Bremen won the sectional, taking out LaVille 10-0 in five innings in the quarterfinals Wednesday and Knox 7-5 in the semifinals Friday before beating Jimtown 3-1 Monday.

Bremen trailed Knox 5-0 in going into the bottom of the fourth in their semifinal before coming back.

Bremen will play Bluffton in a regional at NorthWood Saturday.

Jimtown 19, Winamac 0 (5 innings)

Jimtown 007 84 – 19 10 0

Winamac 000 00 – 0 1 4

WP – Kamden Flores (3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K)

LP – Cody Wheeler (2 ⅔ IP, 3 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 3 HBP, 2 K)

2B – Owen Biggs 2 (JIM), Cody Wheeler (WIN)

3B – Brodric Kaler (JIM)