Peak Paulik: Rochester pitcher maxes out on pitches in 10-win over Wabash

Dunfee has 3 hits, including go-ahead 2-run double in 10th

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Carson Paulik Trenton Meadows Conner Dunfee

WABASH – Carson Paulik maxed out on pitches, and the Rochester baseball team needed every last one of them to beat No. 8 Wabash at Chris Rood Field Monday.

Meanwhile, Conner Dunfee drove in the go-ahead runs with a two-run double as part of a three-run 10th, and Brant Beck added a sacrifice fly as the Zebras beat the Apaches 4-1.

Rochester improved to 9-8 overall and 3-1 in the Three Rivers Conference.

“A lot better than what we’ve seen,” Good said when asked to describe his team’s grit. “We gave them one run and put ourselves in that situation a little bit, but we just grinded it out. … Just battled all day long. It’s what we’ve been needing to see. We know that Wabash team is good and going to be scrappy. Just a good hard-fought game by both teams there.”

It was the latest, but not the first, nerve-wracking 10-inning game that Paulik has pitched against Wabash on their field. In the 2024 sectional final, Paulik struck out eight in five innings of relief and was the winning pitcher as Rochester rallied from a 5-0 deficit to win 7-6.

This time, he pitched nine innings and allowed five hits and one unearned run while walking two and striking out 13.

In the bottom of the ninth, Sam Harris led off with a triple to deep right field. Paulik then got Remi Cressell on a pop to second baseman Brant Beck right behind the first base bag. Harris bluffed but stayed at third.

One out.

That brought up freshman Eli Eltzroth, who did not start the game but was inserted as a pinch runner in the seventh inning.

Eltzroth came into the at-bat 0 for 6 in his career. On a 2-1 pitch, he bunted foul, and third baseman Linden Wilburn ran it down behind home plate.

Two out.

At that point, the Rochester and Wabash coaching staffs appeared to disagree as to how many pitches Paulik had thrown. Rochester claimed Paulik had thrown 119 pitches; Wabash coach Jack Holley claimed Paulik had gone past the maximum limit of 120 for a game.

A pitcher can throw no more than 120 pitches in a high school baseball game in Indiana. Once a pitcher has thrown 120, he must be removed from the game and rest four days from pitching. 

Holley, Rochester coach Cory Good and the two umpires conferred for several minutes near the third baseline.

The game resumed. Paulik was still on the mound. He could face one more batter using as many pitches as he needed before having to be replaced.

Four pitches later, he blew away Treyce Daughtry with a fastball.

Three outs.

Paulik appeared to momentarily yell and then tip his cap as he walked off the mound.

Both teams used GameChanger, a commonly used app used for box scores and stat keeping for amateur baseball, for this game. Coaches for each team typically keep stats on a tablet while the game proceeds and GameChanger subscribers can monitor the game while it is in progress.

Pitch counts are one of the stats kept on GameChanger. Umpires do not track or legislate pitch counts during a game; rather, a pitcher’s pitch count is kept on an honor system between teams. In postseason play, tournament organizers often keep track of pitch counts to try to alleviate any disputes, and at some modern high school ballparks, pitch counts are kept on the scoreboard for all observers to notice.

Pitch counts often are not a topic for controversy during regular season games as coaches try to moderate pitchers’ workloads so they will be at their strongest at the end of the season and for the postseason.

But this game, which seemingly could have conference title implications, was not like most.

The disagreement was apparent: Rochester’s Game Changer listed Paulik as throwing 123 pitches while Wabash’s GameChanger had Paulik at 127.

“I knew the only way he’d get to 120 was if we went to extras,” Good said. “And that’s how these games have gone the last couple years, just good, hard-fought games. We felt comfortable with Paulik. He was really efficient early. We talked to Parker in the ninth. Carson had 13 pitches left by our count. We wanted to make sure that Parker was good coming in whatever situation he was stuck with, and he was. So no, I didn’t really see that going to 120, but I also didn’t see it going 10 innings.”

(Wabash also incorrectly listed Paulik as pitching 9 ⅓ innings. In fact, he pitched nine innings.)

The game moved on.

“Nothing close to 120,” Paulik said when asked if he had ever come close to throwing 120 pitches. “But it was a good experience for sure. I’ve never gone nine innings, so it was a lot of fun.”

Zakk Parks singled off the glove of first baseman Mackey Sorg to lead off the top of the 10th against Wabash’s Cooper Long, pitching in relief of Sorg. Brady Coleman bunted Parks to second, and when the throw was dropped for an error and rolled down the right field line, Rochester had runners at second and third. Parker Casper grounded to third with the runners holding.

Paulik was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Dunfee then hit a sinking liner to left center. Wabash center fielder Jake Sailors made a diving attempt at it but could only knock it down. Parks and Coleman scored, and Paulik raced to third on the double.

Dunfee said he has been hitting with “high confidence” in recent games.

“Well, I only saw curve balls in that at-bat, so it was kind of rough,” Dunfee said. “I went down 1-2 and knew I had to put the ball in play. I just had to sit back on something and hope I could get the ball in play. It landed, came across and got two RBIs.”

Beck’s fly ball to Sailors in center was deep enough to score Paulik to make it 4-1.

Casper relieved Paulik in the bottom of the 10th and got Sailors on a fly to left and Keaton Lane on a strikeout looking. He walked Long but got Haiden McWhirt on a pop to Dunfee at first base to end it.

“It’s what we expected to come in here and do,” Paulik said. “All confidence in the guys. They always have my back, and we have each other’s back. It gives us the power to think we can beat anybody.”

Rochester took a 1-0 lead in the third on Paulik’s sacrifice fly in the third. Paulik retired 11 straight batters at the start before giving up back-to-back hits to McWhirt and Sorg in the fourth, but he got Harris on a tapper out in front of the plate to Parks to retire the side.

Wabash tied it when Cressell scored on a throwing error while in a rundown in the fifth.

Paulik walked Long to start the sixth but got the next three batters with help from Wilburn, who made a diving play to his left and then got up and threw to first to rob Sorg.

But the best defensive play might have come after McWhirt doubled with two outs in the eighth. Sorg launched a fly to deep left at the cavernous Wabash ballpark. Both left fielder Trenton Meadows and center fielder Casper chased it back to the warning track before Meadows caught it at top speed.

This marathon was moving onto the ninth inning.

“Just two guys flying after the baseball,” Good said. “Casper’s flying after it. Meadows is flying after it. Like I said, game-saving catch. We know Meadows can be a weapon for us. We’ve tried to get him to be more so a weapon for us, and that’s what he’s capable of. He’s got some really good speed, and he can get after it, and that’s what we’re hoping for on those.”

Rochester 4, Wabash 1 (10 innings)

Rochester 001 000 000 3 – 4 9 2

Wabash 000 010 000 0 – 1 5 2

WP – Carson Paulik (9 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 13 K)

LP – Cooper Long (3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K)

2B – Conner Dunfee (RHS), Haiden McWhirt (WAB)

3B – Sam Harris (WAB)