St. John Neumann falls behind early, can’t catch up in 1A state semifinal

State semifinal baseball rarely forgives mistakes, and St. John Neumann found that out the hard way. Physical and mental errors plagued the Celtics in their Class 1A state semifinal clash against Orangewood Christian, falling 6-4 at Hammond Stadium on Thursday, May 14.

“I thought the offense put some good swings together, but we didn’t play catch,” St. John Neumann coach Charlie Maurer said. “In games like this, when it’s a one-game knockout, you can’t afford to not take care of the baseball.

But I’m super proud that they battled to the end. They’ve been doing that all year, and I’m really proud of how resilient this group is. ” Those miscues surfaced in the opening inning after Orangewood strung together three straight hits, including an RBI single from Max Sakala to make it 1-0.

With runners on first and third, Neumann starter MJ Hough tried to execute a third-to-first pickoff move, but Sakala’s courtesy runner was already three-quarters of the way to second base, leaving Darien Kester with no throw. An attempted pickoff at third base two pitches later by Hough was an errant one, going past third basemen Rowan Lee to make it 2-0. With a runner on third, Tre Roach hit a hard hit ball at Lee, which grazed off his glove to make it 3-0 before Neumann had logged a plate appearance.