Every great pitcher loves to throw to a great catcher. Indiana pitcher Brady Oakes and catcher Ethan Shank formed a battery that looked unstoppable, or at least unhittable.
Oakes threw a no-hitter and Shank delivered at and behind the plate to power the Indians to a 10-0 victory in six innings in the PIAA Class 4A quarterfinals against Hopewell on Thursday at Gateway.
While reaching 10 runs gave the Indians the mercy-rule win, Oakes had perhaps his best outing of the season, stealing the show with 10 strikeouts. He also allowed two walks and hit a batter in 87 pitches.
“Brady Oakes was special today, throwing a no-hitter in a quarterfinal game of the state, and to do it the way he did it, with composure, poise, filled up the strike zone. … He did more than I could possibly ask,” Indiana coach Dan Petroff said.
Oakes wanted to rebound after lasting just one inning in the WPIAL championship game, in which he walked three batters and hit another among the seven he faced.
“It feels awesome. … I didn’t have a good WPIAL championship final, struggled a little bit, but with the best defense in the state, and I got great teammates, everything just makes me happy to go out there,” Oakes said. “And I know I’m gonna do well with them behind me.”
Oakes went 1 for 2 and drew two walks in his plate appearances, but Shank was the star of the Indians’ lineup.
Shank had a team-high three RBIs and had his pitcher’s back when he let runners on, throwing out three Vikings. The IUP commit caught two stealing second and fired a snap throw to first to pick off Hopewell’s Kingston Krotec in the first inning.
“I know on this turf, especially, that it gets a little slick in some spots, so once I see him get off (first), that’s going to be a tough, tough way to get back,” Shank said. “So I look for that big secondary lead for the pickoffs. For stealing, it’s all about my pitcher. He really gives me a chance, like slide-stepping and stuff. And then I’m pretty confident if he slides steps that I could throw him out.”
Sullivan VanHoose roped a leadoff ground-rule double over the right field wall to begin Indiana’s half of the second. Following a walk, a strikeout and a sacrifice, Indiana freshman Ben Cowburn drove a high fly ball to the warning track in center field that James Armstrong misjudged, and it got down for a two-run double.
“They hit the ball really well that inning. They were driving it; they were driving gaps. Yeah, a couple things happened, but it’s no excuse. They were able to put it out there and make that happen,” Hopewell coach Morgan Singletary said. “So, it’s an impressive team. … Those are the teams you need to beat if you want to be in that situation. And they played like they’re ready to win another state championship.”
The Indians continued the two-out rally thanks to Shank and Charlie Manzi each driving in two runs, the latter a double.
That closed the book on Hopewell’s Benjamin McDonald, who took the loss. The senior allowed six earned runs on four hits, struck out three and walked three in 1 2/3 innings. Payton Korker pitched the rest of the game for the Vikings, surrendering four runs on seven hits. Korker also had five strikeouts and two walks.
VanHoose then hit his second double of the inning, finishing the scoring in the frame.
All told, seven runs crossed home plate in the second before Hopewell recorded the final out. That gave Oakes plenty of run support and comfort, putting the game nearly out of reach early.
“We just had to take one pitch at a time, have fun, don’t press, and hitting’s contagious. Two games in a row, we’ve had 10-plus hits,” Petroff said. “A couple guys get it going, the rest jump on the wagon, keep it going themselves. They try to get to the next guy, so we’re very unselfish. You know, we’re up to bat, we just tell them all the time, ‘Look at the guy on deck,’ and ‘That’s who you’re batting for,’ because you want him to get up.”
Indiana got out of the fifth inning with a strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out double play, the third time the senior Shank threw out a batter.
The Indians added their eighth run in the bottom half of the inning when junior Dylan Shank hit Indiana’s sixth double of the game.
Indiana triggered the 10-run rule in the sixth when Shane McHugh beat out a throw from shortstop Collin Davis for an infield single with the bases loaded. Ethan Shank grounded out with runners on second and third to bring home the ninth run.
Armstrong reached on an error in the top of the fourth, but Shank soon threw him out trying to steal second.
Oakes struggled with control when he walked the second batter he faced, Krotec, on four pitches. But after Shank picked him off first, Oakes struck out Charles Smetana to conclude the inning.
“(Shank) is by far the best catcher in the state, receiving, blocking, handles our pitchers. He’s like having another coach back there,” Petroff said. “And I dare any team that wants to run on him because he’s accurate, and he has a really strong arm.”
Indiana advanced to plan the winner of Archbishop Wood (24-0) and Bellefonte (18-4) in the state semifinals Tuesday and took one step closer to defending its state title from a year ago.