LINING IT UP — Indian Creek’s Ty Householder takes a swing against Harrison Central on Friday afternoon. Creek pulled away from the Huskies to sweep a home-and-home set. - Andrew Grimm

Harrison Central found out first hand the hard way.

In the second meeting in as many days between the teams that entered the week in the top four of the OVAC Class 4A standings, the Huskies rallied to knot the score in the top of the fifth.

From there, Creek responded right away in the bottom half and plated the last seven runs to pull away for a 9-2 victory at Muth Field and a sweep of the regular season series.

The offensive outburst came less than 24 hours after Creek used a four-run inning to break open a 5-0 win in Cadiz on Thursday night.

Indian Creek shortstop Gavin Pownall fires to first for an out - Andrew Grimm

“We had to change our mindset at the plate, their guy (Hunter Snyder) was doing a good job on the mound keeping us off balance … we had a little talk and talked about driving the ball the other way,” Indian Creek head coach Mike Cottis said. “We stuck with it and stuck with the plan and, even though it took a while, we got the bats going.

“Harrison Central is a good team, they’re young and they battle. Both games were closer than the scores show. It’s good to go against them and test each other. That was two good teams going at it.”

Sylus Hyde had a big day for the Redskins, which improved to 8-1, finishing a homer shy of the cycle with two RBIs. Gavin Pownall had two hits and drove in three runs and Sal Barcalow had a double and a triple.

“That is two in a row it just got away from us,” Harrison Central head coach Mike Valesko said. “For 12 of the 14 innings, it was two very good baseball games. Unfortunately those two innings got away from us. (Creek) is a veteran team, their guys have been in a lot of big games and big situations and when the game is tight, they don’t panic, they just keep finding a way.”

Creek got on the board first when Hyde cranked a two-out RBI triple, then he scored on Pownall’s RBI single to make it a 2-0 lead.

Harrison Central’s Reed Arbaugh attempts to turn a double play. - Andrew Grimm

That remained the score until the top of the fifth when the Huskies (8-4) came clawing back. Reed Arbaugh hit an RBI double to cut the margin in half, then Lance Smith singed to bring him home and knot the score at 2-2.

The tie, however, was short lived.

In the bottom half, again with two outs, Hyde hit an RBI double, Pownall singled to drive him in, Dom DeGruttola doubled to make it a three-run lead then Caleb Bodo capped a string of back-to-back-to-back-to-back two-out hits with an RBI single to make it a 6-2 Creek lead.

An inning later, Hunter Rusnak hit an RBI single, then Barcalow’s base knock brought in another run before Pownall hit a sac fly to cap the scoring.

James Brothers worked a scoreless final 2 2/3 innings in relief to get the win. Pownall tossed the first 4 1/3, striking out six in the no decision.

Indian Creek’s Sal Barcalow races home for a run. - Andrew Grimm

With the way the standings were shaping up, it seemed possible, if not likely the teams could meet a third time on Monday in the OVAC semifinals. The pairings will be announced over the weekend.

“Coming into this week I didn’t know what to expect playing these guys twice, we knew they’re good, everyone knows they’re good,” Valesko said. “I think we’re good, we’re maturing, but we haven’t played as many of the big games as they have. This was a big test for us, a big opportunity and our guys were excited to play them.

“We didn’t back down from the challenge, we gave them 12 really good innings. Unfortunately for us, those other two innings count too.

“It sounds like we’ll play them again on Monday, we know it’ll be a dogfight again. That’s what you want, in order to get where we want to go we need to play in big games against good teams like this.”

UP NEXT

Harrison Central: Was slated to host Monroe Central on Saturday prior to Monday’s OVAC semis.

Indian Creek: Has the weekend off before hosting an OVAC semifinal on Monday.

Indian Creek 9, Harrison Central 2

HC 0-0-0 0-2-0 0 – 2 7 1

IC 2-0-0 0-4-3 x – 9 11 1

HARRISON CENTRAL (8-4): Snyder (LP, 6R, 6ER, 7H, 5K, 3BB), Pelegreen (1IP, 3R, 3ER, 4H, 0K, 0BB) and Pelegreen. Snyder D; Arbaugh D. S, RBI; Mizer 2S; Stoneking S; Smith S, RBI.

INDIAN CREEK (8-1): Pownall (4 1/3IP, 2R, 2ER, 5H, 5K, 1BB), Brothers (WP, 2 2/3IP, 0R, 2H, 2K, 2BB) and Rusnak. Rusnak S, RBI; Barcalow D, S, RBI; Hyde T, D, S, 2RBIs; Pownall 2S, 3RBIs; DeGruttola D, RBI; Bodo S, RBI; Starkey S.