Fall Creek baseball claims first regional title since 2012 with win over Durand-Arkansaw

FALL CREEK — Heath Rosemeyer may be just a freshman at Fall Creek High School, but he is unlike others when he steps on a pitching mound.

>It’s why Fall Creek baseball coach Matt Prissel trusted Rosemeyer to start and finish his first playoff game, a 1-0 Division 3 regional final win over Durand-Arkansaw on Wednesday in Fall Creek.

>“He's been in big moments this season,” Prissel said. “He’s a big time player. Big time players make big time plays and he did that time and time again today.”

>The Crickets (23-3-1) relied on Rosemeyer for all seven innings, where he struck out three and limited the Panthers to just two hits.

>“It was a little scary out there, especially at the end it got quite shaky,” Rosemeyer said. “But, we pulled through. It was a great game. My defense, they were amazing.”

>Fall Creek claimed its 11th regional baseball title and first since 2012 with the win.

>“Anytime you have the opportunity to lift some hardware up in front of the kids, families and community members, that's huge,” Prissel said. “Playing for plaques is a really big deal, and I'm incredibly proud of our guys.”

>“This is amazing,” Rosemeyer said. “Fall Creek has an amazing program. These juniors have been here for a while, and they've just been grinding, and it’s been an amazing year.”

>The Crickets will face Elk Mound in the sectional semifinals next Tuesday in Cumberland. The Crickets and Mounders split a pair of games in the regular season to share the Western Cloverbelt title.

>The lone scoring came in the Fall Creek first inning, as a sharp Ethan Westrate grounder was snagged by Durand third baseman Jacob Poeschel, whose throw to first was wide, allowing Finley Wright to score from second base.

>From there, the proverbial scoring door was shut thanks to Rosemeyer and Panthers pitcher Dylan Berger.

>“Today was a nail biter,” Prissel said. “I give Durand a ton of credit. Their pitcher had us off balance. Their defense was really good, and that one run that we scored off an error in the first inning was huge.”

>“We had a heck of a play at third in the first inning. The throw was errant, and they scored the run,” Durand-Arkansaw coach Tony Hansen said.

>Berger fought through six innings of one-run ball, striking out five Crickets.

>“Dylan Berger came in here and held this team to one run,” Hansen said. “We did everything we needed pitching wise and defense. We just, for some reason, couldn't hit tonight.”

>Durand-Arkansaw (17-5) came within touching distance of tying and winning Wednesday.

>The Panthers got two runners on with star hitter Brett Breidung up in the sixth inning. But, three pitches later, Breidung walked away in frustration after striking out.

>“That was our haymaker inning,” Hansen said. “You got to give credit to their pitcher. He was on today.”

>“I was super excited with that one,” Rosemeyer said. “I want to thank my catcher (Jamison Rochester). He made a great call.”

>Fall Creek is now two wins away from its third state appearance and first since 1998.

>“Elk Mound is a really good program,” Prissel said. “We know we're going to have our work cut out for us, but we're just thrilled to have the opportunity to compete.

>“They know us, we know them. So, there aren't going to be a lot of surprises in that game.”