MV regional preview

We have a great day of baseball coming up for you tomorrow.

Here is the schedule at the Mt. Vernon regional:
11 a.m.: Mt. Vernon vs. Crawfordsville LISTEN LIVE
3 p.m.: Greensburg vs. Brebeuf
8 p.m.: Championship (click the link above to listen if Mt. Vernon is playing)

The first game pits the Marauders -- winners of their first sectional in 16 years -- against the Athenians, making their sixth straight regional appearance. Crawfordsville won the 2008 3A title and was a regional finalist last season, falling to New Palestine in the title game. It pits a coach in the 600 win club -- Crawfordsville's John Froedge -- against one who would get to 20 with a regional title, and one who will have *many* more in first-year MV mentor Eric Nielsen.

MV has been up-and-down, but was dominant in victories over Shelbyville and Rushville in the sectional, then used Zach McKinney's 3-run homer to give itself some distance in a 6-3 victory over New Palestine -- its first over the Dragons since 1998, and its first sectional title since 1995.

The likely pitching matchup looks pretty good. Logan Blair -- Wright State recruit, the guy who slowed NP's high-scoring offense on Monday night -- against Crawfordsville's Cory Rice. Blair is 8-2 with a 1.61 ERA, and has a 0.98 WHIP -- 42 hits, 18 walks in 61 innings pitched. He doesn't surrender many baserunners, and that makes life easy. He was able to retire the Dragons with several flyball outs. Rice has been Crawfordsville's workhorse, appearing in 14 games and posting a 10-2 record with a 2.11 ERA. He has struck out 99 batters in 56 1/3 innings, and also has a 0.99 WHIP -- 32 hits, 24 walks. With these two guys on the mound, expect a low-scoring game.

However, with those two offenses, expect anything but.

Crawfordsville is averaging 9.5 runs per game, and the pitching is allowing just 2.3 runs. The Sagamore Conference champs dominated their league, outscoring teams 167-7 in conference games and posting eight shutouts in their 14 league games. Crawfordsville's offense has been rolling of late. Since May 10, the Athenains have scored in double-digits in eight of their 11 games, going 10-1 in that stretch. Matter of fact, after a 3-4 start that included an 18-1 loss to West Lafayette on April 13, the Athenians have won 22 of their last 23 games, and most haven't been close. They have notable wins over Bloomington South (8-4 on May 7) and Hamilton Southeastern (9-2 on May 24). Offensively, they're led by sophomore Jordan Jackson, who is hitting .485 with eight homers, 49 RBI and 22 extra-base hits. He has also scored 54 times, a team-high. Junior Joel Hobson is hitting .505 with five homers, 40 driven in and 25 extra-base hits. Chris Minks (.460/9HR/53 RBI) is also above 40 ribbies for the year. Eight of their nine starters hit at least .330. Four are over .400.

MV is led by cleanup hitter Zach McKinney's power -- he had a huge sectional with a pair of homers, 11 RBI in going 5-for-11. McKinney has 10 homers, 43 RBI and 18 extra-base hits on the year. As a catcher, he also has a strong arm to gun down would-be base stealers. Speaking of would-be stealers, sophomore Troy Montgomery is a huge thorn in opponents' sides. As a leadoff hitter, he's a threat to get on base -- a .508 batting average -- but he's also a threat when he gets on. He has six homers, but he's stolen 27 bases and scored 30 times. Junior Drew Kammerer had a huge sectional, going 6-for-11 hitting in the No. 2 hole. Blair is the top average guy behind Montgomery by hitting .455, but there's a lot of balance throughout the lineup. MV was also error-free against New Palestine, a big key in its victory in the sectional title game.

It should be a great one. Join us at HancockCountySports.com. We'll have some early pregame updates on our Twitter feed with lineups & starting pitchers (http://twitter.com/hancockcosports) and then live play-by-play starting a few minutes before 11 a.m. with the lineups.