Harrison baseball faced pitching dilemma. Chase Gothrup solved it
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LAFAYETTE − Pat Lowrey waivered back and forth on who to hand the ball for Saturday's Class 4A sectional baseball semifinal.
Harrison had two good starting pitching options in Chase Gothrup and Indiana All-Star Lyrik Neal.
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Lowrey elected to go with Gothrup, who made a wise decision maker of his head coach.
The junior threw a complete game, striking out 15 and walking none while allowing four hits and no earned runs in Harrison's 6-1 victory over Lafayette Jeff.
"He looked good," senior catcher Sieger Geswein said of Gothrup. "He was pounding the fastball, hitting the spots, and he'd come in there with a good curve ball and they couldn't do anything about it."
This one felt particularly good for Gothrup.
He entered the sectional with a sparkling 1.34 earned run average, but with a less than desirable 1-3 record.
"Chase had a phenomenal year," Lowrey said. "We unfortunately haven't given him a whole lot of runs, but the offense did what they had to do today. Knowing Chase was on the mound, we didn't have to get a whole lot."
It was Gothrup's best performance of the season Saturday, which is saying a lot.
Despite the 1-3 record, he'd struck out 49 and allowed just eight earned runs in 41 2/3 innings. Harrison couldn't manage to eek out runs in a 4-3 loss to Valparaiso, a 2-1 loss to Mt. Vernon or a 4-2 loss to Crown Point to back solid outings by Gothrup. Despite a 2-1 win over Central Catholic, the winning run came after Gothrup tossed six innings with eight strikeouts, providing the right-handed pitcher a no decision.
"Them trusting me to throw against those teams, and them putting me out there for the first game of the sectional to make sure we get to (the sectional championship) Monday, I am just glad the coaches can trust me," Gothrup said.
This comes after two consecutive seasons where Gothrup had to elevate his game with Harrison suffering injuries to two of its top pitchers.
Instead of dwelling on what the Raiders didn't have, Saturday was about what they did.
Big days at the plate by Kaden Keys and Braylen Hands made Gothrup's performance hold up this time, though.
That means Neal will get the nod against McCutcheon in Monday's title game at Loeb Stadium in the quest for a fifth sectional title in six years.
This time, Lowrey won't have to stay away at night contemplating who to start on the mound.
Asked who is Harrison's ace, Lowrey says both: 1A and 1B, but don't ask who 1A is.
"It does suck knowing who we don't have, but the guys we do have are really good," Lowrey said. "For two years in a row, they've logged 80-plus inning together and just carried our team. We've been really fortunate to have both of those guys."
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Harrison baseball advances to sectional final behind Chase Gothrup gem