Published: June 24, 2009 07:39 am      

BASEBALL: Floyds Knobs American Legion falls to Shelbyville

JEFFERSONVILLE — The Floyds Knobs American Legion Post 42 baseball team saw its roster get even deeper on Tuesday. Shelbyville, on the other hand, decided to simply go deep.

Post 42 added New Albany standout Jeremy Juliot to its star-filled ranks just in time for its home matchup with Shelbyville, but the visitors didn’t allow much time to celebrate. Instead, Shelbyville crushed six home runs, put up 10 runs in the top of the ninth and handed Floyds Knobs its most lopsided loss of the season in an 18-3 victory at Jeffersonville’s Memorial Park.

Three of Post 42’s previous losses had come by a single run.

“It’s very clear — we didn’t compete tonight,” said Floyds Knobs coach Ricky Romans, who doubles as the varsity baseball coach at Charlestown High School. “As a coach and as a former player, it makes you a little angry, but if you play this game long enough this happens. We’re not going to lose any sleep over it.”

The final score may have been deceptive, as Shelbyville didn’t truly pull away until crushing four homers in the ninth alone. Just two players were responsible for the outburst that came mostly at the expense of Floyds Knobs reliever and Clarksville product Derek McNew. Jarrod Clarkson led off with a towering drive that easily cleared the fence in left center. McNew then hit Dylan Grandow and paid the price when Justin McCarty crushed a deep drive to nearly the same spot where Clarkson’s cleared the wall.

That was just the beginning.

Even after inducing Ben Lody into a double play, McNew gave up a single, threw a wild pitch that scored a runner from third and then got taken deep by Clarkson again. That brought in another veteran of the Clarksville program in T. J. Wilbert, who promptly walked Grandow and gave up a two-run blast to McCarty.

“They played a great game,” Romans said. “They just flat out hit the ball and we have to tip our caps to them.”

As Romans observed, lopsided losses happen. What could be more troubling to the coach is how many chances Post 42 had to make things infinitely more dramatic.

Most of the way, the Floyds Knobs offense looked capable of keeping pace. Post 42 ended up with 10 hits and even managed to load the bases with just one out in both the seventh and eighth innings. At that point the deficit was 8-3.

Most have the credit belonged to red-hot Floyd Central graduate Keith Kulwicki, who went 4-for-4 with two RBIs, a run scored and a walk. He led off the seventh with a single, moved to second when Aaron Hargett walked and got to third on a single by ex-Highlander teammate Eric Schmitt.

But that’s where Kulwicki would stay, as Shelbyville pitcher Shawn Fredrick wiggled out of the jam by striking out graduated Charlestown star Damon Vest and Providence’s Jason Dome.

The scenario was repeated in the eighth, with Jeff’s Neil Fertig leading off with a single, going to second on a walk by Alex Evanczyk and heading to third when Kulwicki drew a walk that loaded the bases. But Fredrick again refused to allow the ball to be put in play, fanning South Central’s Chip Hockenbury with a gutsy curveball on a full count and then getting Hargett nearly the same way. On the night, Post 42 stranded an astounding 17 runners on base.

Shelbyville also used the long ball to take the lead for good. Jordan Queen hit a solo shot in the fifth and then, two batters later, Clarkson hit the first of his three homers to make it 8-3.

Floyds Knobs never led, but got to within 2-1 in the bottom of the first on an RBI single from Hargett. Shelbyville added a run in the second, but Post 42 tied things up with a two-run bottom half keyed by Kulwicki. Five Post 42 pitchers saw the mound in the loss, with starter Wesley Heddon (South Central), Cory Wade (Floyd Central), Kyle Craig (Borden) also throwing along with McNew and Wilbert.

“This was a game where we were going to run some pitchers in and out and try to mix things up more than we normally would,” said Romans, who is trying to ready Post 42 for a crucial tournament in Evansville over the weekend. “We were truly using this as a way to learn about ourselves and get better. Now, if we weren’t doing that, would it have made a difference? Probably not, because they played a great game. But we will see this team down the road.”

Perhaps even in the Legion sectionals. This is the second season for Post 42, which returned American Legion ball to the Clark-Floyd area for the first time in a decade when it re-debuted a team last year.

Comparable to the concept of the AAU team in basketball, the American Legion has sponsored its league since 1926. According to its own statistics, 55 percent of those who go on to play college baseball spend time on a Legion squad and 75 percent of major leaguers at one time put on a Legion uniform. A listing on its Web site reveals that current MLB stars like St. Louis’ Albert Pujols and the New York Mets’ David Wright are alumni of Legion programs.

This year’s Post 42 roster is much improved from its first incarnation. Juliot — who made one appearance at the plate in his Floyds Knobs debut — only bolstered a squad that includes Jeff standouts Mitchell Mattingly, Hargett and Fertig and Charlestown stars Bryan Williams, Vest and Tyler Rhodes to name a few.

Though Tuesday wasn’t his team’s night, Romans thinks he has plenty to make a push for the sectional tournament title. Legion sectionals begin on July 16.