2022 Delaware County baseball tournament: Yorktown bests Delta 11-2 in championship

YORKTOWN, Ind. — The Tigers are back on top.

Yorktown on Saturday at home won its first the Delaware County baseball championship since 2019, and the program's 26th overall. After drawing a first-round bye, the Tigers defeated Wapahani 9-8 in the semifinals before topping Delta, which defeated Daleville 9-2 to advance, 11-2 for the title.

The tournament was moved up to a 9 a.m. start, with each subsequent game scheduled to start 30 minutes after completion, in order to conclude before the forecasted evening storm and Delta's prom. Instead, two lightening delays in the final contest extended the finish to after 6:30 p.m., marking an over 10-hour outing for those who arrived before Game 1's first pitch.

Here a recap of each matchup:

Championship: Yorktown 11, Delta 2

The 2022 Delaware County championship might've gone differently had weather not played a factor, but Yorktown (15-7) still handily won over Delta (6-15) 11-2.

It wasn't rain, but rather lightening, that caused delays in the second and fifth innings and changed the momentum of the contest. The score was tied 0-0 after the first stoppage, and 1-1 through four innings before Yorktown senior Jacob Pruitt's three-run home run broke the game open.

Once the teams returned to the field for good, the Tigers led 6-2 after the fifth inning and never looked back.

"It was not easy ... it's been a long day ... I just told them, 'We've got to keep it together. We've got to stayed focused,'" Yorktown head coach PJ Fauquher said. "We were fortunate to come back out and put a lot of runs on the board."

ROUND 1: Wapahani, Delta advance to semifinals

Pruitt was Yorktown's MVP of the day, following up his stellar semifinal pitching performance with key offense and defense against the Eagles. He finished with three hits and three RBI's in the championship, continuing to be the leader of the Tigers.

"(Pruitt's home run) really helped us," junior Cole Temple said. "Super, super big confidence booster for everybody. That shifted the momentum."

Temple was his team's most consistent offensive player, however, totaling seven hits and four RBI's in the two games. He didn't let his defensive misplays affect his swing, and his triple set the stage for the Pruitt homer.

"Our offense runs with Cole," Pruitt said. "He's our leadoff hitter for a reason, he gets on base in a lot in big moments."

Delta couldn't string together hits off of either Yorktown pitcher, and sophomore Kayden Thomas started the game strong before faltering in the fifth inning. He finished allowing four hits, three walks and three earned runs in 4.2 innings of work, and junior reliever Gaige Winchester allowed five earned runs in his lone inning.

It was a complete effort from the Tigers, a display of maintaining focus throughout unpredictable circumstances. The team hopes Saturday's games helped prepare them for the postseason.

"It's just great for these guys. They've battled through a lot this year with injuries and mistakes and problems and today with weather in the second game," Fauquher said. "It means a lot for them to keep it together and close it out."

Semifinals: Yorktown 9, Wapahani 8

Yorktown v. IHSBCA Class 2A No. 2 Wapahani (17-4) was the most anticipated matchup of this tournament, and the game lived up to the hype in the most exciting and infuriating of ways, depending on your perspective.

Pruitt and Raiders junior Gavin Lash battled on the bump, both surrendering two runs through two innings before settling down in the third and fourth frames. Tigers senior Hayden Carrow then hit a two-run double in the fifth inning to break the tie and force Lash to be taken off the mound. He finished with six hits, three walks and two earned runs in 4.1 innings.

The Raiders soon got one run back after a Yorktown error, but the Tigers captured momentum and entered the bottom of the seventh inning up 9-4. Pruitt looked like he was prior to dislocating his left (non-throwing) shoulder on diving catch attempt on April 19, after which he didn't pitch until throwing three innings against Fishers on May 9

"(Pruitt) did great. He's a big-time competitor, obviously, on top of being a great athlete," Fauquher said. "He's still not as sharp as he normally would be this time of year, just coming back from injury, but to be able to have him on the mound is just huge for us."

2022 Delaware County softball tournament: Yorktown bests Wapahani 6-1 in championship

But his key performance against a solid Raiders lineup ended in the seventh inning after allowing two hits with zero outs. Pruitt tossed 118 pitches, double the amount in his comeback game and more than Fauquher planned for, but his effort was essential.

Pruitt allowed eight hits and six runs, two earned, with 12 strikeouts in six innings.

"I felt like I was still in shape enough to throw. I was willing to (push myself)," Pruitt said. "I was normal enough. The first inning was a little rough, but then I found it ... at the end I kind of ran out of gas."

Pruitt's exit gave Wapahani a confidence boost, and senior Landen Thompson quickly crushed a three-run homer to left field off sophomore reliever Landen Eppard to make it a close game again.

Eppard got two outs but allowed two more baserunners before junior Landon Case took the mound. He only needed one pitch to end the game on a flyout as Yorktown escaped with the victory.

"Nothing was unexpected. You just can't give them anything, they're going to take advantage of it," Fauquher said. "They're a tough team. They make you work hard, and nothing is ever easy."

Junior Cole Temple led Yorktown's offense, tallying four hits and three RBI's, but he also committed two of the Tigers' four errors. Defensive miscues, whether it was off-target throws or not attempting two tailor-made chances at a double play in the seventh inning, made the game closer than it should've been.

Still, Wapahani had some good at-bats, led by senior Luke Wilmann with three hits.

"We got ourselves in some bad (defensive) situations and just didn't make plays when we had the opportunity," Fauquher said. "We would like to be perfect, but the reality is in baseball most of the time you don't play perfectly. What I want to see is just not compounding mistakes. We did that a little bit today but we did enough to get over that."

Semifinals: Delta 9, Daleville 2

The second semifinal matchup wasn't nearly as entertaining, but Delta handled Daleville (3-17) well with a hot start that ended in a 9-2 victory.

Eagles head coach Devin Wilburn emphasized to his players that no team should be taken lightly, even if they beat the Broncos 12-2 twice earlier this season. He knows baseball is unpredictable, and he was glad his players set the tone.

Still, Delta had chances to end this game earlier but didn't take advantage. The contest was played during the warmest point of the day, and both teams looked like they were going through the motions at times leading up to the final out.

"I thought we could've played better. We got ahead early, which we wanted to do ... but then we kind of fell asleep for a while, put it on cruise control. Part of that is my fault," Wilburn said. "I thought we should've scored a lot more runs than we did, but I'm never mad about a win."

Senior Parker Faletic had his best, and longest, pitching outing of the season, allowing just three hits and one earned run with 11 strikeouts in 5.2 innings. Broncos batters were overmatched for much of the contest, and Delta's defense was solid behind Faletic and committed just one error.

Stretching out Faletic, who's typically the Eagles' top reliever, was pivotal to allowing Thomas to pitch the championship game.

"It was good to see (Faletic) have some success. He's a guy that we've relied on a lot," Wilburn said. "Good performance all around."

Daleville sophomore pitcher Meryck Adams struggled, perhaps partly because of the heat, allowing six hits and eight runs, five earned, with seven walks in four innings.

Delta freshman Zane Cline led the offense with three hits and one RBI, and Faletic and senior Cooper Roach both tallied two RBI's.

The Broncos were led at the plate by sophomore Ethan Clovin with two hits and two RBI's.

Gus Martin is a sports reporter at The Star Press. Follow him on Twitter @GusMartin_SP, and contact him at gmartin@gannett.com or 765-729-4742.