Tipp throws no-hitter to defeat Piqua
Cayden McKinney was on top of his game last week as the Tippecanoe baseball team battled Piqua in the district semi-finals at Clawson Field. The Tipp pitcher combined with Ethan Davis for a no-hitter to lead the Red Devils to a 12-0 run-rule victory over the Indians to advance to the district finals.
McKinney was one out away from the no-hitter when he was pulled due to a pitch count, with Davis getting the final out for the big win.
“The fact that we get to keep playing and show up to practice tomorrow is special and they really came out ready to play putting three up in the first inning,” Tipp coach Cameron Dickens said, “We talked at nauseam how important it was to score first, it would be important in this game. We did that and had quality at-bats while playing small ball in the first inning, executed up and down, and Cayden was extremely efficient.”
With two days between games, keeping McKinney’s pitch count was important to track and when he was pulled from the game, Dickens had a good reason behind it.
“We want to give ourselves as many options as possible for Saturday,” he said. “We want to give ourselves the best chance to win on Saturday. We are confident in who we have behind Cayden; we have great guys on the mound.”
“Cayden was phenomenal tonight, he had some jump on the fastball, and his slider was really good. He has been that guy for us all year.”
Tipp scored three times in the first inning behind hits from McKinney, Landon Muhlenkamp, and a sacrifice fly from Brady Liskey.
McKinney doubled in the second inning to bring in another run, with another scoring on an error, giving Tipp a 6-0 lead heading to the third.
Four more runs crossed the plate in the third, thanks to Ethan Harney’s single and Preston Zumwalt driving in a run with a hit. Muhlenkamp drove in another run with a hit pushing the Red Devils to a 9-0 lead and the run-rule was in sight.
Zumwalt singled in the tenth run with two more insurance runs crossed the plate in the inning to secure the win for the Red Devils.
Tipp saw their season come to an end on last Saturday, falling to Hamilton Ross in the district finals 12–2. The Red Devils only collected four hits on the day, as they fell behind 8–0 after two innings and could never recover.
Look for a recap of this season in an upcoming edition of the Tippecanoe Gazette.
