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CRAWFORDSVILLE – Corbin Wells has put in the work to make sure he can be the best pitcher he can be for the Lebanon Tigers.
And in their biggest game of the season to date, Wells delivered in a big way. The lefty hurler threw a perfect game, retiring all 18 batters he faced, as the Tigers opened up sectional play with a 12-0 win over Monrovia.
“Corbin has endless amounts of ability,” Lebanon head coach Rick Cosgray said. “He has worked exceptionally hard in the weight room to build up his strength and stamina and is really coachable. He is able to adjust to what the coaches tell him and he is always bringing the effort and energy.”
Cosgray, in his 23rd year in charge of the Tigers, said that while there have been other no hitters, this was the first perfect game he could remember for the Tigers.
Wells was dominant, needing just 78 pitches to get through the game. He struck out nine of the 18 batters he faced, and Monrovia hit just one ball out of the infield.
“He went out there and challenged hitters, he wasn’t messing around,” Cosgray said. “We want our pitchers to have the mentality to go right after hitters, and he did that. He mixed in his other pitches well, but he was really commanding his fastball.”
The effort was much needed for the Tigers to kick off sectional play.
The Tigers had dropped two games in a row heading into the sectional after having won their previous five. Cosgray said getting the bye and an extra day of rest helped the team regroup and work on some things in practice.
“It was a complete game effort from our guys,” Cosgray said. “We were fortunate to get the bye and had three days of practice this week to get ready. That really benefited us and allowed us to get in the right mindset.”
Lebanon took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning.
With two on and one out, Jamil Phillippe laid down a perfect bunt and when the throw to first got away both runners scored. The Tigers added a run on an error in the fifth, before putting the game away in sixth.
After the first two of the inning reached, and error allowed the Tigers’ fourth run to score. Wells followed with an RBI-single before Gavin Haines hit a 2-run single to make it 7-0.
Cannon Morton added an RBI-double later in the inning, and the Tigers added other runs on wild pitches.
“Monrovia’s pitcher is a good and throws it very well,” Cosgray said. “When you get up 2-0 early you hope you can add on, but you know he has the ability to shut you down the rest of the game too. We were able to execute some good bunts and were really aggressive with our base running and thankfully we were able to tack on some runs later.”
Haines was 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a walk.
Morton was 3-for-4 and Jack Ferrell was 2-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored.
Lebanon will face Tri-West for the sectional title at 11 a.m. on Monday.
“They are a complete team,” Cosgray said. “The pitcher we will likely see is very good, they have a strong line-up with nine guys that will put the ball in play. You don’t go through conference play with just one loss unless you are a really consistent team. It is going to be a tremendous challenge, but we are looking forward to it.”
