Hammond baseball knocks off defending champ Cardinal Newman, advances to title series
Hammond coach Chris Braciszewski went with his gut and started a freshman in the biggest game of the season.
Tucker Toman delivered a gutsy performance for six innings then the Skyhawks turned it over to senior Graham Wilson to close things out in a 6-4 victory over defending state champion Cardinal Newman Thursday night to win the best-of-3 semifinal series, 2-1.
“Tucker is a big game guy,” Braciszewski said. “When the lights come on, he’s a gamer. We kind of teetered on starting Graham or starting Tucker but I thought starting a freshman was a little bit easier to start than to close it. He balled out and got us where we needed to be then Graham shut it down.”
Hammond (16-10) is making its first championship series appearance since winning it all in 2013. They will open the best-of-three series on Monday at Ben Lippen, an 8-7 winner over Laurence Manning.
“We’ve worked our butts off,” Braciszewski said. “We’ve worked really hard, the guys bought in and they trusted the whole thing. It’s great for our school, it’s great for our kids and great for our families.”
Toman allowed eight hits in six innings but more importantly only walked three. He struck out four and stayed in the game despite taking a hard line drive off the leg in the fifth inning. Wilson relieved in the seventh and had the tying runners on base but a weak grounder in front of third was fielded by Toman and fired to first for the final out.
Toman, the son of former USC assistant and current Middle Tennessee coach Jim Toman, is already an Oregon commit. He said nerves never played a factor.
“I just had to pound the strike zone and let my defense do the rest,” the soft-spoken freshman said. “We have a good defense behind us. I just had to throw strikes. No pressure. We play under pressure.”
Jett Seawell gave Hammond the lead with a bases loaded walk in the first. It stayed that way until Cardinal Newman went ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth. Owen Pickel had an RBI single and Jonathan Hafner brought home a run with a squeeze.
But that lead was short-lived. The Skyhawks responded with five runs in the fifth. Brig Brannon had an RBI groundout, Seawell delivered an RBI single, a run scored on a wild pitch and Rut Fawcett added a two-run single to put Hammond up 6-1.
“We know if we can get on them early, and get over that first hump, we’re going to play well and play hard and not wait for that one bad thing to happen,” Braciszewski said. “We’re a young team and they’ve believed in the process and it’s gotten to where they’re going next week.”
Cardinal Newman cut the lead in half with a two-run double from Tanner Garrison in the sixth but that was as close as they could get.
The Cardinals finish the season 25-5. Coach Charles Assey Jr. had a long, emotional talk with his team in right field before breaking away from them.
“I didn’t have (a speech) prepared,” Assey Jr. said. “The only thing I could say was thank you to them. It’s a phenomenal group of seniors,” Assey Jr. said. “I felt like it came to some pitching things on Monday and pitching again tonight. Tip of the cap to coach Braciszewski. From the first time we saw them until tonight, they have just gotten better throughout the year.”
WP: Tucker Toman. LP: Jonathan Hafner. SV: Graham Wilson Hitters: H: Toman 2-3; Jett Seawell 1-3, 2 RBI; Rut Fawcett 1-3, 2 RBI. CN – Tanner Garrison 2-3, 2 RBI; AJ DePalma 2-4; Parker Hocutt 2-2.
This story was originally published May 9, 2019 at 9:08 PM.