Down 6-0 in the seventh, the Rebels rallied with three runs, but the RBIs from Dylan Williams, Brian Keeney and Nick Schnell – Gatorade’s Indiana Player of the Year – were not enough. Roncalli had seven hits with Dominic Brown and Harrison Koppenhofer each slapping two.
Cathedral pitchers walked Schnell four times. The Rebels struck out 12 times and stranded 14 runners.
In the 4A Evansville Reitz sectional, upset-minded Franklin Central could not push across a run against Jeffersonville.
The Red Devils scored four runs in the first against Kam Leach, who settled down and did not allow another run. FC senior Jeremy Knott had two hits, including a double, and reached third but a double play preserved the 4-0 shutout.
Sophomore Austin Carr and senior Neil Schmidlin had the Flashes’ other two hits.
In coach John Rockey’s last season at the baseball helm, the Flashes entered the playoffs with a 10-15 record and won the Whiteland sectional, the Flashes’ first in 17 years.
In Class A, unranked Lutheran fell to No. 16 University 9-4 in the opener of the Morristown regional. The Saints (14-11) scored four runs in the fourth to knot it at 4, but University rallied for five runs in the fifth. University pitchers struck out 15 Saints.