As the leaves change color and the weather cools down, October emerges with all the sentiments and festivities surrounding it. MLB playoff baseball is one of the major events going on at the time, and it is currently the rage in sports world. In light of this, the Carmel Christian varsity baseball team holds their own three-game intrasquad World Series. Though the team’s season is not until late February, preseason is taken very seriously among players. Practices started at the beginning of September, and players on the team worked hard up until the fall climax of the World Series. Sophomore Nate Trunk stated, “The fall workouts were a great jump start for the team, and we are hyped for the season.”

There was a lot of detail that went into making Carmel’s Fall World Series a big hit. The teams were picked by World Series captains: Leyton Guhl and Landon Boyd for Team Gold; and Caden Tarr and Anderson Rider for Team Navy. For each game, the captains chose a uniform theme for their team would wear, and the teams got quite creative wearing USA colors, jerseys, cut-offs and team colors. There was a good turnout of parents, students, and teachers that made each game special for the players. The environment at all the games in the series made players want to perform to the best of their ability, and it made for a tight series of games.

Carmel’s Fall World Series was an intense three games with lots of action. Game one was a great start to the series with both teams getting after it right away. This game was only 4 innings long because of a tight schedule, while the other games in the series were 6 innings. Sophomore Colson Krause started on the rubber for Team Gold, and 8th grader David Scott for tossed for Team Navy. Scott said, “Getting to be the starting pitcher for my team as an 8th grader was special, and I’m glad my team trusted me with the ball in my hands.” The game was slowing down with a 2-2 tie, but Team Gold started to get hot. Senior Landon Boyd smashed a three-run home run to left field which opened up the floodgates for his team. A few batters later, sophomore Colson Krause drove in Aaron Dekeukelaere and Carson Russell on a groundball that got past Team Navy’s shortstop. Gold credited Nate Trunck for keeping the team motivated after he went 3 for 3 at the plate with two doubles and a single. This rally helped Team Gold take game one winning 8-3, and it put Team Navy in a tight position going down 0-1 in a best-of-three series. Gold team captain Leyton Guhl said, “This win would not have been possible without every single guy working together. Today was a big team win for us.”

Game two was the first 6-inning game of the series, and it was a slow six innings. Both teams had taken notes of how to play each other, so that meant that players had to find a new way to win. Navy team captain Anderson Rider started on the

mound and Nate Trunck for Team Gold. both pitchers came out firing and being quite efficient. Senior Landon Boyd hit his second home run of the series to give his team air to breathe in a slow game Team Navy used their pitching depth in this game, as they used junior Tommy Kaminski and sophomore Matthew Abbott as relief pitchers later on in the game. The game was once again at a 2-2 stalemate, and the game eventually went into extra innings. Right away, junior Caden Tarr made his way to home plate to put Team Navy ahead 3-2. Matthew Abbott was on the mound for Team Navy, and he did not disappoint. Abbott was able to hold Gold scoreless in the bottom of the 7th inning, and he struck out six batters in total during his time on the mound. Team Gold had two runners in scoring position, but Team Navy’s defense was able to put out the flame and keep the series alive. Senior Anderson Rider stated, “I’m proud of the way my guys fought today and

stepped up to help us get this win.”

Both teams came locked-in to game three. Colson Krause took the mound once again for Team Gold, and Tommy Kaminiski started for Team Navy. Gold came out with guns blazing putting up 4 runs in the top of the 1st inning. Sophomore, Nate Trunck, said, “Putting up those 4 runs at the beginning of the game set the standard and

the tone for the rest of the game.” The support from Gold’s offense helped them be able to relax more on pitching, and sophomore Drew Knowles came in as a productive pitcher for the rest of the game after Krause. Team Navy put up 3 runs during the game, but that was not enough to stop the 6 runs scored by Team Gold. Gold secured the series with the 6-3 win, but both teams congratulated each other and recognized the good competition they were able to have during the series. Landon Boyd was crowned Fall World Series MVP due to his 2 home runs at the plate and 11 strikeouts on the mound. Boyd said, “The Fall World Series was a great look at the team and makes us all excited for the season.”