LAFAYETTE — McCutcheon senior Logan Marsell had runners at second and third in the fifth inning before listening to a piece of wisdom from coach Tristan McIntyre in Monday's Class 4A sectional championship at Loeb Stadium.
Marsell had been to the sectional final three times before, only for his team to fall short. He and fellow seniors Owen Smith, Sage Adams and sophomore Jaje Winger weren't about to experience that heartbreak again.
Marsell ripped a two-run single and Winger followed with an RBI triple in the fifth inning while Winger recorded a two-inning save to beat Logansport 4-2 and capture the program's first IHSAA sectional championship since 2014.
The Mavericks will play Westfield on Saturday in the IHSAA Regional Championship. Location and time haven't been announced by the IHSAA.
"My coach just told me to pretend that I was on the youth field and to have fun," Marsell said.
McCutcheon (22-4) captured the sectional title 10 years to the day of its last title run in 2014 when it was led by former skipper Jake Burton. Burton, now 36 miles northeast in Kokomo, helped Twin Lakes capture its first sectional title since 1993.
"I'm happy for our guys but I'm happy too for Coach Burton and he's a legend no doubt," McIntyre said. "I'm proud of our guys."
Smith delivered in key situations after allowing three walks in the first three innings. Smith, who is walking on to play quarterback at Purdue, settled in and struck out two batters in the fifth before allowing a leadoff single to shortstop Isaac Russell to open the sixth.
"I didn't have everything going with my pitches but I was able to get outs when I needed to," Smith said.
McCutcheon tiptoed out of trouble on a day when three base runners were either picked off or caught stealing on the base paths.
"It's the ultimate trust we have with each other," Adams said. "We've been through a lot together and the game is never over until the final pitch. We flush whatever happens and just keep moving. We trust each other.''
Much of the credit, Smith said, was to the "dugout mojo" provided by a plush mascot beaver named Bart whose body includes a helmet on the bottom attached through zip ties.
"He's been with us through three years now and we've rolled with him ever since," Smith said.
McCutcheon's miscues on the basepaths were balanced out by stellar defense plays that prevented Logansport from scoring runs in the fourth.
Berries outfielder Micah Rogers lined a line drive hard that was backhanded by Riley Sands and the ball caromed to second baseman Riley Evans. Smith kept running and caught the throw from Evans to beat Rogers to the bag. A walk and a single were issued later in the inning before escaping without runs being scored.
"It might not seem like it but that's a play we prepare for," McIntyre said. "When the first baseman vacates, our pitcher knows to get to first and there was no panic from Owen. Riley Evans recorded the out and that was huge for us."
Key defensive plays were abundant for both teams, but one took a key player out of the game for Logansport (16-16) in the sixth inning. Junior outfielder Daegan Kitchel crashed into the brick wall in the unprotected part of the wall in right field and was down for several minutes before being helped off the field.
Kitchel was 3-for-4 at the plate with a triple and beat a throw from shortstop to home for Logansport's lone run in the third inning.
"We had such an up and down season," Kitchel said. "We finally got something going and it all came together. I owe it to all the seniors to give it everything I got and every ball I have a chance to catch, I'm going for."
McCutcheon is now looking to capture its first regional title since 2009.
"It feels good because we've been on the flip side but this is not the end goal," Adams said. "We've won two big ones but we are not done. We have a lot of baseball left."
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