Hanover Central junior Brad Rohde had a hunch.
Based on what happened in his previous game against Andrean, Rohde wasn’t expecting a fastball in his first at-bat Wednesday.
“The last time we played them, I struck out three times on sliders,” he said. “I figured that’s what was coming. If I got a fastball, I was going to take it. But I got a slider, and I drove it the other way.”
That approach was indicative of Rohde’s maturation as a hitter, and the two-run double he hit as a result ignited an offensive onslaught in the Wildcats’ 22-2 win against Andrean in the first game of the Class 3A Highland Sectional.
Hanover Central (20-6), which was ranked No. 2 in the final 3A coaches poll, scored nine runs in the first inning and 10 runs in the third to knock off No. 1 Andrean (22-6) and advance to a sectional semifinal against Boone Grove (17-5) on Saturday.
Hanover Central coach Sal Aguilar said Rohde’s approach was common throughout the lineup as the offense cranked out 18 hits to produce its season-high 22 runs.
“We were prepared,” Aguilar said. “We saw their guy last year, and we knew what to expect.”
Rohde made his biggest contributions with his bat, although he has been a reliable pitcher this season as well. He is 5-0 with a 3.15 ERA in 26 2/3 innings across six starts.
His batting average is up to .284 after he went 2-for-3 against Andrean. He added a third RBI with a third-inning single.
Rohde, who also plays basketball, said he’s more relaxed in his third season of varsity baseball and thinks that has helped him.
“I’d just say it’s been about realizing it’s a game and I should be having fun doing it,” he said. “Don’t overthink it. Just go up there and try to hit it.”
Rohde’s extra-base hit in the first inning was indicative of that mindset. After the Wildcats turned a double play to escape a bases-loaded jam in the top of the first, Rohde came to the plate with the bases loaded, no outs and one run already on the scoreboard.
Rohde was ready to attack, according to Aguilar.
“That’s something he wouldn’t have done in the past,” Aguilar said. “He might’ve been more passive then. But he went up there hunting, got a ball that he liked and took it the other way.”
Where Rohde hit that ball was another sign of his progress. A right-handed batter, he sent the first pitch he saw to the wall down the right field line.
“Last year, I wanted to pull everything, so I wasn’t going to hit anything on the outside,” he said. “But I’ve been working on having that mindset that I can go to the opposite field because I know that I have a lot of power that way.”
Teammate Landon Sarkey has noticed Rohde’s development.
“He’s not always thinking about hitting a bomb,” Sarkey said. “He’s thinking about right-center, and it’s working a lot better.”
Sarkey hit a bomb of his own in the third inning and went 4-for-4 with six RBIs. His three-run homer came two batters after a bases-clearing triple by Dylan Bowen.
Like Rohde, Sarkey capitalized on a hittable off-speed pitch.
“I was getting my foot down, sitting on the fastball and reacting to anything else,” Sarkey said. “He threw me a slider, hung it a little bit, and I was able to turn on it.”
The Wildcats’ victory came nearly one year to the day after Andrean ended their 2023 season in a sectional semifinal on the way to the state championship game — a fact Rohde knew well.
“We’d been waiting for this one for a while,” he said.
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter.
