MONTICELLO —Twin Lakes head coach Jake Burton was determined to have a baseball game.
Even if that meant the retired educator had to get in his truck and drive from Lafayette to school five in a half hours early.
The Twin Lakes coach coated Crabb-Ebel Field with multiple layers of dry dirt so a full game against Harrison could be played after weeklong rain storms that's forced teams across Indiana to cancel.
"The field was good, we drug it out and it was good we decided we were going to play here and not at Loeb (Field)," Burton said. "And it worked out good. It rained throughout the game here and there but our field took it pretty well."
While Crabb-Ebel absorbed the rain, Harrison barraged Twin Lakes for five innings.
Junior right hander Lyrik Neal threw four innings and struck out five to lead Harrison over Twin Lakes in a 12-0 mercy rule victory.
"We were just happy to get the game in," Neal said. "My pitches were working, hitting spots and just happy we got to get some action. Not everyone was as fortunate this week."
Harrison (1-0) was led offensively by Grant Delaney who went 2-for-3 with two singles and an RBI and senior Nathan Prough added a a two RBI single to cap a 7-run fourth inning.
Twin Lakes committed three errors and unraveled in the fourth inning. Five of the seven Harrison runs in the frame were unearned and included two run-scoring balks.
Twin Lakes (0-1), which won the IHSAA Class 3A regional and sectional championships last year, struggled attacking Neal's fastball.
But the larger gain was finishing a game and getting live at-bats as baseball and softball began with a wet first week of April.
"The base was pretty firm and when the base is firm, it takes the rain pretty well," Burton said. "We take care of the field and you see the result. We take care of the field after the game, after practice and you do that with a field. It should be respectable."
Ethan Hanson is the sports reporter for the Journal & Courier in Lafayette. He can be reached at
