By E. Shawn Aylsworth
Managing Editor
LAFAYETTE — Managing Editor E. Shawn Aylsworth provided inning-by-inning coverage of the Class 3A and 4A championship games June 18 from the 39th Annual IHSAA Baseball State Finals at Lafayette’s Loeb Stadium.
Class 4A: No. 1 Brownsburg 6, No. 13 Evansville North 2
EN1: North leadoff batter Adam Akin goes down swinging on some high cheese from 6â??6â? fireballer Lance Lynn. Josh Huebner fights off a full-count fastball to poke a dribbler to second, where Cory Dragstrem picks it up flawlessly and guns a strike to first. Andy Smith also grounds to Dragstrem and Lynn (15-0, 0.68 ERA) is out of the first.
B1: The 4-3 phenomenon continues as leadoff Alex Hendrickson grounds to second. Gary Kingâ??s â??excuse meâ? swing results in a soft lineout to third. T.J. Baumet rips a single through the hole between third and short for the gameâ??s first baserunner. Lynn waves at a fastball low and outside and whiffs.
EN2: Drew Grimm lines a Lynn offering over center fielder Sean Vezaâ??s head and to the wall for a double. Daniel Calhoun strikes out. So does David Klass. But Keith Mercer smokes a liner over the head of leaping right fielder Gary King, giving Evansville North first blood. Tyler Owen grounds to short. Evansville North 1, Brownsburg 0
B2: Nick Shipley laces a single just under the glove of Owen, the diving third baseman. Kyle Hammontree flies to shallow left. Veza rips a double down the left-field line, with Shipley holding at third. Northâ??s lead goes bye-bye as Dragstrem clobbers a fly ball 360 feet to the base of the right-center wall for a two-run triple. Austin Nichol lines to second but 2B Huebner drops it, allowing Dragstrem to score from third while Huebner recovers to get Nichol in time at first. Hendrickson gets plunked by Evansville North lefty Adam Champion, then takes off in Championâ??s stretch, beating the 1-3-6 pickoff throw in stealing second. King flies to left and Brownsburg has a nice little lead for Lynn. Brownsburg 3, Evansville North 1
EN3: Matt Agler grounds a two-hopper to 1B Drew Storen, who makes the 3UA putout. Akin goes down looking — thatâ??s two strikeouts in two at-bats for the Huskiesâ?? leadoff hitter. Not good. Huebner bails out with his feet but hangs in with his bat, slapping a Texas leaguer single over second base. Smith strikes out swinging.
B3: Baumet scalds a one-hopper to third, but Owen snags it and makes the routine throw to first. Lynn hits a foul home run down the left-field line, then fouls off a few pitches before flailing at the low outside pitch he Kâ??d on the first time â??? but this time he manages to roll it up the middle for a single. Shipley waves at a high outside fastball for strike 3. Hammontree flies to CF. Pitch count through three innings: Lynn 56, Champion 58.
EN4: Grimm checks his swing on a two-strike ball in the dirt but is rules to have gone around â??? strikeout 6 for Lynn. Calhoun goes down looking at a dart on the outside corner as Lynn rolls a seven. Lynn strikes out Klass and the side on a beautiful slow-breaking curve.
B4: Veza leads off the bottom of the fourth with a 334-foot line drive that barely clears the left-field wall, giving the Bulldogs a three-run cushion and the Huskies a pitching change â??? on comes Calhoun from his DH position. Dragstrem hits a two-hop groundout to shortstop Smith. Nickol hits a four-hop groundout to short. Hendrickson takes a wicked cut at a Calhoun breaker to no avail for strike 3. Brownsburg 4, Evansville North 1
EN5: Mercer grounds one in the hole that takes a bounce over Baumetâ??s glove â??? itâ??s ruled a hit. Owenâ??s chopper to third eats Shipley up, but the 3B collects the ball from his belly and guns it over to first in time as Mercer moves to second. Agler canâ??t believe that pitch that looked outside just got rang up as Lynn K No. 9. Mercer takes off for third and slides in as Nickolâ??s throw sails into left field, allowing him to score easily when LF Hammontree cannot field the errant throw cleanly. Akin reaches on an error when Baumet boots the grounder to short. (How many times have you seen it â??? an error causes an error?) And now itâ??s Error in 3-D — Shipley collects Huebnerâ??s chopper then air mails his throw to first into the stands, allowing Akin to advance to third and Huebner to go to second. But Lynn strikes out Smith on Pitch No. 99 to end the inning and the cavalcade of boot. Brownsburg 4, Evansville North 2
B5: King laces a line drive to left-center but CF Klass runs it down and makes an exceptional snag. Klass, however, cannot track this one down as Baumet lifts one almost to the wall in dead center for a one-out double, bringing Lynn to the plate along with the expectation of something great (remember, Lynn led the state with 14 home runs coming in). And it does, sort of, as Baumet steals third largely on the wind-up of catcher Agler. Lynn, however, strikes out for the second time on a Calhoun breaking pitch. Shipley doesnâ??t fail to deliver, though, ripping a shot that Owen cannot handle at third â??? the error brings in Baumet. Hammontreeâ??s grounder to short forces Shipley at two, but the insurance run is in. Brownsburg 5, Evansville North 2
EN6: Grimm waves weakly at strike 3 (K No. 11 â??? the record is 14) and the Huskies are down to five outs. Now itâ??s four, and this one was colossally stupid. Calhoun flairs one down the left-field line that a diving Hammontree cannot corral for a double, but Calhoun takes too wide a turn around second and when Hammontreeâ??s throw to 2B gets relayed quickly by Dragstrem, Calhoun is a dead duck at third. Dâ??OH!!!!!!! Again, this is how championships are lost. And this just in from the Irony Department: Klass doubles to left. Wow â??? that shoulda been 5-3 with one out. Shipley then fields yet another chopper, and the press box collectively sighs aloud when his throw is on target to first to get Mercer.
B6: Veza singles in the hole between short and third and now needs only a triple for the cycle â??? he prolly ainâ??t gonna get with the way the teams from Evansville are running the bases today. Oh no â??? Veza should be picked off but 1B Grimmâ??s throw thatâ??s in time to second sails into left, allowing Veza to go to third. And wouldnâ??t ya know â??? he scores on Dragtstremâ??s deep sacrifice fly to center. Sheesh. Nickol flies out to center, and Hendrickson grounds to third. Brownsburg 6, Evansville North 2
EN7: Owen takes a Lynn curve ball and drops it softly over short for a single. Agler singles between first and second, with Owen wisely stopping there. The 0-for-3 Akin flairs one into shallow left and the ball scoots past Hammontree (ruled an error) so that Owen scores, Agler gets to third and Akin moves to second. Huebner pokes one through the hole â??tween short and third and we have a 6-4 game with zero outs. And now the sacks are jammed with zero outs as Lynn plunks Smith. Pitching change as fifth-year coach Pat Oâ??Neill comes out? No, Lynn stays put despite 127 throws. Grimm strikes out on a pitch low and outside. And now we see what may be the classic two-ball up the middle â??? yep, Calhounâ??s grounder to Baumet gets flipped to Dragstrem and on to Storen in time. After two years of finishing second, Brownsburg finally achieves its dream of a state title, finishing a perfect season at 35-0.
Brownsburg is only the second undefeated state champ in history, joining the 1978 Evansville Memorial team that was led by Don Mattingly.
Veza was the offensive star for Brownsburg, going 3 for 3 with three runs scored and a run batted in. Baumet, meanwhile, was 2 for 3 with a run scored, and Dragstrem going 1 for 2 with three RBIs.
For Evansville North (24-7), Huebner and Mercer each had two hits. The Huskies set a new state 4A record with their four doubles.
Lynn, who finishes his career with a perfect 16-0 record, gave up 10 hits while striking out 12 and walking zero. Nice. Champion, who gave up six hits and four earned runs in three innings, took the loss to fall to 7-3.
North’s Grimm wins L.V. Phillips Mental Attitude Award
The L.V. Phillips Mental Attitude Award for Class 4A goes to Evansville North senior first baseman Drew Grimm, who finished 1 for 4 in the title tilt. Grimm, who will attend Indiana University and major in business, becomes the second North player to win the award, joining 2002 recipient Kyle Smith.
Grimm was valedictorian of his senior class of 286, earning an Academic Honors Diploma with a perfect 4.0 grade point average. A National Honor Society student who earned his citizenship rating each semester, Grimm was active in student council, class council, SADD, and Art Club.
â??Drew is an intelligent, mature, hard-working student athlete,â? said Evansville North’s principal, Brenda Weber. â??He sets high expectations for himself in all that he does. My respect for Drewâ??s athletic skills in baseball, his leadership skills, academic talent, and hard work ethic, is equaled by my regard for his personal strengths. In an urban school setting, he has the ability to pull very diverse groups together to work for a common goal.â?
On the baseball field, Grimm led the Huskies to their second appearance in the state championship game in four years. The first-team All-Southern Indiana Athletic Conference selection batted .474 this season with team highs of 35 runs, 37 RBI, and seven homers. The son of Dan and Linda Grimm also played tennis for four years.
Grimm also served as a volunteer with Special Olympics basketball for two years, and he was a volunteer for Tri-State Food Bank for three years.
Class 3A: No. 1 Andrean 10, Evansville Memorial 1
EM1: Tigers threaten with leadoff double by Isaac Lewis and two-out single by Zach Gibbs, but Gibbs gunned at second by catcher Greg Yersich trying to advance on right fielder Juaquin Rodriguezâ??s throw to the plate to end inning.
A1: Lead-off batter Chris Skinner reaches on error by shortstop Ben Griggs but is erased on 4-6 fielderâ??s choice by Joe Mack â??? Mack, however, safe at first on easy double-play ball when itâ??s dropped by first baseman Mark Obenchain. Thatâ??s two batters and two errors — will the 59ers take advantage? Viciously, it turns out, and all with two outs. Tommy Finn walks, Yersich strikes out wildly on pitch way outside for first out. Brad King rips RBI single through hole between short and third to score Mack, while Finn moves from first to third when no one covers third to get relay throw that never gets made (yikes!). King steals second during pitcher Sam Schenâ??s stretch and wheels appear to be loosening for Memorial. On next pitch, Steve Augsburger delivers two-run single just past diving third baseman Nick Kerner, making it 3-0 with just one out. Anthony Cera then drives a double to the warning track in right center, scoring Augsburger from first — is the rout on? Yes â??? Robb Barauld smokes another double down the right-field line to score Cera and itâ??s 5-zip. Rodriguez, the No. 9 hitter, walks and Andrean has batted around in the first inning. With Skinner up again, Barauld and Rodriguez pull off the double steal, but it doesnâ??t matter as Skinner draws a full-count walk. Anybody got a pitch count? Mack then pounds a two-bounce double to the right-center wall, clearing the bases and driving in runs 39-41. Yer not gonna believe this â??? Tommy Finn, quarterback of the state-champion Andrean football team, drills the next pitch 384 feet over the left-center wall FOR HIS FIRST HOME RUN OF THE YEAR and itâ??s now 10-0. Mercifully, Yersich grounds out to first (think heâ??ll be getting a good-natured dogging from his mates for making the second and third outs of the state finals?) to end the inning. Andrean 10, Evansville Memorial 0
EM2: Designated hitter Patrick Stone begins The Comeback with a single to left-center. Kerner then grounds weakly to third but 3B Cera boots it, then cannot get Kerner at first so both runners safe with no down. Logan Bitter hits the classic up-the-middle two-ball but hustles to beat out the 6-4-3 throw at first, leaving runners at first and third. Stone scores on a fielderâ??s choice grounder by Griggs thatâ??s fielded unbelievably smoothly by Finn in the hole at short, who guns Bitter at second for the second out. That makes 11 total runs scored, and 11 total unearned runs scored. Jock Barron strikes out swinging. Andrean 10, Evansville Memorial 1
A2: King grounds to third but Kernerâ??s throw to first is high and wide: E-5. Augsburger singles between short and third and itâ??s two on with no out. Ruh-roh â?¦ Cera sacrifice bunts the runners up a base. Barbauld pops up to short and Andrean has two outs â??? and Memorial right where they want them again? Nah, Rodriguez grounds to short and the inning ends.
EM3: Lewis strikes out swinging. Barbauld, the Andrean left fielder, robs Woolen of a double toward the line with a great diving catch. Obenchain strikes out and itâ??s 1-2-3 for the Tigers.
A3: Skinner â??? thatâ??s three innings and three at-bats for the 59er lead-off guy — grounds out to second. Mack chops back to the pitcher for an easy 1-3. Finn flies out to shallow right and itâ??s 1-2-3 for Andrean.
EM4: Gibbs singles to center to get The Comeback Part Deaux going, but Stone strikes out looking. Kerner flies out to shallow center. Bitter lines out to first and thatâ??s it for Evansville in the fourth.
A4: Yersich grounds to Kerner, with Memorial 1B Obenchain making a nice of scoop of a low throw for the out. King grounds weakly back to the pitcher, and Augsburger flies out to center. Moving right along now after all the early fireworks.
EM5: Griggs grounds to shortstop. Barron beats out an infield hit to 3B Cera. Lewis â??handle shotsâ? a single just over second base to give the Tigers a one-out threat. OK, this qualifies as weird play of the game. Woolen chops one down the third-base line and should have gotten an infield hit, but Augsburger â??? who grabs the ball on a sprint, then sees it fly out of his glove, then trips into foul territory STILL gets Barron at third because Barron for some reason WAS NOT RUNNING on the play. This is how you lose championships. And the bizarre continues. Obenchain hits a soft grounder to Cera at 3B but as he goes to throw to first, the ball flips up into the air: E-5. Not a good day for third basemen at Loeb Stadium, eh? Bases jammed and two down and we have Gibbs fouling pitches off, a precursor to â?¦ a groundout to second. The Tigers took themselves out of that one and are now officially running out of time.
A5: Cera grounds out sharply to the pitcher. Barbauld walks. Rodriguez grounds weakly to third, with Barbauld barreling around second and trying to get third on the play. The throw is a bit high to Kerner, who races back to the bag, and Barbauld takes out his legs as he slides in safely. Not a dirty play, just a poorly placed throw by Obenchain to his third sacker. Skinner, up for the 97th time, also walks â??? thatâ??s five bases on balls for Schen, who weathered the 209-pitch first inning and is still in there. (Is Dusty Baker coaching the Tigers? Nope, itâ??s Quentin Merkel, whose 36 years in the Tiger dugout make Andrean coach Dave Pishkur look like a pre-schooler with only 26 years.) Mack flies to left and we go to the sixth.
EM6: Gibbs singles off Ceraâ??s backhand glove at third, and the official scorer waits for the replay before deciding itâ??s a hit. (If Iâ??m playing on one of my 10 softball teams and I am Cera, thatâ??s an error â??? but thatâ??s just me.) Stone flies to right. And hereâ??s the perfect metaphor for Evansvilleâ??s day: Kerner grounds weakly to 1B Mack, who throws to Finn covering second to force Gibbs, then Finn guns out Kerner at first as Augsburger hustles over from the mound. Machinelike, those 59ers.
A6: Finn grounds to short, the throw from Griggs in the hole barely beating him. Griggs has an easier time getting Yersich on his grounder. King strikes out looking and in all likelihood, Andrean has made its last plate appearance at the 2005 season.
EM7: Griggs walks, and I am missing a batter somewhere (dâ??oh): E-Shawn. Pinch-hitter Dean Stuckey pops up to short. Lewis hits a grounder at third to Cera who guns Griggs at second; Lewis barely beats the throw to first that would have ended it. Woolen grounds to short and Finn gets a nice birthday hop, allowing him to make the grab and step a couple times to the bag for the final out.
Your final score: Andrean 10, Memorial 1.
Finn quarterbacks Andrean to the state football championship, then plays shortstop on the state baseball champs — and just now received the L.V. Phillips Mental Attitude Award. Must be rough.
And I still can’t help but think of all the razzing poor Yersich is going to get for being the only 59er to not only not score, but also to not reach base. (If Iâ??m playing on one of my 10 softball teams and I am Yersich, I am like, Yabbit did you see me gun that dude at second in the top of the first to set the stage for you clowns? Plus, Iâ??m a Minnesota Twins draft pick nah-nah-nah-nah, boo-boo!)
Andrean’s 10 runs in the first inning is a new state record (class or otherwise) for most runs in an inning. Not surprisingly, the 10 combined runs in the first also is a new record.
The 59ers (33-2) benefited from a complete team effort. Augsburger was the only Andrean hitter to collect one than one hit, going 2 for 3 with two runs batted in. Finn and Mack both got one hit, scored twice, and drove in three and two runs, respectively.
Evansville Memorial (21-13), meanwhile, had three players with two hits each â??? Lewis, Gibbs, and Stone.
Augsburger, the 6â??3â? senior right-handed hurler, allowed seven hits, struck out four, and walked one in improving to 8-1. Schen, meanwhile, also allowed just seven hits, and none of the 10 runs scored by Andrean were earned. The 5â??10â? senior righty struck out two and walked five in falling to 6-5.
Andreanâ??s Finn wins L.V. Phillips Mental Attitude Award
Andrean senior shortstop Tommy Finn is the 2005 Class 3A L.V. Phillips Mental Attitude Award winner. The son of William and Sandra Finn will attend Northwestern University on a baseball scholarship, majoring in business.
A two-sport standout who helped Andrean to its first-ever state championships in football and baseball this year, Finn is an all-state performer in baseball, setting a school record for doubles with 28. Heading into Saturdayâ??s championship game, Finn was batting .495 with 53 hits, 43 runs, 31 RBI, and nine doubles.
In football, Finn led the state with 3,380 yards passing in 2004, helping the 59ers knock off previously unbeaten Heritage Hills in the championship game. He played baseball, football, and basketball all four years at Andrean.
An honors degree graduate, Finn is a National Honor Society student who served as a tutor, a retreat leader, and an Andrean Ambassador.
â??Tommy excels through his efforts both on and off the athletic field,â? said Andrean’s principal, Father Paul E. Quanz. â??He represents very well the values and goals of the IHSAA as an athlete and a scholar.
Class 2A: No. 6 North Posey 11, Northwestern 6
North Posey scores two runs in the top of the sixth to go up 8-6, adds three in the seventh to seal it (see the story by Mike McGraw).
Class A: No. 15 Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian 7, No. 13 Hauser 0
Fort Wayne Blackhawk scores two in the third, five more in the sixth as pitcher Logan Nussbaum scatters four hits and strikes out six (see the story by Mike McGraw).
Processing your request, Please wait....
