Page 27 - 2008-09 Baseball State Finals Program

Last Year’s State Finals in Review

DECATUR CENTRAL WINS FIRST STATE TITLE IN SCHOOL HISTORY

Decatur Central scored six runs across the second With one gone, Nick Stoia singled to left field and
and third innings and went on to defeat Homestead, 7-3, advanced to second on a wild pitch. Kirk followed with a hit
to win the Class 4A state championship at Victory Field in to right and advanced to third on a throwing error scoring
Indianapolis. Stoia for a 3-2 advantage. Andrew Kinnaird then singled
It was the 10th straight win and the very first state through the left side scoring Kirk. Jeff Pace then walked
title for the school located in
the southwestern corner of
Indianapolis and came in the
school’s first trip to the baseball
state finals.
The unranked Hawks (29-
7) banged out six runs on eight
hits in the first three innings to
take a 6-2 advantage.
In the second inning, they
jumped out to early 2-0 lead
behind RBI singles from second
baseman Adam Kirk and
catcher Isaac Pruitt.
Homestead (26-6), also
unranked coming in, rallied in
the top of the third to tie the
score 2-2. Ryan Trieglaff and
Ryan Wright each singled with
one out and Logan Bultemeier
followed with another to score
Trieglaff. Patrick Veerkamp
then sacrificed to right field scoring Wright who had moved and Aaron Gregory doubled to bring home Kinnaird for a
over to third on Bultemeier’s single. 5-2 lead and Isaac Pruitt’s sacrifice to centerfield scored
Decatur then added four runs in the bottom half of the Pace for a 6-2 margin.
third. In the fourth inning, Homestead cut the deficit to 6-3
when Bob Glover tripled to
left center scoring Derek
Kinzer from first. Kinzer had
bunted to get aboard.
The Hawks added the
seventh run in the fifth inning
when Gregory singled to
right scoring Pace who had
reached on a throwing error
and advanced to second.
Decatur Central was
coached by Phil Webster,
who was finishing his 24th
year on the job. Homestead,
had come into the game hav-
ing beaten four top 10 teams
during its tournament run
but fell short in the school’s
initial appearance in the state
finals. The Spartans were
led by first year coach Steve
Sotir.
IHSAA - Pure Spirit. Pure Sport! 25

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