Page 24 - 2015-16 Baseball State Finals Program

Last Year’s State Finals in Review

Andrean Outlasts Rain, Jasper to repeat as Class 3A State Champ
A pair of rain delays didn’t dampen the spirits of Andrean as the 59ers
celebrated a 2-1 victory over Jasper for its second consecutive Class 3A
state title at Victory Field.
With the win, Andrean (30-6) captured its fifth baseball state title joining
three other schools - LaPorte (8), Lafayette Central Catholic (7) and Jasper
(5) with as many trophies. Each of the Niners’ crowns have come under the
guidance of 36th year coach Dave Pishkur.
The first rain delay began just before the game was scheduled to begin
at 7:30 pm and lasted 80 minutes. Three-and-a-half innings of scoreless
baseball later, the second rain delay lasted 59 minutes with play resuming
at 10:40 pm.
Jasper got on the board first in the top of the fifth inning on Austin Alles’ one
out sac fly to left field that scored Grant Theil from third. Theil had walked,
then moved to second and third on consecutive bunt singles by Tyler
Haskins and Craig Shepherd.
The 59ers came right back in the bottom half of the fifth as Chase Dawson
tripled to the left center wall with one away. He scored one batter later
tying the game 1-1 when the Wildcats’ Cal Krueger threw a wild pitch to the
backstop with John Albomonte at the plate.
Andrean got the go-ahead run on Clay Thompson’s two-out double to right
center scoring Joe Albomonte from second. Noah Davis had singled up
the middle with one gone but Albomonte pinch ran for him and moved to
second on Parker Huttel’s sac bunt.
Kevin McCune (7-2) earned the win for Andrean in 2 2/3 innings of work.
He struck out three and allowed one hit. Luke Jaksich had started the
game but was replaced after 4 1/3 innings and struck out six. Krueger sus-
tained his first loss of the season on the mound in 11 decisions. He fanned
nine Andrean batters but walked five in his six innings.
It was just the second loss of the season for top-ranked Jasper (30-2) and
coach Terry Gobert who ranks third in state history with five state titles of
his own. It was the third runner-up finish for Jasper and the second loss to
Andrean in the championship game following their 2010 matchup.
Penn Defense Delivers Fourth Baseball Crown
Penn pitcher Skylar Szynski proved tough to handle most of the
evening as Penn claimed a 3-2 victory over Terre Haute North and the
IHSAA Class 4A state championship at Victory Field.
It was the fourth baseball state championship and first in 14 years for
the Kingsmen (29-6-1) who have never lost in a final contest. Their
previous titles were won in 1994, 1998 (4A) and 2001 (4A).
Penn struck for two runs in the opening stanza as Brandon Stesiak
scored from second base on a Terre Haute throwing error attempting
to put out Nolan Metcalf. Nik Kavadas then followed with a double to
left center scoring Metcalf for the early lead. The Kingsmen added a
third run in the bottom of the third when Metcalf scored on a sac fly to
center by Trevor Waite.
Szynski (10-1) went the distance allowing just three hits in the game
and striking out six Patriots. He held Terre Haute North hitless through
four innings until Nick Rush singled to lead off the fifth. DH Cody
Maloon followed with a double to right field corner and then Brett Hern-
don sent a 2 RBI double to left center cutting the lead to 3-2. Terre
Haute North threatened to score again but stranded two runners and
couldn’t muster anything more in the final two at-bats.
With the victory, Greg Dikos, the 28th year Penn coach, became the
seventh coach with four or more state championships.
Terre Haute North and first year coach Fay Spetter were hoping to
land the Patriots’ second baseball crown and first since 1974 but
settled for a third runner-up finish in school history and second straight
(1983). Spetter had been a player on that 1974 team and had served
as an assistant coach the last 21 seasons.
24 IHSAA - Pure Spirit. Pure Sport!