Page 24 - 2016-17 Baseball State Finals Program

Last Year’s State Finals in Review

Northview Offense in Fifth, Sixth Innings Delivers
School’s First State Title
Northview pitcher Braydon Tucker kept his team within striking
distance of Western through the first four and a half innings of the Class
3A state championship baseball game. His teammates returned the favor
with clutch hits in the fifth and sixth innings to deliver the Knights to their
first team state title of any kind in school history.
After tying the game in the bottom of the fifth, Hayden France drove
home Alex Reinoehl for a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth. Tucker shut
down Western in order in the top of the seventh to preserve the win, cap-
ping an impressive performance. The sophomore allowed just four hits
and struck out nine – including the last two batters – to finish the season
10-1.
Northview finished the season 25-6 under Head Coach Craig Trout.
Western, which won the 2012 Class 3A title, finished 18-14 for Head
Coach Quentin Brown.
After leaving runners on second and third in the bottom of the fourth,
Northview finally broke through in the bottom of the fifth. Luke Lancaster
opened with a single and took second on France’s sacrifice bunt.
Lancaster moved to third on a wild pitch and Matt Clawson followed with
a walk. After a pop-up to first base for the second out, Jase Glassburn’s
infield grounder wasn’t fielded cleanly. The error brought Lancaster
home, tying the game at 1.
Western managed to put runners on first and third with two outs in
the top of the sixth but couldn’t convert, setting the stage for Northview’s
rally in the bottom of the inning. With two outs, Reinoehl drew a full-count
walk. He moved to second on Lancaster’s single and then came home on
France’s bloop single into shallow right field.
Western senior pitcher Dalton Leighty (9-3) pitched well in the loss.
He scattered seven hits over six innings, striking out six and walking just
two.
This year’s state finals enjoyed record attendance. Combined with a
record Friday night crowd of 6,799, Saturday drew a three-game record
7,082 totaling 13,881, a new four-game mark.
Roncalli wins Extra-Inning Thriller for First Baseball Crown

A safe call at first base with bases loaded and two outs in the bottom
of the ninth inning handed unranked Roncalli a 3-2 win over top-ranked
Zionsville in the Class 4A state championship game at Victory Field in
Indianapolis.
The Rebels’ Will Harris sent a grounder to shortstop and beat out the
throw to first base which allowed Mark Cobb to score. Cobb pinch-ran for
Jake Franklin who had singled to lead off the inning.
It was the first baseball state championship for the Rebels (23-9) and
second-year coach Aaron Kroll after three previous trips to the state
championship game (1982, 2012).
Scoreless through three innings, Zionsville took a 1-0 lead in the
top of the fourth when pitcher Nick Prather singled up the middle scoring
Nolan Elsbury.
Roncalli answered in the bottom of the fifth inning tying the game
1-1 when Brian Keeney scored from third on a Prather wild pitch. Keeney
had pinch run for Cody Smith who had singled to lead off the inning and
advanced to third on Dylan Williams’ double to the left field corner.
Zionsville regained the lead in the top of the sixth when Roncalli hurler
Michael McAvene threw a wild pitch allowing Jacob Hurtubise to score
from third. Hurtubise singled to lead off and advanced to third on a field-
ing error by the third baseman when Elsbury sent one in that direction.
Nick Schnell’s two-out triple to the left center wall in the sixth inning
scored Hayden Harper knotting the score again at 2-2. The go-ahead
run was stranded as the the Eagles’ James Meyer ended the threat with
a strikeout.
Roncalli halted a golden opportunity for Zionsville to push across a
run in the top of the eighth when the Eagles hit into a 6-2 force play at
home followed by a fly out to right field with the bases loaded.
Zionsville (30-5-1) was making the school’s first appearance in a baseball
state championship game under third-year coach Jered Moore.
24 IHSAA - Pure Spirit. Pure Sport!