43rd Indiana State Baseball Finals
Friday, June 19; Saturday, June 20
Victory Field (Indianapolis), 501 W. Maryland St.,
Indianapolis- Admission: $9
The winner of the north semi state will be the designated
home team in each championship game.
Friday, June 19 - 7 p.m.
CLASS A:
Vincennes Rivet (16-10) vs. #2 Lafayette Catholic (27-4)
7:30 (EDT)
Saturday, June 20 .
CLASS 2A: #9 Heritage Christian (24-6) vs. Lewis Cass
(20-8) 1:00 p.m. (EDT)
CLASS 3A: #3 West Vigo (28-1) vs. #1 ANDREAN (32-2) - 4:00
p.m. (EDT)
CLASS 4A: #11 Westfield (24-5) vs. (FW) Snider (24-3) 8:00
p.m. (EDT)
1. Kokomo Northern Semistates
(1A) #2 Lafayette Catholic 16, (FW) Canterbury 1 (5
inn.)
(3A) #1 ANDREAN 14, Delta 3 (5 inn.)
2. (South Bend) Clay Northern Semistates
(2A) #7 Bishop Noll (24-8) 6, Lewis Cass (19-8) 9 (11
innings)
(4A) (FW) Snider 4, #1 Crown Point (30-2) 2
3. Avon Southern Semi states
(1A) Vincennes Rivet 8, Shakamak 7
(3A) #3 West Vigo 11, #8 Brebeuf 6
4. Jasper Southern Semi states
(2A) #9 Heritage Christian 10, #17 Evansville Mater Dei
6
(4A) #11 Westfield 9, #6 Castle 3
3A State Championship
No. 1 ANDREAN (32-2) vs. No. 3 West
Vigo (28-1)
June 20, 2009 - Victory Field - Indianapolis - 4 PM (EST) 3
p.m. (CST)- WWCA (1270) AM - no TV
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (6-20-2009)
Even if you have no rooting interest, this game might be
the feature of all four this weekend. West Vigo ace pitcher Jordan Pearson, an
Indiana State recruit, enters today's game with a 14-1 record and a 1.99 earned
run average, not to mention a .460 batting average, a school-record 52 runs
and 36 stolen bases that's two off the school record set several years ago by
Sean Lowe.
He'll face Andrean four-year starter Adam Norton (8-0) a Notre Dame recruit and
the top senior player in Northwest Indiana.
Andrean has dominated everyone so far in the state tournament, but West Vigo
doesn't know anything about that and they probably don't care. The Vikings, from
the west side of Terre Haute's Vigo County, (near the Illinois state line) have
also rolled through the state tournament with a big time offense.
Catcher Jeremy Lucas leads the team with a .485 batting average
including six homers,
16 doubles and 46 RBIs.
Cameron Fagg is batting .412. He's scored 42 times and the rest of the
lineup includes Tyler Wampler (.402), Aaron Welch (.391, 6 homers, 38 RBIs),
Brodey McCalister (.309), Scott West (.229), Cody Thornton (.358) and Dylan Aff
(.364). West Vigo has set a school record for triples and its team batting average
of .384 would also be a Viking record if it can be maintained one more game.
Of course, they face Norton (8-0, 1.22 ERA, 22 hits allowed in 46 innings) , who
is undefeated and Andrean coach Dave Piskhur has Thomas Polus (8-1, 1.17 ERA) ,
Mike Pokers (6-0, 1.62 ERA, 58 Ks in 39 innings) and Ken Mahala (7-1, 1.82 ERA)
available for any situation that might arise.
Andrean's prowess has been well-documented in Northwest Indiana, but a key
Saturday could be left-handed hitting Mahala. The Niners do not know what
they're up against in Pearson.
It's possible some of them have faced him, but unlikely. The left-handed Mahala (.385) will be a hedge bet against someone who could be tough on right-handed
hitters.
Since this game will start in the middle of the afternoon, it is likely that
both sides will need more than one pitcher. Game time temperatures should be in
the low-80s and there is a chance of rain. Either the heat or the rain could require one side or another to use a relief
pitcher. Andrean could use Pokers or Polus if they need a change. It's unlikely
they'll want Mahala against all of West Vigo's right-handed hitters.
The other aspect of playing in 13-year-old Victory Field is the size of the
field. Victory Field is 418 feet to left center field and no high school player
is going to clear that without a healthy wind.
But outfield play is crucial here. So are relays. Anybody with speed is going
to try to take extra bases due to the size of the field. Victory Field has a
quality infield and infield play may be easier here than it is in high school
parks. The 59ers turned three double plays in last week's semi state win in
Kokomo. But you must play well defensively in the outfield and it's hard to
practice playing in a pro-sized stadium at your high school.
Pearson is not a hard thrower. His fastball is in the mid-80s. The Niners will
get base-runners against him. He allowed six earned runs to Brebeuf in the 11-6
West Vigo win in the 3A Jasper Semistate. Off-speed pitchers often give top teams trouble and I think that Pearson can
contain the 59er attack, which easily routed Delta 14-3 last week. The 59ers
need to work deep into the count against the West Vigo right-hander to get him
near the 100-pitch mark late in the game. The Vikings' number two pitcher is
junior Tyler Wampler (8-0, 2.59 ERA), but I'd be surprised if he enters a close
game. His numbers (42 hits and 25 walks in 43 innings) indicate you don't want
him holding a one-run lead.
The question is can West Vigo do anything against Norton, who has not allowed
more than three runs in any game all season? With the deep power alleys negating
home run power, it's unlikely the Vikings (who have hit 28 homers in 29 games)
will get more than four runs, which doesn't leave the 59ers a tough hill to
climb. Plus, the Niners have a lot in the bullpen (the team ERA is 1.74 and the
entire staff has allowed just 144 hits in 213 innings) so they have undefeated
senior pitchers for the sixth and seventh innings if they need them.
How can the 59er's lose? The Andrean team batting average is .323, but they
do tend to hit the ball in the air more than they should, which is a death
sentence in this ballpark. But on a windy, 80-degree day, they might even
survive that. You can hit home runs down the lines at Victory Field.
West Vigo will start nine right-handed hitters and they do not list a
left-handed batter or pitcher on the roster who is not a freshman. The Vikings
need a multiple run lead early and averaging 10.4 runs a game they are quite
capable of that if they can figure out Norton. Pearson will try to steal some runs, but Andrean senior catcher Kevin
Franchetti might welcome that.
With all due respect to the program (West Vigo coach Steve DeGroote is 438-118
in 23 years), this game appears a bit lopsided.
Jordan Pearson has to totally shut down Andrean, at least in the first three
or four innings. Since the Niners haven't played in a week, that's possible, but
unlikely. West Vigo's problem is that, even if Norton tires, Andrean has quite a
bit of relief pitching talent.
And West Vigo's schedule is unimpressive. Terre Haute South (19-12), Terre Haute
North (15-16), Tippecanoe Valley (17-11) an Owen Valley (11-17) aren't killers.
The 11-6 win over Brebeuf (23-6) is significant, but Andrean has also defeated
Brebeuf.
The 59ers have won 30 games in a row twice in the last two seasons. No one
in Northwest Indiana has ever done that. They are loaded with pitching and there
is so much experience on the Andrean bench that nothing that happens Saturday
can surprise them. The Niners say publicly that their season can't be defined by whether they win
the state title or not. That's what you say with 10 games left in the season. I
don't think that anyone in an Andrean uniform actually believes that now. When
you are one game from the title, it's all about the trophy. West Vigo's Pearson
can't stop Andrean for seven innings and I can't see the Vikings building any lead
that Andrean cannot overcome.
