By E. Shawn Aylsworth
Managing Editor
INDIANAPOLIS – In an entertaining contest that saw just about every play imaginable take place June 20 at Victory Field, top-ranked Andrean moved its phenomenal winning streak to 31 games by defeating No. 3 West Vigo, 6-3, in a highly anticipated Class 3A championship clash.
Playing in its fourth state championship game in the last seven seasons, Andrean (33-2) jumped on top 5-0 after three innings before holding off a determined rally by West Vigo (28-2). The win brings the Fighting 59ers their second baseball title – they scored a memorable 10 first-inning runs in a 10-1 win over Evansville Memorial in 2005 at Lafayette’s Loeb Stadium – in the school’s 50th year.
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As with the previous game’s balanced winning effort by Heritage Christian, Andrean featured several standout players in the 87-degree downtown Indianapolis heat. Witness:
• Senior pitcher Adam Norton, a Notre Dame recruit and an offensive statistical monster (.557 batting average, 30 doubles among his 59 hits, 54 runs batted in), went 1 for 3 with an RBI while going the distance on the mound to finish his career with a perfect 9-0 season record.
• Senior second baseman Mike Pokers was also 1 for 3, driving in two runs with an inside-the-park home run that caromed off the top of the far-right field wall before rolling down the warning track toward center.
• Junior third baseman Ken Mahala went 2 for 3, including a smashed line-drive homer – his 10th of the season – just right of the 405-foot sign in center to provide Andrean with an insurance run in the sixth.
• Senior shortstop Ryan Dineen nearly hit for the cycle in going 3 for 3 after doubling in the game’s first run in the first, tripling in the third, and bunting for a single in the fifth. Ohyeah, the Eastern Illinois recruit also set the tone for an errorless defensive effort by the 59ers with several scintillating plays at short.
Stay tuned for more story! Till then, enjoy the post-game video interviews and photo gallery!!
West Vigo’s Lucas named Mental Attitude Award winner
Jeremy Lucas of West Vigo was recognized by members of the IHSAA Executive Committee as this year’s recipient of the L.V. Phillips Mental Attitude Award in Class 3A baseball. Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, the corporate partner of the IHSAA, presented a $1,000 scholarship to the school in his name.
The award is presented annually to an outstanding senior participant who has demonstrated excellence in mental attitude, scholarship, leadership, and athletic ability. The award is named in honor of the late L.V. Phillips, who served as the second commissioner of the IHSAA from 1945-1962.
Lucas, a senior catcher and Indiana State recruit, was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2009 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. He was a four-year varsity letterwinner for the Vikings, made All-Western Indiana Conference three years, All-County three years, All-State honorable mention in 2008, and was ranked 17th Overall Baseball Player in State by Prep Baseball Report. He also played tennis and basketball.
The National Honor Society member finished his senior year ranked sixth in his class of 147 with a 3.75 GPA. He scored an impressive 1660 on his SAT and is a Viking Ambassador. The son of Mike and Carol Lucas also volunteers regularly in his community as the West Vigo Community Center Youth Leader and as a Youth Leader at the Terre Haute First Church of the Nazarene.
The box score:
West Vigo 3 (28-2)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
Jordan Pearson p……… 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0
Cameron Fagg 3b………. 3 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
Tyler Wampler ss……… 3 0 2 1 0 0 2 4 0
Jeremy Lucas c……….. 3 1 2 0 0 0 5 1 1
Aaron Welch 1b……….. 3 1 2 0 0 1 9 1 0
Brodey McCalister lf….. 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Scott West 2b………… 2 0 0 1 0 2 0 2 0
Cody Thornton rf……… 3 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0
Dylan Aff cf…………. 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2
Totals………………. 24 3 9 3 1 6 18 11 3
Andrean 6 (33-2)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
Kyle Kovach cf……….. 3 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 2
Ryan Dineen ss……….. 3 2 3 1 0 0 2 3 0
Adam Norton p………… 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0
Kevin Franchetti c……. 3 0 0 0 0 1 6 1 0
Ken Mahala 3b………… 3 2 2 1 0 0 0 1 0
Mike Pokers 2b……….. 3 1 1 2 0 1 2 0 0
Evan Rapacz lf……….. 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0
P.J. Mason lf……….. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tyler Ochi dh………… 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Thomas Polus rf………. 1 0 0 0 1 0 5 0 0
Matt Doolin 1b……….. 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0
Totals………………. 25 6 9 5 1 5 21 7 2
Score by innings R H E
West Vigo……….. 000 210 0 – 3 9 1
Andrean…………. 203 001 X – 6 9 0
E: West. DP: West Vigo 2; Andrean 2. LOB: West Vigo 3;
Andrean 2. 2B: Fagg; Welch; Dineen. 3B: Dineen.
HR: Mahala (10); Pokers (6). SF: McCalister; West.
SB: Kovach.
West Vigo IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
Jordan Pearson…… 6.0 9 6 5 1 5 25 26
Andrean IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
Adam Norton……… 7.0 9 3 3 1 6 24 27
Win: Norton (9-0). Loss: Pearson (14-2).
Umpires: HP Mark Stultz, 1B Grady Smith,
2B Kevin Conder, 3B Tim Born
Start: 4:42 p.m. Time: 1:40
Weather: Partly cloudy, 87 degrees, 9 mph wind
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