By STEVE KRAH
Eight baseball teams have survived to this point and earned a shot at state championship.
The 2024 IHSAA State Finals is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, June 14-15 at Victory Field in Indianapolis.
On Friday, the Class 1A title goes up for grabs as Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association No. 2-ranked Barr-Reeve takes on two-time defending champion and No. 1 Lafayette Central Catholic at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time (4:30 p.m. Central Time).
The 3A crown goes on the line at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT when Brebeuf Jesuit meets No. 5 New Prairie.
Saturday features the 2A game with No. 9 Providence and two-time defending champion Illiana Christian at 4:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. CT and the 4A clash between No. 2 Mooresville and Lake Central at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT.
The Barr-Reeve Vikings, Brebeuf Jesuit Braves, New Prairie Cougars and Mooresville Pioneers all have a chance to take their program’s first state championship. The Lafayette Central Catholic Knights, Providence Pioneers, Illiana Christian Vikings and Lake Central Indians have combined for 14.
Lafayette Central Catholic and Illiana Christian are looking to win a state title for the third straight season. Previous streaks of three or more were achieved by LCC in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 (all in 1A) and Jasper in 1996 (single class), 1997 (3A) and 1998 (3A).
At 11, Lafayette Central Catholic and New Prairie are tied for the longest current win streak among the finalists, followed by Barr-Reeve (10), Brebeuf (10), Lake Central (8), Illiana Christian (7), Mooresville (7) and Providence (7).
Leading in offensive average (runs scored per game) is New Prairie (9.25), Lafayette Central Catholic (8.78), Illiana Christian (8.63), Providence (8.53), Brebeuf Jesuit (7.17), Lake Central (7.00), Mooresville (6.97) and Barr-Reeve (6.27).
Barr-Reeve (1.87) is tops in defensive average (fewest runs allowed per game), followed by Lake Central (2.12), Mooresville (2.91), Lafayette Central Catholic (2.96), Illiana Christian (3.13), Providence (3.67), Brebeuf Jesuit (3.70) and New Prairie (3.87).
Quoting the head coaches …
Trevor McConnell (5th Year; Barr-Reeve): “We pitch it really well and play very good defense. There are three arms that we really turn to. (Junior right-hander) Seth Wagler (7-1) is our big-game pitcher. There’s also (junior) Jacob Pauw (3-3) and (sophomore right-hander) Matthew Lashley (5-1) … I like how our offensive has been trending lately. About last two weeks of the season we began to put it all together. We had won a lot of games, but were leaving a lot of things on the table … We made a concerted effort to beat up our schedule are played Fort Wayne, Bishop Dwenger, Edgewood, Jasper, Evansville Central, Vincennes Lincoln, Gibson Southern and South Spencer. We saw a lot of people’s ace … We have a lot of basketball players who have played in front of big crowds … We lost two seniors from (the 2023 state runners-up).”
Tim Bordenet (27th Year; Lafayette Central Catholic): “Pitching and defense has been our strength. They are attacking hitters and throwing strikes. We have two aces in (senior left-hander) Keaton Brooks and (junior right-hander) Lucas Gerkey … We lean on (senior center fielder and four-year starter) Brinn Robbins, (three-year full-time starter and senior right fielder) Kayden Minnich, (junior catcher) Jackson Cain and (junior third baseman-turned-second baseman) Hudson Gutwein … Six starters (from 2023) graduated … We play such a tough schedule. Our team is always prepared. We put our players in tough situations. We’re challenged every time we go out.”
Wes Neese (2nd Year; Brebeuf Jesuit): “This is probably the best defensive team that we have had (with a .960 team fielding percentage) and we had one terrible game with nine errors against Noblesville … (Senior) Will Loftus and (junior) Anthony Suscha have had some really good at-bats … One through nine, we have kids contributing all through the lineup … We play good competition … Our 1 and 2 (pitchers — senior left-hander and Northwestern University commit Christian Forniss at 5-5 with losses coming against Carmel, Noblesville, Mooresville, Lawrence North and Guerin Catholic and a 99-pitch and save in the semistate) and junior right-hander Maverick Geske) are awfully good. Forniss is the only D-I commit. There’s also (seniors) Loftus (Marietta College), Aidan Holzapple (Marian University) and Dylan Wells (Denison University) … We were down 5-1 as the visiting team going into the top of the seventh (against Evansville Memorial). It’s the most-miraculous ending I’ve ever seen. There were two outs with nobody on-base. We then had four singles, a triple and a single to take lead at 6-5. We were down to last strike two times during that sequence.”
Mark Schellinger (8th Year; New Prairie): “It starts with our pitching and (senior left-hander) Tyson Greenwood (6-1) and (senior right-hander) Joe Kinney (7-2). They’ve been very effective as starters or out of the bullpen … We’re pretty good at stacking together some quality at-bats and we have good team speed. We put ball in-play and run the bases … Our schedule has forced us to play in diversity … (Athletic director and former NCAA Division I college coach) Ben Bachmann is a great resource for us to have … We focus on what we can control and not what’s happening in the other dugout.”
Tre’ Watson (2nd Year; Providence): “We’re hitting really well — up and down the lineup — and we’re aggressive on the bases (with 88 steals, led by senior Luke Kruer’s 25 and senior Jack Beyl’s 20). We play small ball and are executing well … (Sophomore right-hander) Gavin Jackson (6-2) will start on the mound … We play a tough schedule for a reason … In both games (in the semistate) we got down 3-0 in the first inning and (won with two-out walk-off singles by junior Cole Huett against Knightstown and Jackson against Greencastle, homers by Kruer in both games and a long relief stint by right-hander Beyl, 3-0).”
Jeff VanderWoude (5th Year; Illiana Christian): “I think we compete and believe in each other very well. (The players) are very resilient and have GRIT, which never leaves out of a game … Either (sophomore left-hander) Tanner Post or (sophomore left-hander) Spencer Bandstra (will start on the mound) … (Senior) Aaron Gouwens (Roosevelt University), (junior) Gavin Meyer (Ohio State University) and (senior) Isaac VanderWoude (University of Virginia) are college commitments … Our schedule helped us see great pitchers and teams of all levels. There should not be anything that we see that should surprise us because we haven’t seen it before. Our schedule pushes our players and coaches to be at our best at all times. It helps shows us what we are doing well and the things that we need to work on. It gives us the opportunity to make choices if we want to fight and earn what we want or do we want to whine and complain and hope people give us what we want … (Being there twice before) helps us to know what to expect as far as the timing and the feel for things. Besides that it is a new game and a new team that we are playing. I know they don’t care about what we have done or how many times we have been there. All they care about is beating us and bringing home a championship, so honestly I don’t think it helps so much, we need to be ready to go out there and compete.”
Eric McGaha (20th Year; Mooresville): “We pitch it pretty well. We play good defense. We support each other really well and we have really good leadership. It’s a fun group to be around … (Senior right-hander) Brendin Oliver (12-0) has been our guy (on the mound) all year long. There also (sophomore right-hander) Hudson DeVaughan (5-0) and (senior right-hander) Hogan Denny (2-0 and well as 10 home runs and 40 runs batted in as a hitter) …We try to play the best competition that we can face and I believe we have (including early-season losses to South Bend Saint Joseph and Noblesville and a win against Zionsville). That helped shape what we wanted to do. Along the way, we played Carmel, scrimmaged Cathedral and played in a tough Mid-State Conference schedule.”
Mike Swartzentruber (8th Year; Lake Central): “We do several things well. Our pitching (led by senior right-hander and Indiana University commit Griffin Tobias, 7-2, and senior right-hander Blake Sivak, 7-1) is pretty good. It’s been dominant during the tournament (giving up just three runs in six games). We’ve got a deep pitching staff (junior right-hander Josh Flores,1-0, is a University of Cincinnati commit and junior right-hander Grant Mercer is 5-1) that got through some struggles early in the year. It’s taken us awhile to get our footing and settle into a lineup … We play a rigorous, demanding schedule so by the time the tournament comes around we’re playing our best baseball … This team has no egos, loves competing with each other and it’s served us well … Last year we had a monster-talented offense. This year, we’ve changed how we play. We’re still aggressive on the bases (with 86 stolen bases, led by senior Nick Robinson’s 36 and senior Michael Szatkowski and junior Jake Figg with 15 each). We played small ball, hit-and-run and manufacture runs.”
Cost is $15 per day.
All four state championship games will stream exclusively on IHSAAtv.org via pay-per-view for $15 per game or $20 for all games.
Games will be broadcast on the radio by affiliates if the IHSAA Champions Network.
IHSAA STATE FINALS
Friday, June 14
Class 1A
Barr-Reeve (27-6) vs. Lafayette Central Catholic (27-6), 5:30 p.m. ET (4:30 CT)
Class 3A
Brebeuf Jesuit (25-9) vs. New Prairie (26-5), 8 p.m. ET (7 CT)
Saturday, June 15
Class 2A
Providence (21-7) vs. Illiana Christian (21-9), 4:30 p.m. ET (3:30 CT)
Class 4A
Mooresville (32-3) vs. Lake Central (24-9), 8 p.m. ET (7 CT)
Tournament Trail
Barr-Reeve: Loogootee Sectional — Vincennes Rivet 10-0 (5 inn.), Loogootee 5-0; Loogootee Regional — Tecumseh 6-0; Jasper Semistate — Shakamak 1-0, Indianapolis Lutheran 9-2.
Lafayette Central Catholic: Lafayette Central Catholic Sectional — Covington 10-0 (6 inn.), Fountain Central 11-1 (5 inn.); Lafayette Central Catholic Regional — Frontier 22-1 (5 inn.); La Porte Semistate — Union City 6-1, Morgan Township 4-3.
Brebeuf Jesuit: Brebeuf Jesuit Sectional — Indianapolis Bishop Chatard 2-1, Guerin Catholic 3-0; Mooresville Regional — Speedway 10-0 (6 inn.); Castle Semistate — Crawfordsville 7-2, Evansville Memorial 6-5.
New Prairie: Glenn Sectional — Culver Academies 21-2 (5 inn.), Knox 13-0 (5 inn.); La Porte Regional — Hanover Central 8-6; Kokomo Semistate — Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger 5-3, Twin Lakes 6-4.
Providence: Clarksville Sectional — Crawford County 10-0 (5 inn.), Paoli 10-1; Mitchell Regional — Southwestern (Hanover) 9-4; Plainfield Semistate — Knightstown 9-8, Greencastle 7-6 (8 inn.).
Illiana Christian: Whiting Sectional — Hammond Bishop Noll 12-2 (5 inn.), Whiting 5-0, North Newton 9-1; Griffith Regional — Wheeler 8-1; Oak Hill Semistate — Madison-Grant 10-0 (6 inn.), Rochester 12-2 (6 inn.).
Mooresville: Bloomington North Sectional — Greenwood 2-0, Bloomington North 3-2, Center Grove 11-6; Mooresville Regional — Franklin Community 12-3; Mooresville Semistate — New Palestine 3-2 (11 inn.), Avon 7-2.
Lake Central: Munster Sectional — Munster 7-1, Merrillville 10-0 (6 inn.), Hobart 4-0; Griffith Regional —Chesterton 2-0; Lafayette Semistate — Westfield 4-1, Homestead 6-1.
All-Time Titles
Sectional
Lafayette Central Catholic (20)
Barr-Reeve (15)
Brebeuf Jesuit (17)
New Prairie (5)
Providence (22)
Illiana Christian (3)
Mooresville (12)
Lake Central (23)
Regional
Barr-Reeve (4)
Lafayette Central Catholic (17)
Brebeuf Jesuit (6)
New Prairie (2)
Providence (8)
Illiana Christian (3)
Mooresville (5)
Lake Central (9)
Semistate
Barr-Reeve (3)
Lafayette Central Catholic (12)
Brebeuf Jesuit (3)
New Prairie (1)
Providence (3)
Illiana Christian (3)
Mooresville (1)
Lake Central (2)
State Championships
Barr-Reeve (0)
Lafayette Central Catholic (9 — 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2022, 2023; all in 1A)
Brebeuf Jesuit (0)
New Prairie (0)
Providence (2 — 2016, 2021; both in 2A)
Illiana Christian (2 — 2022, 2023; both in 2A)
Mooresville (0)
Lake Central (1 — 2012 in 4A)
State Runner-Up Finishes
Barr-Reeve (2 — 1998, 2023; both in 1A)
Lafayette Central Catholic (2 — 2015, 2016; both in 2A)
Brebeuf Jesuit (2 — 2012, 2022; both in 3A)
New Prairie (0)
Providence (0)
Illiana Christian (0)
Mooresville (0)
Lake Central (0)
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