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The last high school baseball team standing in the Wabash Valley was the North Central, the Thunderbirds falling short 4-3 in the Class A Semistate on Saturday just one game shy of Victory Field.
While the T-Birds may have seemed to come out of nowhere, the program has been steady in recent years, finishing 13-6 in 2009 and nearly knocking off perennial Class A power Shakamak in the sectional behind a strong senior class.
Coach Darin Simpson faced what figured to be a rebuilding year, but a roster littered with sophomores bounced back after a 1-5 start to build up steam heading into the postseason.
Of his nine starters in the field, Simpson’s team also included two sets of brothers that made up five of the nine positions.
Sophomore second baseman and leadoff man Nate Lyday is joined by twin brother and center fielder Zach Lyday and junior brother Matt Lyday, the Thunderbirds’ first baseman. Ace pitcher Connor Strain is also joined by his twin brother — yes there’s two sets of identical twins — Tyler Strain in left field.
“It’s definitely fun to have two brothers that you can still yell at but know they’re still going to come through with the plays,” Nate Lyday said. “We’ve played a lot of ball together in years past.”
Simpson’s looking forward to having the two sets of brothers around for two more seasons — not just for their quality play on the diamond.
“It’s always funny that they’re on each other’s case all the time about making a play or getting a hit,” Simpson said.
The Lydays actually began their baseball careers in Jasonville before moving to Farmersburg, where Nate and Zach played their final year of Little League.
The win against Shakamak was a sweet one for the North Central program, but perhaps even sweeter for the Lydays, who watched the Thunderbirds come excruciatingly close to knocking off the Lakers the last two years in the sectional championship.
As a freshman, Nate Lyday recalled watching the 2009 game in which the Thunderbirds loaded the bases when behind 5-4 in the seventh inning. But Shakamak’s ace pitcher T.J. Hill struck out two T-Birds to end the threat.
“We’d love to beat those guys,” Nate Lyday remembered thinking last year. “We needed to beat those seniors to prove ourselves as baseball players.”
After North Central won a first-round regional game, Shakamak’s Hill was one of the first to congratulate Simpson. While it’s developed into a
“He wished us well in the semistate,” Simpson said. “He noted that they played Tecumseh on the way to their state final, and they’ve had pretty good luck with them. I really like that group of [Shakamak] kids.”
Simpson, who said he always thought he’d be coaching high school basketball and not baseball, hopes he can maintain his winning ways in the future.
“I’ve had a lot of people ask me the secret to our success,” Simpson said. “I think that the most important thing is to have fun. The wins are nice. I told them that the very first year. Just keep it simple.”
The T-Birds’ success was no accident. They finished the season strong to get to a 16-12 record overall. In the postseason, North Central did the little things that it takes to win close baseball games, getting down key sacrifice bunts and making aggressive plays on the bases.
North Central had some hitters too. The Lydays all batted over .300 led by Nate’s .340 average, and senior shortstop A.J. Boyll batted .538 going into the semistate. Boyll will play for South Carolina-Beaufort, an NAIA program.
Nate Lyday expects his team to be back strong the next two years with the strong core of players, and Simpson, leading the way.
“He’s definitely been a coach for inspiration,” Nate said. “He doesn’t dog players or yell. He knows you’ll get the next out. Just keep playing with your heads up.
“We should be pretty tough. We should have two more good years, maybe get to state, maybe even win state,” he added.
Craig Pearson can be reached by e-mail at craig.pearson@tribstar.com or by phone at (812) 231-4356. Check out his Web log at blogs.tribstar.com/craigpearson.
Given to Fly
June 14, 2010
'Til It's Over: Two sets of identical twins should keep North Central baseball a contender
- Given to Fly
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GIVEN TO FLY: ISU women have solid recruiting class
The caliber of athletes that the Indiana State women’s basketball coaching staff is bringing in is on an upswing.
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GIVEN TO FLY: Major leaguers John, Dorsett meet up at tonight’s game
Terre Haute’s only two big leaguers of the last 50 years — Tommy John and Brian Dorsett — will catch up with one another today.
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FOOT NOTES: Valley natives perform well on national stage
Several Wabash Valley natives continue to shine on the national track and field scene.
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'Til It's Over: Sycamores ‘in a good place,’ but searching for more in MVC
Can Teri Moren lift Indiana State, last year’s seventh-place team in the Missouri Valley Conference, to one of the league’s contenders in her first year on campus?
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'Til It's Over: Two sets of identical twins should keep North Central baseball a contender
The last high school baseball team standing in the Wabash Valley was the North Central, the Thunderbirds falling short 4-3 in the Class A Semistate on Saturday just one game shy of Victory Field.
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'Til It's Over: Jarvis, Anderson confident Olney, hard work leads to Division I dream
Olney, Ill., population 8,000-plus and known for its population of white squirrels, might not be the dream destination for high school basketball players in Indiana.
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'Til It's Over: Robinson 7-footer more focused in postseason; 6-foot Jones keeps producing
Robinson 7-footer Meyers Leonard is not going to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA some day, but his odds of reaching the league are pretty solid if his game continues to evolve as it has during high school.
- 'Til It's Over: ‘Stepping stone’ game points Sycamores in right direction Whether the win comes against a top-25 team or a conference pushover, ending a four-game losing streak is always a relief.
- 'Til It's Over: Indianapolis ISU recruit rolling along in senior season As Indiana State recruit Anna Munn approached Christmas with the Decatur Central basketball team, the senior guard didn’t seem to need much of a wishlist.
- 'Til It's Over: Magic’s still there for '79 Sycamores For the former Indiana State players who visited the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in late November, the weekend was a chance to relive memories with teammates and see Larry Bird’s career with the Sycamores celebrated again.
- CRAIG PEARSON: North has strong history in cross country state finals Vigo County is home to just four IHSAA state championships in team sports. Most recently, Terre Haute South won girls titles in basketball (2002) and tennis (2001).
- 'Till It's Over: It’s been rough year but no need to break up Cubs' core Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry is only in the first year of a three-year contract, and aren’t back-to-back division championships enough to keep him around despite this year’s season filled with bad luck?
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You might have heard of the Indiana Pacers’ 2009 first-round draft pick. He was on the television once in a while during his four-year career at North Carolina.
- 'Til It's Over: Bertoli, Moore put on show in abundance of events “Anthony and Erica” may not have the marketing capability of “Dan and Dave,” but neither of Indiana State’s outstanding multi-event participants had let-down performances this weekend in the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.
- ‘Walking wounded’: ISU seniors return to provide spark All three ISU seniors will graduate in May, and all three will be in uniform today as Indiana State battles Bradley in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament quarterfinals.
- Given to Fly: Northview standout runner Thacker coming to ISU Doc Brown told an old-timer in a saloon in “Back to the Future III” that despite having automobiles in the future people run for recreation.
- Given to Fly: Schilli’s Rodman-like performance aids ISU With Indiana State’s women’s basketball team ranking eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference in field-goal percentage (36.5), the Sycamores need as many shot attempts as possible to maintain their standing on top of the league.
- Given to Fly: A classic in every sense of the word What tournament director and co-founder Gary Fears had in mind when creating the tournament came to fruition Tuesday. Marshall, with an enrollment of 438 students, became the smallest school to win the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic in the ninth season of the tourney.
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Given to Fly: ISU women should build confidence off strong outing
Indiana State did not pull off the monumental upset Saturday against No. 23 Kansas State, but the Wildcats are —aside from Connecticut in 2005 — the best team the Sycamores have played in the Jim Wiedie era.
- Given to Fly: ISU women's hoops team slides onto commercial radio Coach Jim Wiedie expects the Indiana State women’s basketball team to have a bit of a retro feel this season, meaning the Sycamores have the potential to get back to creating havoc with their full-court press.
- Given to Fly: ISU vets hope to prove pundits wrong Indiana State’s only two seniors were surprised to see they were picked ahead of just three Missouri Valley Conference women’s basketball teams Tuesday morning.
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Footnotes: In first marathon, former Sycamore comes out a winner
Indiana State graduate Dani Prince made her debut in the event with a victory in the Columbus Marathon on Sunday.
Prince’s goal was a time under 2 hours and 50 minutes, and she ran a 2:48.56. -
Given To Fly: ISU volleyball turning things around
It was an extremely busy weekend for Indiana State athletics this weekend.
- Footnotes: Here’s hoping perfect weather is still around for Nationals in November The weather made for a perfect fall afternoon Saturday at LaVern Gibson Championship Course. For what it’s worth, the Farmer’s Almanac calls for more sunny conditions from Nov. 20-24, with the NCAA Championships falling on the 24th this year.
- Terre Haute natives cherish memories of ‘House that Ruth Built’ Yankee Stadium was packed as usual on Easter Sunday in 1979. George Steinbrenner’s Yankees were one loss away from being swept by the Milwaukee Brewers to start the season. That was no way for the two-time defending World Series champions to perform, so the boss had a conversation with his new veteran left-handed starting pitcher prior to the game.
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Footnotes: Oregon men and women have strangehold on preseason NCAA cross countryrankings
The Oregon men and women were almost both unanimous picks as the No. 1 teams in the nation in the preseason cross country national rankings released recently.
- Given to Fly: Bronze medalist has strong ISU ties One of the remarkable American medalists of this 2008 Olympics thus far also provided one of the most sparkling stories in the brief history of the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course here in Terre Haute.
- Former ISU QB gets back to Amarillo This week, Indiana State signed its most highly-touted football prospect in years, and former quarterback Julian Reese is ripping it up for the Amarillo Dusters of Arena2.
- Indiana State track sending strong group to NCAA regional Three sophomore women and three senior men lead a large Indiana State contingent of track and field athletes into the NCAA Mideast Regional this weekend at Fayetteville, Ark.
- Given to Fly: Sycamores embracing underdog role at MVC Tournament The frustration of not living up to expectations can cause problems within any sports team, from the coach down to the players at the end of the bench.
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