INDIANAPOLIS — There were several innings Saturday evening at Victory Field during which West Vigo was the better Class 3A high school baseball team in the state championship.
But they weren’t the early innings, and top-ranked Andrean used a big early cushion to take a 6-3 win, its second championship in the past five seasons.
“The kids proved they belong here,” coach Steve DeGroote said after the game. “Anybody could’ve won that ballgame.”
The Vikings didn’t score in the top of the first inning, although Cameron Fagg was robbed of a hit by 59er shortstop Ryan Dineen and Tyler Wampler got an infield hit. And Dineen was about to do more damage.
After Andrean leadoff batter Kyle Kovach beat out a dribbler down the first-base line to start the bottom of the first, Dineen lined an opposite-field drive into the left-center gap for an RBI double. He scored the second run of the inning while Wampler was starting a double play.
The Vikings looked to be back in the game in the top of the second, when Aaron Welch and Brodey McCalister got singles and Welch worked his way out of a rundown when he appeared to be picked off second on a missed bunt attempt.
Instead of making the 59ers pay for their failure to make that defensive play, however, the Vikings went down meekly — back-to-back-to-back called third strikes — and a big opportunity had been lost.
Viking pitcher Jordan Pearson worked his way out of a two-out jam in the bottom of the second. He gave up a one-out single and walked the ninth batter in the Andrean order, and after falling behind Kovach 3-and-0 he came back for a huge strikeout. But the Vikings went down in order in the top of the third, although Wampler drove right fielder Thomas Polus almost to the fence with an opposite-field drive.
And the bottom of the third was costly. Dineen’s deep fly to right drifted over a Viking’s head for a triple, and Adam Norton got an RBI single — although Viking catcher Jeremy Lucas then picked Norton off first base. With two out, however, Ken Mahala singled and Mike Pokers hit an opposite-field line drive that hit off the right-field fence, took a sharply angled bounce off one of Victory Field’s corners and got past defenders for an inside-the-park homer.
A five-run deficit looked pretty big, but it seemed to inspire the Vikings. Lucas led off the fourth with a single, Welch got a double when his monster fly ball to center got up in the wind, over the head and off the glove of Kovach, and sacrifice flies by McCalister and Scott West cut the lead to 5-2. Both McCalister and West, as well as Cody Thornton who made the third out, hit deep drives.
Pearson breezed through two innings in a row on the mound, and West Vigo climbed closer in the fifth when Fagg doubled off the third-base bag and scored on a single by Wampler. But a Viking who reached base earlier in the inning had been picked off, and Wampler was thrown out at second when the 59ers cut off the throw home.
“Mistakes of aggression you can put up with,” DeGroote said afterward. “[That aggressiveness] is why we got here.” The coach also wasn’t critical about the second-inning problems.
“That happens in a ballgame,” he said. “We wouldn’t be here if any one player or any one coach was missing from this squad.”
Lucas singled in the top of the sixth and Thornton had a hit in the seventh, but double plays wiped out both. And Andrean got its final run in the bottom of the sixth when Mahala homered to right-center.
The Vikings were disconsolate afterward, particularly about the start that put them in a hole.
“We’ve been waiting too long this year to get runs on the board,” said Wampler, “and today showed it didn’t work out.”
“We left everything out on the field,” said Pearson. “We started getting our momentum, but just a little too late.”
“We’re disappointed,” Welch said. “We didn’t start off very good.”
“We did all we could,” said Fagg. “We played to the best of our abilities.”
“It’s so hard to get here, and it’s awesome [being here],” said DeGroote. “The [West Vigo] players in the past paid the price too, and this team finally got through the door … we believe we can get to this point too now.
“When it’s done, it’s done. But these kids put us here.”
DeGroote’s future as the Viking coach had been a matter of speculation, but he put to rest Saturday any rumors that he might be stepping down.
“That would be giving up on all the kids we’ve had in the past,” he said. “We just want to come back better.”
“Coach is unbelievable,” said Wampler, “I’m so thrilled he’s coming back for my senior year [next spring]. I think we’ll be here again next year, but the work starts today.”
Making the decision easier for DeGroote, if indeed a decision had been involved, was probably the comments he got after Saturday’s game from administrators and officials from around the state who praised the Vikings for the way they played the game and comported themselves.
“I get happy when people respect us,” he said. “That’s all we ask for.”
Andrean 6, West Vigo 3
West Vigo ab r h bi Andrean ab r h bi
Pearson p 3 0 0 0 Kovach cf 3 1 1 0
Fagg 3b 3 1 1 0 Dineen ss 3 2 3 1
Wampler ss 3 0 2 1 Norton p 3 0 1 1
Lucas c 3 1 2 0 Franchetti c 3 0 0 0
Welch 1b 3 1 2 0 Mahala 3b 3 2 2 1
McCalister lf 2 0 1 1 Pokers 2b 3 1 1 2
West 2b 2 0 0 1 Rapacz ;f 3 0 1 0
Thornton rf 3 0 1 0 Ochi dh 3 0 0 0
Aff cf 2 0 0 0 Doolin 1b 0 0 0 0
Polus rf 1 0 0 0
Totals 24 3 9 3 Totals 25 6 9 5
West Vigo 000 210 0 — 3
Andrean 203 001 x — 6
E — West. DP — WV 2, Andrean 2. LOB — WV 3, Andrean 2. 2B — Dineen, Welch, Fagg. 3B — Dineen. HR — Pokers (6), Mahala (10). SB — Kovach. CS — Norton, Aff. SF — McCalister, West.
IP H R ER BB SO
West Vigo
Pearson (L, 13-2) 6 9 6 6 1 5
Andrean
Norton (W, 9-0) 7 9 3 3 1 6
T — 1:59.
Records — Andrean finished 33-2, West Vigo 28-2.
High School
Dream Season ends: West Vigo offense can’t overcome early deficit
- High School
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South tops Oldenburg to win tennis semistate
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New route leads to same place for South girls tennis
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This year, their trip was re-routed through Greencastle (regional) and Center Grove (semistate). So it cnahged to east and more east. -
PREP ROUNDUP: Robinson tops Greenville in sectional semifinal
Robinson jumped to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, then cruised to a convincing 12-3 victory over Greenville in a IHSA Class 2A Vandalia sectional semifinal game on Thursday.
Ashlyn Sullivan was 2 for 3 with a double, home run and three RBIs to lead the winning Maroons. -
West Vigo baseball falls in sectional to Owen Valley
West Vigo overcame the odds to win 20 high school baseball games this season with a lineup that often included four freshmen and few seniors.
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South Vermillion softball's late-season surge comes to end
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The loss was just the second in the last 12 games for the Wildcats. The Mustangs, however, haven’t lost a sectional softball game for eight years in a row. -
South takes second, North third at boys track regional
Terre Haute South finished second and Terre Haute North third on Thursday night at the boys track and field regional at Evansville Central, with 11 individuals and three relay teams qualifying for the state finals June 2.
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PREP ROUNDUP: White River Valley baseball holds off Eminence
Three Eminence errors in the top of the sixth inning finally enabled White River Valley to score in high school baseball Thursday night, and the Wolverines went on to a 5-0 win in Class A Shakamak Sectional action.
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Feeling cursed: South bitten in sectional final again
Terre Haute South softball is not even close to being as cursed as a certain northside baseball team in Chicago, but it might just seem like it.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Mundy, Porter, Knight individual regional winners
Chanli Mundy and Keirra Porter of Terre Haute North were among the individual winners in the IHSAA Evansville Central girls track and field regional that ended late Tuesday night.
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Thornton puts away South Vermillion
Cody Thornton’s three-run blast over the left-field fence was the finishing touch to West Vigo’s 10-3 victory over South Vermillion in the opening game of the Class 3A Greencastle Sectional on Wednesday.
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Shakamak took Class A Clay City Sectional honors in high school softball for the first time since 2009 Wednesday, defeating White River Valley 9-5 in the title tilt.
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North Vermillion avenges losses
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Pats, Knights will meet in sectional
Adler Ingalsbe pooh-poohed his lack of velocity Wednesday night, yet the Terre Haute North pitcher was throwing BBs in the first game compared to Mooresville’s Brandon Topie in the nightcap.
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South outbattles Northview to reach sectional final
Even the best of high school softball pitchers can’t keep all the batters in the middle of Terre Haute South’s lineup down.
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Panthers get 20th win in sectional
Riverton Parke will face North Vermillion in the Class A softball sectional championship at Riverton Parke today, with action commencing at 6 p.m.
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Plainfield Sectional all about parity
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PREP ROUNDUP: North Vermillion in title game
Casey West had a triple and three runs scored to help North Vermillion softball advance to the championship game of the Class A Riverton Parke Sectional on Tuesday.
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North takes second in track regional
Terre Haute North finished second with 74 points, six behind team champion Evansville Reitz, during the Evansville Central girls track and field regional that ended late Tuesday night.
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Wildcats advance to sectional softball final; West Vigo falls
Patience, patience.
South Vermillion exhibited great patience, being very selective at the plate and it paid off royally in the fourth inning. -
South, Crawfordsville win in regional tennis semis
Terre Haute South outlasted Fountain Central 4-1 in the first round of the girls high school tennis regional Tuesday, advancing the Braves into today’s championship match against Crawfordsville.
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Braves, Knights open with wins
It was an excellent night for starting softball pitchers to help their own cause Monday night in the Class 4A Northview Sectional.
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Lough dreamt about McMillan
A two-time state finalist in wrestling and a two-time all-Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference football player and wrestler, Tsali Lough of Terre Haute South was named the male recipient of the 2012 McMillan Award on Monday night at South’s Senior Awards Night.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Panthers cruise in sectional opener
Sarah Burnham pitched a two-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts in high school softball Monday evening as host Riverton Parke defeated defending champion Rockville 10-0 in opening-round action at the Class A Riverton Parke Sectional.
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Notable tradition bodes well for Riverton Parke
Located practically in the shadow of a high school that sets one state standard in track and field, Riverton Parke has a tendency to be overlooked in that sport.
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Vikings get 18th win over Shakamak
West Vigo began a busy week of high school baseball Monday on a winning note, defeating Shakamak 6-3.
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Greencastle new site for girls tennis regional
The starting times might prove to be a bone of contention, but otherwise coaches Bill Blankenbaker and Emily Goff are thrilled their respective girls high school tennis teams will begin play today at the Greencastle Regional.
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Northview sectional groups 3 20-win teams
Three teams with 20-plus victories will attempt to claim the Class 4A Northview Sectional crown for high school softball this week, and most of the other Wabash Valley sectional fields also appear to be wide open.
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Terre Haute South softball takes Riverton Parke tournament
Terre Haute South is going into the Class 4A Sectional at Northview on Monday with momentum, confidence, a deep bench and a healthier pitching staff than it has had in quite a while.
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North baseball splits doubleheader with Indy North Central
Some of their incentive could have been sapped a couple of nights earlier, when Center Grove achieved an eight-inning victory over Warren Central to clinch the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference high school baseball championship.
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