INDIANAPOLIS —
With four state runner-up finishes in Class A high school baseball in the past nine seasons — to go along with the school’s 2008 state championship — Shakamak coach Chip Sweet said Saturday he’s been teased about being a perpetual bridesmaid. He can live with that.
“A lot of teams would love to be here [at Victory Field],” Sweet said after his Lakers lost 12-2 to Lafayette Central Catholic.
Brock Dowell’s selection as the L.V. Phillips Mental Attitude Award winner for Class A baseball, however, gives Shakamak an even better distinction.
With three of those awards in the past six years — Steven McNabb, a current assistant coach, won in 2007 and Josh Horton in 2008 — the school is also known for the quality of young men it brings to the ballpark.
Sweet can very easily live with that.
“[The Phillips Award] is really special,” the coach said after Dowell’s name was announced. “Even though it’s only for one guy, I think I’d almost give up a state championship trophy to have one of my kids win that award.”
Dowell, the Lakers’ senior center fielder and pitcher (the award has to go to a senior), had two hits on Saturday to extend his school record for hits in a season to an even 50. He finished with a .431 batting average, and will try to keep playing baseball when he attends Olney Central College in the fall.
He’ll also be doing some studying while he’s there, of course. The son of Matt and Jessica Dowell graduated from Shakamak with a 3.7 grade-point average and will eventually move on from OCC to a four-year college to study pharmacy.
“I’ve always been taught that grades come first [before sports],” said Dowell, also a talented point guard on the Laker basketball team. “I give [academics] my all, and it’s paid off tremendously.”
“I can’t think of a better kid,” Sweet said. “We definitely want to teach the game, but when you’re finished [with baseball] your hope is that every one of your young men will know inside how to be a good man, how to be a good father and how to be a role model for kids.”
Only three other Valley athletes have won the Phillips Award: Curt Phillips of Terre Haute North in 1974 and Jack Smith of Sullivan in 1976 won awards in single-class baseball, and Jeremy Lucas of West Vigo was the Class 3A winner in 2009.
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Lakers’ Dowell named mental attitude winner
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