By KEVIN HARRIS
INDIANAPOLIS – Lanesville’s year-long redemption mission to
return to the IHSAA State Finals and capture the 2017 Class A state
championship has ended up as a successful one.
One year after losing the Class A state title game to
Daleville 4-0, the eighth-ranked Eagles claimed the long-awaited state crown
Saturday at Victory Field by defeating No. 3 Rossville 5-1.
It was Lanesville’s first state championship in any sport.
In addition, it was the first state title for a Harrison County school.
“It’s been our goal since we lost last year because we knew
we had the potential to come back again. It’s been our No. 1 goal,” Eagles’
starter Cameron Harvey told the IHSAA Champions Network shortly after the game.
“As a team, we worked harder than we’ve ever worked before. It’s just a huge accomplishment
for us.”
Third-year Lanesville head coach Zach Payne mentioned in his
post-game interview with the IHSAA Champions Network that his team handled this
year’s state championship contest like any other game during last week’s practices.
Payne feels last season’s experience in getting ready for the state finals
aided in his players’ mental preparation this time around.
“We didn’t really talk about the feeling of playing at
Victory Field all week,” said Payne, a Providence alumnus and former Pioneer assistant
coach. “We just talked about playing a baseball game today and it was a huge difference
for us.”
Arguably, the most focused Eagle was Harvey.
The 6-foot-4 senior right-hander pitched a three-hitter to
complete his record at 9-2, surrendering one earned run. Harvey, a Providence
transfer, struck out four and walked two.
After yielding two hits in the bottom of the first inning,
Harvey gave up one knock the rest of the way. The Indiana Wesleyan University
recruit retired 11 Rossville batters in a row, which was from the final out in
the first to the first out of the fifth.
In his four postseason starts, Harvey allowed two earned
runs on 11 hits with 37 strikeouts.
A five-run fifth inning by Lanesville (20-6) to give it a
5-0 lead helped Harvey get more comfortable on the mound.
“It’s just such a relief as a pitcher knowing you’ve got
support behind you,” Harvey said. “It’s a little bit of a stress reliever on
the mound. You don’t have so much pressure on you trying to hold them. If you’re
up 5-0 and they score one run, hey that’s one run – it’s not going to hurt you.”
All of the Eagles’ five runs in the top of the fifth came
with two outs.
The scoring spurt started with Lanesville’s No. 9 hitter,
freshman Isaac Casabella, drawing a walk against Hornet starter Trevor
Waggoner.
Casabella advanced to third base on a single to left field
by No. 1 batter Greg Daly. That prompted Rossville head coach Brad Scott to
relieve Waggoner with sophomore righty Dawson Jacoby.
But Jacoby’s luck versus the Eagles’ lineup was not much
better.
Following a stolen base by Daly to put runners at second and
third, catcher Evan Peele delivered a two-run base hit to center to put
Lanesville up 2-0.
Courtesy runner Ethan Purdy, who substituted for Peele,
moved to second on a wild pitch. The Eagles got two on base again when left
fielder Ryan McCubbins drew a walk against Jacoby.
The next batter, junior Mitchell Bailey, extended the
Lanesville lead to 4-0 when he smacked a double near the warning track in left
to plate Purdy and McCubbins. Then Harvey helped his winning effort with an
opposite-field single to right to knock in Bailey.
Hornet senior right-hander Matt Homco, who relieved Jacoby
following Harvey’s hit, stopped the bleeding by forcing Eagle third baseman
Noah Jones to pop out to second.
“We’ve been hitting the ball well with two outs all year. We’re
confident with two outs,” Payne said. “The bottom of our lineup has started
several two-out rallies for us as well. Our guys never quit. We’re always ready
to hit the ball and score some runs, no matter how many outs there are.”
Rossville (24-9) got its lone run in the bottom of the
fifth. With the bases loaded and two out, sophomore Mark Soiseth came home from
third on a wild pitch by Harvey. The Hornets’ rally concluded, though, when
Waggoner grounded out to second. Rossville only got two runners on base in the
final two innings.
Lanesville did the ceremonial dogpile on the Victory Field
diamond once the game’s final out – a Jacoby groundout to second – was made.
While his players celebrated on the field, Payne ran into the stadium’s
grandstands to be with some important people in his life.
“I had to go see my dad,” Payne said on Father’s Day weekend.
“That guy has pushed me and done a lot for me. I’m so happy that he was able to
experience this. And of course, I had to see my new wife.”
Ten Eagle seniors concluded their high school careers as state
champions. They were Daly, Harvey, McCubbins, Peele, Tristin Brown, Brenden
Bube, Dakota Fonda, Ridge Hess, Tim Oberdieck and Tommy Tidstrom. Bube, a
standout player throughout his career at Lanesville, missed most of the 2017
season because of an ACL injury.
Waggoner was the losing pitcher as his record dropped to
11-2. In 4 2/3 innings, he allowed two runs (both earned) on three hits and one
walk.
The Eagles will move up to Class 2A next season because of
the IHSAA’s success factor rule.
CLASS A STATE
CHAMPIONSHIP
AT VICTORY FIELD,
INDIANAPOLIS
LANESVILLE 5, ROSSVILLE
1
Lanesville 000 050 0-5 6 1
Rossville 000 010 0-1 3 1
W – Cameron Harvey (9-2). L – Trevor Waggoner (11-2). 2B –
Ryan McCubbins (L), Mitchell Bailey (L).
Records – Lanesville 20-6, Rossville 24-9.
CLASS A JASPER
SEMISTATE
LANESVILLE 6,
INDIANAPOLIS LUTHERAN 2
JASPER – Lanesville repeated as semistate champions for the
first time in program history on June 10 at Ruxer Field by defeating
Indianapolis Lutheran 6-2 in the Class A Jasper Semistate.
Harvey continued his great postseason on the mound. He
allowed two runs on one hit in six innings of work. Harvey posted 12 strikeouts
and four walks. Bube wrapped up the semistate title by pitching a scoreless
seventh inning, giving up one hit and fanning two.
Harvey helped his winning cause at the plate, going 3-for-3
and scoring twice. Lanesville freshman Zach Fink was 2-for-3 with a double,
while Bailey wound up 2-for-4.
The Eagles plated two runs in the top of the second to go up
2-0. Fink drove in both runs with a double to right field to plate Bailey and
Harvey.
Lanesville added four more runs in the third to extend its
advantage to 6-0. The Eagles got three consecutive RBI base hits from Tidstrom,
Fink and Casabella, and Peele drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in another run.
CLASS A JASPER
SEMISTATE
AT RUXER FIELD
LANESVILLE 6,
INDIANAPOLIS LUTHERAN 2
Lanesville 024 000 0-6 9 3
Lutheran 001 001 0-2 2 1
W – Harvey (8-2). L – Matthew Alter. 2B – Zach Fink (La).
Records – Lanesville 19-6, Lutheran 18-8.
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