By Pete Cava
PBR Indiana Correspondent 

On a clear day tailor-made for baseball, the Gibson Southern Titans and Shakamak Lakers clinched berths in next weekend's IHSAA State Championships.

Gibson Southern defeated New Palestine in Saturday's Class 3A Semi-State game at Plainfield, while Shakamak topped Vincennes Rivet in eight innings in the Class A contest. 

Gibson Southern will square off against Andrean for the state title next weekend at Victory Field in Indianapolis while Shakamak will take on Rockville.  Andrean won Saturday's 3A Semi-State at Plymouth and Rockville claimed the Class A Semi-State crown at Kokomo.   The IHSAA will announce dates and times this week.  

Class 3A – No. 9 Gibson Southern 8, New Palestine 5:  Dillon Whitten overcame a shaky start, his Titan teammates overcame a three-run deficit and the No. 9 Titans went on to win in dramatic fashion.  

Whitten gave up ten hits, walked a pair and hit four batters, but also struck out nine and pitched two shutout innings once Gibson Southern gave him the lead. 

“It's probably the biggest accomplishment I've ever had in baseball,” said the 6-foot-4, 275-pound right-hander, who'll enter Olney (Ill.) Central College this fall.   “I'm really not that tired, but I'll bet I drank three gallons of water.” 

Wasting no time against Whitten, New Palestine (23-10) scored a pair of runs in the top of the first.  Dragons leadoff man Nick Butcher was hit by a pitch and went to second on Cameron Clark's sacrifice bunt.  After Connor Swain flied out, Steven Clark hit a grounder to the hole between third and short.  Gibson Southern shortstop Brooks Martin ranged to his left, made a back-handed stop and tossed to third, but Butcher arrived ahead of the throw.  Keegan Watson followed with a two-base hit to right for a 2-0 New Pal edge.

With two gone in the third, the Dragons added another run.  Whitten fanned the first two batters, but Watson whacked another double, this time down the left line, and dashed home on Logan Gilvin's single to center. 

Gibson Southern (24-7) got back a couple of runs in the bottom of the third.  With a 3-2 count and runners on first and second, Whitten, the Titans three-hole hitter, lifted a high fly to shallow left.  New Palestine's third baseman, shortstop and left fielder converged on the ball, but appeared to have trouble with the sun.  Dragons left fielder Jason Hall-Manley attempted a last-minute diving catch, but the ball dropped in for a hit.  The runners, moving with the pitch, both crossed the plate.

The Titans had a chance to tie the score in the bottom of the fourth with a runner on third and one out.  Mason Lankford laced a one-out single, and when a pickoff throw by New Pal starter Evan Vance sailed into foul territory for an error, Lankford went to third.  Austin Hill attempted a suicide squeeze, but failed to make contact.  Lankford got caught in a rundown between third and home, and was tagged out at the plate by Vance.  

New Palestine increased its lead to 5-3 in the top of the fifth, aided by a capricious breeze.  Gilvin stroked a two-out single and went to second on Hall-Manley's infield hit.  The next batter, Evan Hickman, sent what looked like a routine fly ball to left.  But a gust of wind carried the ball past the Gibson Southern left fielder, and it fell for a double as two runs came in.

In the bottom of the frame, Gibson Southern grabbed the lead.  With one gone, Alex Smith singled to right and took second on an outfield miscue.  Brooks Martin's base hit put runners at the corners, and Whitten followed with a grounder to third.  On the throw home, Smith headed back to third and the New Pal catcher tried to gun him down.  The throw went into left field, however, and Smith scored.  Caleb Wagner followed with a base hit that plated Martin, narrowing the New Pal lead to 5-4. 

Cameron Clark, New Pal's third baseman, moved to the mound in relief of Vance.  Clark fanned the first batter he faced for the second out, Matthew Harpeneau, Gibson Southern's designated hitter, followed with a bases-clearing double that gave the Titans a 6-5 lead.  “I was just thinking, 'Hit the ball somewhere!,'” said Harpenau said.    

In the top of the sixth, Whitten got out of a two-out, bases-loaded jam by slipping a 3-2 pitch past Gilvin for a called third strike.  “I couldn't find my location in the first few innings,” said Whitten, “and I was trying to stay smooth and hit my spots the rest of the game.”  

Brooks Martin's homer in the bottom of the sixth gave Whitten and the Titans some breathing room.  Logan Elpers, pinch-hitting for Austin Hill, started the inning with a single.  Mason Mockobee ran for Elpers and stole second.  Two outs later, Martin drove an 0-1 pitch over the left field wall for an 8-5 Gibson Southern lead.

“I had one in our sectional game last year,” said Martin, “but nothing bigger than this.  It was a fastball, right down the middle.  I didn't know if it had a chance or not.  I was rounding first base and coach said, 'It's gone!'   Then I knew.”

Martin’s blast was like a shot of adrenaline for the Titans.  “That got us pumped, going into the seventh,” Whitten said.

In the top of the seventh New Palestine’s Hickman had a one-out single, but Whitten retired the next two batters to end the two-hour, 16-minute game. 

Notes:  Whitten is the nephew of former Indiana State University left-hander Casey Whitten, who pitched in the Cleveland Indians system from 1993 to 1998.  …  Caleb Wagner, Dillon's batterymate, also plans to attend Olney Central.

Class A – Shakamak Lakers 1, No. 10 Vincennes Rivet 0 (8 innings):  Postpone a man's retirement, and chances are he won't be too happy.

Not so for Chip Sweet, who announced plans to step down as Shakamak’s baseball coach at the end of the 2014 school year.  Sweet's Lakers extended his fial season with a nail-biting, extra-innings win over the Patriots in Saturday's second contest.

The defeat was a heart-breaker for Vincennes Rivet, which lost last year's IHSAA championship game to Lafayette Central Catholic by a 4-3 score in nine innings.

Senior Chase Allen of Vincennes Rivet and Shakamak junior Braxton Yeryar hooked up in a tense, one-hour, 55-minute pitcher's duel.  Both right-handers had to wiggle their way out of several tight situations.   

In the bottom of the third, Vincennes Rivet (21-8) loaded the bases.  Tanner Allen drew a one-out walk.  Gavin Benock beat out an infield hit.  Peyton Cummins' grounder forced Benock at second, but Chase Allen walked to fill the sacks.  Yeryar ran the count to 3-and-0 on the next batter, but found his groove and threw three consecutive pitches over the plate for an inning-ending strikeout.

Vincennes Rivet stranded a runner at third base in the bottom of the fourth, and Shakamak did the same in the top of the fifth. 

After Collin Wirth's leadoff single for Vincennes Rivet in the fourth, Yeryar allowed no further baserunners.   “In that third inning, I think I was kind of worrying Coach.” said Yeryar, “and I came in and started throwing a lot of strikes and getting ahead of batters.” 

Shakamak (26-6) filled the bases in the sixth, but Chase Allen got the third out when Dylan Collins grounded to short. 

With no score through seven frames, the game went into overtime.  Kyler Fulford led off Shakamak's half of the eighth with a roller down the first base line, just beating Chase Allen's throw.  Jake Walters twice tried to bunt Fulford to second, with no success.  Coach Sweet flashed the bunt sign again with an 0-and-2 count on Walters, and this time it worked.  “I can't tell you how may times over the years I've bunted with two strikes and got the ball down,” said Sweet.   “I know it probably surprised a lot of people (when Walters executed a two-strike bunt), but it didn't surprise me.”

Fulford went to third on Yeryar's grounder to second.  Chase Allen got two strikes past freshman Tanner Yeryar, Shakamak's nine-hole hitter and Braxton's kid brother.  But Tanner slapped Allen's next pitch up the middle to score Fulford with the game's only run.

“I was so proud of him for coming through with a big hit,” Braxton said of Tanner.  “It made my day.  I told him I loved him, and gave him a big old hug.” 

Braxton, who set down the last 15 batters he faced, pitched a one-two-three ninth and ended the game with a strikeout.  He finished with 7 Ks while allowing just three hits and three walks.  “I was just trying to throw strikes and get ground balls and pop-ups, and let my teammates help me out,” he said.  “It worked out pretty good.”   

Sweet said he's looking forward to next weekend, which will also be the final high school game for his son, Shakamak center fielder Luke Sweet.  “It's a great feeling to know that last game is going to take place at Victory Field, especially when you have a senior son on the team,” he said.  “It's going to be special.” 

Sweet retired once before, in 2006, and returned after a three-year hiatus.  “I promised them I'd come back for five years,” he said.  “If you'd have told me I'd be going to Victory Field for that last game, for me and my son, I would have said, 'Boy, you couldn't have written it any better than that!'”

Notes:   Shakamak's lineup included three Yeryar brothers.  Tanner, the left fielder, is a freshman, while Braxton, the winning pitcher, is a junior.  Brett, a senior, batted third and played shortstop.  Brett drew three intentional walks in the contest. …  Shakamak won the state Class A title in 2008.  …  Vincennes Rivet's Chase Allen is another Olney Central recruit.