Lafayette Central Catholic to go for fifth straight state title

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By Steve Krah
The Elkhart Truth
PBR Indiana Correspondent  

SOUTH BEND--- Lafayette Central Catholic now has a chance to make it five straight Indiana High School Athletic Association state championships.

The Class A No. 2-ranked Knights (30-5) beat No. 7 North White 10-0 in five innings Saturday in the South Bend Semi-state at Coveleski Stadium for the right to play Vincennes Rivet (19-12) in the 1A title game again.

LCC seniors have the opportunity to go through their high school careers without a tournament-game loss.

"This is pretty special," said LCC coach Tim Bordenet. "But especially for our seniors."

How did the Knights get past the Vikings for a chance to again play at Victory Field in Indianapolis (the weekend of June 14-15)?

"We had a great approach at the plate," said Bordenet. "We were disciplined and stayed back and went the other way.

"(North White) made mistakes and we took advantage of it."

Evan Kennedy, a junior catcher for the Knights, faced an "oppo shift" from the Vikings and wound up with a triple, two singles and a sacrifice fly with three runs batted in.

"(Kennedy) has come into his own the last month," said Bordenet. "He's a tremendous hitter."

"I get it in the gaps," said Kennedy, who backstopped LCC senior right-hander Adam Hubertz (6-0) to a one-hitter that featured seven strikeouts and the only hit - a single by junior No. 9 hitter Dalton Fleck - coming with two outs in the fifth.

Hubertz finished with seven strikeouts, walked one and hit one batter. Fleck was the third baserunner he allowed in the five frames.

"(Hubertz) was throwing strikes and getting ahead of the hitter," said Bordenet. "It's a pretty simple game when you do that."

While Lafayette Central Catholic gets a chance to win its seventh state title in 10 years and sixth in seven years, North White was playing in its first semi-state championship game after the Vikings won their first regional title in 2013.

North White coach Kirk Quasebarth said a number of factors began to stack up against his team Saturday.

"As good as Lafayette Central Catholic is and the nerves for a young team became overbearing for us," said Quasebarth. "We just weren't able to do the job today."

North White (25-5) won its fifth sectional in the last eight years this spring.

The Knights scored two run in the second, four in the third, two in the fourth and two in the fifth.
In the LCC second, senior first baseman Ryan DeBoy hit a triple and scored on an inside-the-park home run by freshman second baseman Jackson Anthrop. Coveleski Stadium, a minor league park, is 405 feet to center field, 360 in the gaps and 336 down the lines.

RBI hits were produced in the third by Kennedy, Hubertz, senior center fielder Cowan Olinger and right fielder Pete Metzinger.

The Knights got a sacrifice from Kennedy and run-scoring double from Hubertz in the fourth.

A groundout by Metzinger and RBI single by Kennedy produced LCC's fifth-inning runs.

While Lafayette Central Catholic has enjoyed success year after year, the current team does have five new starters from a year ago, including three freshmen starters - Anthrop, left fielder Adam Lovell and third baseman Luke Fusiek.

Senior right-hander D.J. Buschman (11-2) started on the mound for North White. He was replaced to start the fifth by freshman right-hander Luke Diener.