By Pete Cava
PBR Indiana Correspondent  

INDIANAPOLIS – The 2014 Indiana high school baseball season reached the finish line Saturday at Victory Field, with the Shakamak Lakers, Wapahani Raiders and the Andrean Fighting 59ers heading home with trophies.

Shakamak beat the Rockville Rox in the opener for the Class A title, Wapahani claimed the 2A crown with a win over the Evansville Mater Dei Wildcats, and Andrean wrapped up things by defeating the Gibson Southern Titans in the 3A championship game.

Pitching dominated throughout the two days, with a total of just 16 runs scored in the four contests.  In Friday's 4A showdown, Noblesville edged Terre Haute North 2-1. 

While scoring was down, attendance was up.  Saturday's crowd was 5,162 for a record-breaking two-day total of 10,123. 

Class A – Shakamak 3, No. 4 Rockville 2

A three-run rally by the Lakers in the bottom of the fifth allowed Shakamak's Chip Sweet to cap off his 22-year coaching career with a state title. 

“The grit and determination that they showed out there just shows you what a great group they are,” said Sweet, who announced earlier that this would be his final season at Shakamak (27-6). 

Right-hander Braxton Yeryar, one of three brothers in the Laker lineup, went the distance to earn the win.  Yeryar, a junior, scattered six hits with no walks and struck out three.  “He wasn't perfect, but we didn't expect him to be,” said Sweet.  “He gave us a chance to get some runs for him, and he held on.  He's the kind of kid that seems to get tougher as the game progresses.” 

Yeryar got into first-inning trouble when Rockville's Tyler Rapp doubled to right-center with one out and went to third on Yeryar's errant pickoff attempt.  Dalton Laney followed with a sacrifice fly to right that gave the Rox a 1-0 advantage.

Laney, a 6-foot-4 senior righty who started for Rockville, found himself in a fix in the bottom of the second.  With one gone, Kyler Fulford was hit by a pitch.  Jake Walters grounded to second for an apparent force, but the Rox shortstop dropped the ball and all hands were safe.  Braxton Yeryar walked to load the bases, but Laney struck out Tanner Yeryar – Braxton's younger sibling – and Dylan Collins to end the inning. 

Fourth-ranked Rockville (28-4) made it 2-0 with two out in the top of the third, when Rapp was hit by a pitch and dashed home on Laney's double to center.

A nifty double play by Shakamak in the top of the fifth prevented another Rockville run.  Luke Monroe started the inning for the Rox with a single and went to second on Ben Cunningham's sacrifice.  When Rapp grounded to Lakers third baseman Logan Kinnett, Monroe held up at second.  As Kinnett threw to first to get Rapp, Monroe took off for third, but was gunned down by Shakamak first baseman Christian Burris's bullet throw.  

“I thought that play was really huge,” Sweet said of Kinnett's throw.  “He looked that runner back two different times, then threw to first and we got the double play.  For a freshman kid to make that kind of play, I think that says a lot about him.”

Shakamak's rally came in the bottom of the fifth with two out.  After retiring nine consecutive Laker batters, Laney issued a one-out walk to Tanner Yeryar.   The next batter, Dylan Collins, popped up a bunt.  Laney snared it and tried to double up Yeryar at first, but the throw was wild and Yeryar took second.  An infield single by Luke Sweet – Shakamak's first hit since the first inning – loaded the bases.  Brett Yeryar, the oldest member of the dynasty, followed with a single to drive in the first Laker run.  After a walk to Burris, Mike Huddleston's Texas League single to right plated two more to put Shakamak in front 3-2.

Laney led off the top of the sixth with his third hit of the day, putting the tying run on base for Rockville.  But when the next batter fouled out to Shakamak catcher Mike Huddleston, Laney strayed too far from the base and Huddleston whirled and threw to Burris for a double play.

Braxton Yeryar set the Rox down in order in the top of the seventh to close out the two-hour, three-minute affair.

Sweet finishes his career with a 380-153 record, including seven trips to the state championships and a pair of IHSAA titles.  He also guided Shakamak to the Class A crown in 2008. 

It was also the final high school game for Chip's son, Shakamak center fielder Luke Sweet.  “There's no doubt about it, when you look at my career and the number of times we've been here,” said Chip, “for the game to end that way, with my son out here with me, you just can't write it any better than that.  It's a special moment.”

Shakamak's Brett Yeryar received the Class A Mental Attitude Award.    

Class 2A – No. 5 Wapahani 2, Evansville Mater 0  

Raiders sophomore Zach Thompson remained unbeaten this season, shutting out the Wildcats to give Wapahani its first state title. 

The 5-foot-nine lefty said he threw “everything but the kitchen sink” while scattering five hits, allowing no walks and striking out nine.  “I had my fastball and my changeup working today,” he said.  “It felt great.  I liked the mound and it's a great atmosphere.”

Thompson finished the season with a perfect 12-0 record.  “It's a great group of guys,” he said.  We've been working hard all year.  We deserve it.”

Thompson said he'll spend the rest of the summer playing for his travel team, the Indiana Bulls.  Asked what he'd do for an encore in high school, he said:  “I want to see us win two more.” 

Fifth-ranked Wapahani (30-4) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.  Lead-off man Taylor McKee drove Evansville Mater Dei southpaw Chase Partain’s first pitch into center field for a base hit and stole second.  One out later, Raiders three-hole hitter Luke Snider hit a high fly ball to center.  Will LaRue went back and appeared to make a one-handed grab, but the ball popped out of his glove for an error as McKee scored.

The Raiders went up 2-0 in the fourth.  Austin White started the frame with a single.  Jared Coats, running for White, went to second on Grant Thompson's sac bunt and came home on Hayden Castor's double down the left field line.

Wapahani had the sacks filled with one out in the top of the seventh, but Partain closed the door by retiring the next two batters.  The Wildcats senior right-hander pitched well enough to win, doling out eight hits and a walk with four strikeouts.  Partain closed out the season with a 9-2 mark while Evansville Mater Dei – the Class 2A runnerup in 2012 – wound up 24-10. 

In his second try, Wapahani's Brian Dudley, a 31-year coaching veteran, won his first state championship.  “There's no better feeling in sports, believe me,” said Dudley, who guided the Raiders to the 2004 IHSAA championship game, which they lost to Hammond Bishop Noll.    

The game lasted an hour and 41 minutes.  The 2A Mental Attitude Award went to Wapahani right fielder Collins Hoots.

Class 3A – Andrean 6, Gibson Southern 0

At Lucas Oil Stadium last November, Matt DeSomer quarterbacked the Fighting 59ers to the IHSAA Class 3A football title.  Saturday night, the 6-foot-1 right-hander was the winning pitcher as top-ranked Andrean wrapped up the state 3A baseball crown. 

“Football is a different animal from baseball,” said DeSomer, who will enter Southern Illinois University this fall on a football scholarship.  “I was more nervous in football than I was in baseball.  The thing is, I'm going out on top in both sports I play.”

DeSomer silenced the Titans (24-8) for five and one-third innings, striking out ten while dispensing four hits and a pair of walks.  “He never lost a varsity game,” said 59ers coach Dave Pishkur.  “He was 3-and-0 as a sophomore, 8-and-0 as a junior and 9-and-0 this year.  That's pretty good!”  

Two of Andrean's runs were unearned as the 59ers took advantage of a porous Gibson Southern defense. 

The No. 9 Titans handed Andrean (31-4) a run in the top of the first.  Lead-off man Donovan Chandler opened the contest with a single to left.  One out later, Chandler was moving with the pitch on ball four to Matt DeSomer.  Titans catcher Caleb Wagner mistakenly threw to second, and Chandler scooted to third when the ball sailed into the outfield for an error.  Chandler scored on Nick Podkul's ground-out to short.

Dillon Whitten, Gibson Southern's starting pitcher, tried to help his own cause in the bottom of the third.  The massive 6-foot-4, 275-pound right-hander drilled a two-out double off the right field wall, but the threat ended when DeSomer retired Titans cleanup hitter Caleb Wagner on a grounder to first.

Andrean made it 2-0 in the fourth.  After DeSomer walked and Podkul singled to put runners at the corners, Kevin McCune hit a grounder to the left side.  Gibson Southern shortstop Brooks Martin scooped up the ball, stepped on second and threw to first for a double play as DeSomer scored.  Whitten pitched himself into a corner after that, giving up a double to Parker Huttel and hitting the next two batters.  He managed to extract himself by throwing a huge curve past Jamie Johnson for the final out.  

Whitten's defense betrayed him again in the fifth, leading to another Andrean run.  Chandler opened the inning with a single and Chase Dawson's sacrifice moved him to second.  DeSomer hit a sharp grounder that skipped between the Gibson Southern third baseman’s legs for an error.  Chandler scored on the play as the 59ers stretched their lead to 3-0. 

DeSomer left with one out in the sixth and runners at first and third.  Jim Skiff replaced him and got the next batter to bounce into an inning-ending double play.

Andrean put the game out of reach in the top of the seventh, when Podkul tripled with two aboard and scored on a throwing error. 

Skiff pitched a scoreless seventh to conclude the two-hour, eight-minute game.

Whitten, who allowed six hits, finished with nine strikeouts and had a perfect night at the plate with a walk and a pair of doubles. 

The state title was the fourth for Coach Pishkur, whose Andrean teams also won in 2005, 2009 and 2010.  “It never will get old,” said Pishkur, whose career record is 865-255.  “It might get a little easier on the heart and it might get a little easier on the nerves.  But old?  No.  Never!”

Matt Harpenau, the Gibson Southern designated hitter, was the recipient of the Mental Attitude Award for Class 3A.