Crawfordsville Claims 3A State Crown!!

Crawfordsville’s Cameron Hobson comes to the plate
June 14 in the Class 3A state championship game. The senior tied a 3A state
finals record with 11 strikeouts. Photo by Mike McGraw

Crawfordsville’s Justin Wright accepts the 3A Mental
Attitude Award at Victory Field. Photo by Mike McGraw

INDIANAPOLIS –
Excellence + Execution = Exultation

That is the equation that
fifth-ranked Crawfordsville (32-4) used June 14 to defeat unranked Mishawaka
Marian, 5-1, at the 42nd Annual IHSAA Baseball State Finals at Victory Field to
win the 3A state championship. The victory marks the Athenians’ first state
title in a male sport since 1956.

(Click here for video highlights and post-game
interviews!)

The excellence was supplied through a dominating pitching
performance from senior Cameron Hobson and sophomore reliever Steven Rice. They
combined to strike out 17 Knights batters during the contest, including Hobson’s
3A championship record-tying 11 in five-plus innings of work.

Crawfordsville’s offense, meanwhile, contributed the execution. The
Athenians scored five runs, all of which were in some manner manufactured by
their “small-ball” tactics.

At day’s end, the exultation was evident on
every Crawfordsville face.

The surgical approach began in the very first
inning. Hobson (10-2), the Athenians’ left-handed ace who came in with 113
strikeouts and an earned run average of just 0.51 in 54 2/3 innings, whiffed the
first two batters he faced and cruised through an easy first despite issuing a
two-out walk.

In the bottom of the frame, junior Brett Linn drew a
one-out walk and promptly stole second (he would set a 3A state finals record
with three thefts on the day) where a simple base hit could score the game’s
initial run. The hit came off the bat of senior Mitchell Ray one out later, and
Crawfordsville was up 1-0.

If you are a fan of sequels, the second inning
was right up your alley – this time Hobson struck out the side in order. Junior
J.D. Rice led off the bottom half of the inning with a double past diving senior
centerfielder Shawn Geraghty.

Senior Andrew Swart immediately sacrificed
junior pinch-runner Quentin Anderson to third, once again applying pressure to
the defense. Another two-out single, this one from senior Justin Wright, scored
the Athenians’ second run.

Are you detecting a pattern here? If so, then
you know what came next.

Hobson retired the side in order in the third
and held the Knights in the fourth with the help of a nifty double play from his
infield. Through four innings, the University of Dayton-bound lefty hurler had
struck out eight.

Senior Blake Harris led off the Crawfordsville fourth
with an infield single. Wright laid down a sacrifice bunt that was misplayed,
and runners wound up on second and third. Mishawaka Marian (21-11) intentionally
walked Hobson to load the bases with nobody out.

Linn struck out, but
then Brent McKinney, who has specialized all year in being a pain in opponents’
backsides, lifted a sacrifice fly to plate the Athenians’ third run. The junior
had two RBIs, the game’s only player to do so.

The lads from Mishawaka
scratched out a run of their own in the fifth against Hobson. They then began to
make things a little nervous in the top of the sixth when an infield error and
two wild pitches placed a Knight runner on third with nobody out.

Crawfordsville coach John Froedge decided it was time to lift Hobson,
replacing him with Steven Rice. It was just another day at the office for the
gutsy reliever, who proceeded to strike out the next three hitters – two of them
on pressure-packed full counts – to preserve the Athenians’ two-run
cushion.

Hobson, who had moved to first base, started the Crawfordsville
sixth with a blast to left-center that wound up a leadoff triple. Linn then
supplied the quintessential Crawfordsville play. He fell behind 0-2 after taking
a strike and then failing to lay down a squeeze bunt.

No problem. Linn
just laid that squeeze down on the 0-2 pitch.

It not only scored Hobson,
but Linn also beat out the throw at first base. You guessed it. Three pitches
later, he stood on third after a case of grand theft.

McKinney answered
the call with an RBI single, and it was suddenly 5-1.

Rice made the
seventh adventurous. He walked one batter and hit two more. Fortunately for the
Athenian faithful, he also struck out the side. In all, the diminutive
left-hander faced nine Mishawaka Marian hitters and NONE of them put the ball in
play.

The celebration was lengthy, and the pure joy on Froedge’s face
told the entire story. After 27 years and over 500 victories, the legendary
mentor finally stood on top of the mountain.

It is only appropriate that
his Athenians achieved their biggest goal by taking the smallest things as
well.

Crawfordsville’s Wright wins Mental Attitude
Award
Justin Wright of Crawfordsville was recognized by members of
the IHSAA Executive Committee as this year’s recipient of the L.V. Phillips
Mental Attitude Award in Class 3A baseball. Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, the
corporate partner of the IHSAA, presented a $1,000 scholarship to Crawfordsville
in Wright’s name.

Wright recently graduated third in his senior class at
Crawfordsville with a GPA of 4.178. He is a member of the National Honor
Society, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Athenian Corps – the official
host for CHS – and served as senior class treasurer. He has volunteered his time
working with various youth groups, attended the National Youth Leadership Forum
in Washington, D.C., and has worked at the Family Crisis Shelter.
 
The
son of Jim and Suzi Wright of Crawfordsville has been a four-year participant in
baseball, football, and basketball and also served as team captain in the latter
two. He intends to begin studying environmental sciences at Purdue University in
the fall.
 
At the conclusion of each championship game, the IHSAA
Executive Committee presents an award for mental attitude to an outstanding
senior participant in each classification of the state tournament. The recipient
of the award, nominated by his principal and coach, was determined to have best
demonstrated mental attitude, scholarship, leadership, and athletic ability in
baseball.

The award is named in honor of the late L.V. Phillips, who
served as the second commissioner of the IHSAA from 1945-62.

Batter
up! Share your thoughts on our