More JC news on our Knights!!!!

According to the JC & stats this could be an oh so close game!!! Both teams have brutal non-conference schedules with wins against bigger schools.

A confident and focused Central Catholic team enters Victory Field for tonight's Class A state championship game.

Yet the Knights also described themselves with a different word leading up to the final: relaxed. Most players on Central Catholic's roster were in the Victory Field dugout for last year's state championship, and some were a part of another title as freshmen.

By contrast, opponent Tecumseh has no players with state championship experience.

"Coach was talking about that yesterday, too, how we've got to jump on them early, since none of their players have been to Victory Field," said CC senior shortstop Chas Bobillo, who started a third base in last year's title game.

"We went last year, so we're going to be a little more calm and we know what to expect. With eight seniors, with a veteran team, we'll be able to keep our team calm."

Both Central Catholic and Tecumseh dominated their class this season. The Knights went 14-0 and outscored Class A opponents 172-13. Tecumseh's 14-0 mark came while outscoring Class A teams 164-31.

However, both teams prepared for the tournament by playing a strong non-conference schedule in the regular season. Tecumseh has won 14 of its last 15, with four victories coming against Class 3A teams.

"We know they're going to be a tough foe for us," CC coach Tim Bordenet said. "It's not going to be like the last couple of times we've been down there."

Tecumseh averages just under 10 runs per game and has scored 10 or more on 17 occasions. (Central Catholic reached double digits 16 times.)

Braves coach Dave Duncan described his team as having "decent team speed and average power." Kolton Chapman (.500, 9 home runs) and Trevor Noffsinger (.426, 6 HR) are the biggest hitters on a team that likes to play aggressive offensively.

"We like to make a lot of stuff happen," Duncan said. "It's pretty exciting baseball, normally."

Tecumseh lost starting infielder Colton Jung just before the start of the state tournament. Duncan said Jung, who was batting .404 with 10 doubles, suffered a broken arm when struck by a teammate's bat during practice.

Central Catholic's players weren't making too much of avenging a pair of state semifinal losses to the Braves from 2002-03. Tecumseh also defeated the Knights boys basketball team in the 1999 Class A state championship.

The Knights seniors are more motivated by potentially becoming the second program to win three state titles in a four year span. Jasper won three straight and four in five years from 1996-2000.

"Every day you come here and you try to get your year up on the scoreboard," CC junior Brett Haan said of the team's list of state champions at Leming Field. "Going for back-to-back is something I don't think has ever happened at CC. This would be a great moment, just to see history."

Big time baseball tonight!! State Championship is on the line at Indy!!!

It's Showtime!!!!

Taylor Glaze gave his junior high baseball teammates little indication he would become Central Catholic's future ace.

Glaze spent the majority of his seventh and eighth grade seasons on the Central Catholic Squires' 'B' team. Yet since his sophomore season, Glaze has taken the mound for the Knights' biggest games.

The winning pitcher in last year's Class A state championship game will attempt to repeat the feat Friday night at Victory Field against Tecumseh.

"I never thought I'd be a No. 1," said Glaze, who is 25-5 in his CC career. "I always thought I'd be a 3 or 4. It just goes to show anything can happen if you work hard. You just have to put your mind to it and good things will happen for you."

Glaze, a left-hander, admits his low-80s fastball won't blow opponents away. So he sets it up with a big, breaking curve, mixes in a changeup and slider and supports it all with excellent command.

In over 200 varsity innings, Glaze has struck out almost a batter per inning while compiling a 1.35 ERA.

"In high school, when you're able to throw breaking pitches over for strikes, you've got a good chance, because most pitchers can't do that consistently," CC coach Tim Bordenet said. "Taylor has a knack for being able to do that. He has a lot of confidence in that pitch, and his slider, both. He's not afraid to throw it in any count."

With only 45 walks in 139 innings over the past two seasons, Glaze also hasn't hurt himself by giving away free baserunners.

"What I worked on from eighth grade year on is location," said Glaze, also a letterwinner on the Knights' soccer team. "That's what works for me: I hit my locations well, and I hardly miss my spots. Tell me to put it somewhere, and I'll put it there. If you throw low 80s, you've got to."

Glaze first stepped onto the big stage in 2008. Bordenet started his sophomore in the sectional championship against Frontier, when the Falcons were ranked No. 1 and CC No. 2.

Though the Falcons won 3-0 behind the two-hit shutout of another sophomore, Dylan Sterrett, Glaze's confidence continued to grow.

"Since then, we've kind of known that he was going to be special," said CC senior catcher Reed Drysdale. "He kind of came into his own late in his career, which is good for him and good for us too."

Glaze's career numbers rank with some of Central Catholic's all-time best pitchers. Yet the one-time wrestler reaches another level in the state tournament.

Over the past two postseasons, Glaze is 7-0 with 24 hits allowed, 11 walks, 53 strikeouts and an 0.85 ERA in 41 innings.

"I always say, as soon as we get that big lead, you're coming out and I'm closing it, and he always says, 'No, we're not doing that,' " said CC junior Brett Haan, who did relieve Glaze for the final two innings of last year's 14-1 state championship victory over Vincennes Rivet.

"Even in Kokomo (at semistate) when his perfect game got ruined I was telling coach, hey, it's time to put me in. I always want to go in, but I know he's a senior and he's doing a great job this year. I couldn't be happier for him."

Another factor has motivated Glaze during the postseason. He's still auditioning for college coaches in need a reliable left arm. He plans to visit Franklin, where teammate Scott Windler has already committed, on Saturday.

Tonight, he'll attempt to join Jasper's Heath Uppencamp (1997-98) and North Posey's Jared Baehl (2005-06) as the only pitchers to win consecutive state championship games.

"This is his game right here," CC senior shortstop Chas Bobillo said. "He's going to be ready for this."

State Finals!!!

According to this article, this State Final game could be a good one!!! GO BLUE!!!

According to Tecumseh baseball coach Dave Duncan, the Braves will face Central Catholic in the Class A state championship game one year later than expected.

Tecumseh won its ninth sectional in 10 years last season and took a 22-6 record into the Loogootee Regional championship. But Vincennes Rivet stunned the Braves 4-2, then tripped up annual power Shakamak at the Avon Semistate before losing to Central Catholic at Victory Field.

"It was probably the most devastating loss of my life, and I've played ball my whole life," Duncan said. "It was the worst defeat of my career. I've never seen guys hurt as bad as they were."

Led by 10 seniors, the Braves recovered to win their eighth regional in 10 years. A 4-3 Southridge Semistate victory over North Central (Farmersburg) sent Tecumseh back to the state finals for the first time since they won their only title in 2003.

"We knew they were very athletic and had a good group coming back," CC coach Tim Bordenet said. "We knew all along they were probably the strongest team coming out of the south, and that kind of held true during the tournament."

Duncan, a Tecumseh graduate, took over as head coach in 2004. After graduating from the Lynnville high school, he pitched at Wabash Valley College and Union College and played independent minor league baseball in the Frontier League.

Three senior right-handed pitchers anchor the Braves. Duncan refers to Adam Westerman, Alex Oliver and Dalton Froman as his "three No. 1 pitchers."

Westerman started the semistate game, though Oliver earned the victory in relief.

"I probably won't make a decision until game time," Duncan said when asked who would start on Friday. "I like to keep all three of them on their toes."

Those pitchers have allowed eight runs in five tournament games. Tecumseh hitters have backed them with 11 or more runs in three games, and Duncan said the team batting average is around .350.

Kolton Chapman, the Braves' leadoff hitter and center fielder, will play at Hanover College.

Despite opening the season 0-5, Tecumseh has a chance to make last season's disappointment disappear.

"We never once talked about getting back until now, and now we can talk about it," Duncan said.

Video broadcast of CC's semi-state win!

The link, scroll down to bottom of page & type in 46901 zip code & hit listen. Scroll down to Blackhawk & Central Catholic link & click VIDEO REPLAY on right side. Nick enters the game in I think the 5th inning & is in right field barely visible. He gets 2 put outs, the 1st out of the inning the last out, a running catch all the way over near first base & bullpen to end the game & can't see him make the catch. The announcer shows some emotion tho..
Nick enters around the 1:25.00 mark.

http://broadcastsport.net/ZipPages/ZIPCode-BaseballSectionalJimtown.aspx

Highlights of semi-state!

Headed to State!!!

KOKOMO -- Central Catholic hasn't wasted any time jumping on opponents in this postseason.

The Knights have scored in the first inning of every tournament game. CC has totaled 12 first-inning runs and 18 in the second inning. The Knights led 11-0 after two innings of Saturday's 14-0 Class A Kokomo Semistate victory over Fort Wayne Blackhawk.

"They were straight on from the get-go, just getting runs for me," winning pitcher Taylor Glaze said. "That's exactly what I need as a pitcher. It gets my mindset set for the game and helps me relax a lot. I couldn't have asked for anything better."

Including a 25-1 regional championship victory over Randolph Southern, Central Catholic has scored 39 runs in its last 10 innings. The Knights have scored eight or more runs in every tournament game but one.

"What we've done better than anything come tournament time is we've stayed within ourselves up at the plate," CC coach Tim Bordenet said. "We didn't try to do anything that we're not capable of doing. Just stay back and hit the ball hard somewhere and good things will happen."

Spoiler alert

Even Central Catholic's young players are aware of the baseball superstition that forbids talking about a no-hitter in progress.

So the Knights placed partial blame for Glaze's near-perfect game on assistant coach Tim Whiteaker. According to CC's players, Whiteaker gathered the seniors in the top of the fifth and made them aware Glaze had not allowed a baserunner.

Blackhawk cleanup hitter Ryan Hartsough lashed Glaze's first pitch up the middle for a clean single.

"We were joking around in the dugout, because one of our coaches ruined the no-hitter by talking about it," designated hitter Austin Munn said. "He pitched a heckuva game for sure."

Short porch

Munn, a sophomore who bats from the left side, tried to ignore the sign down the right field line at Highland Park that tantalizingly read '270.'

The park's short right field extends to 370 feet in the alley. Munn took a Matt Kaplanis pitch out to right for a grand slam in the second and almost repeated the feat the next inning.

His bases-loaded drive in the third sailed just wide of the foul pole, however, and he finished the at-bat with a sacrifice fly to spacious center field.

"I was trying just to hit singles, but I got the pitch I liked and I just tried to drive it," Munn said of the slam, his third home run of the season and second in as many games.

Back in action

Central Catholic senior Jason Aldridge sat out last Saturday's regional championship over Randolph Southern. Earlier that day, the first baseman took a fastball to the helmet from Cowan's Justin O'Conner in a regional semifinal victory.

Bordenet said after the semifinal that Aldridge had sustained a concussion. Aldridge received clearance on Wednesday to play.

My son gets some media coverage!

KOKOMO -- Nick Stone's tumbling catch of a fly ball to right field triggered the customary storming of the field from the Central Catholic dugout. (This was actually well into foul territory towards 1st base and into the bullpen area, his 1st put out which was in right field he stumbled a bit)

Taylor Glaze flashed his usual dominance. The Knights offense efficiently rolled along. Yet Central Catholic's 14-0, five-inning victory over Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian at Saturday's Class A Kokomo Semistate still thrilled the defending state champions.

"I never really thought I'd get here three times and win them," said Glaze, who took a perfect game into the fifth inning and settled for a one-hit shutout. "It really feels good. We've got a good team behind us, and we're going to keep this going. We've got one more game."

CC can become the second baseball program in IHSAA history to win three state championships in four years. Jasper won three straight titles and four in five years from 1996 to 2000.

The Knights won their 11th straight state tournament game and have outscored their opponents 61-4 in this postseason.

"We always strive to get back there, because it's just a great feeling," said CC senior first baseman Jason Aldridge, who had two of the Knights' 13 hits. "You have so much fun, especially Friday night under the lights at Victory Field."

Glaze (9-2) set a tone by retiring the side in order on seven first-inning pitches. Blackhawk (10-14) hit the ball out of the infield just twice against the left-hander through the first four innings.

Falcons senior Ryan Hartsough singled to center field on the first pitch Glaze threw in the fifth. Glaze finished the victory by coaxing three straight flyouts.

"I just go up there and give them the best thing I have," said Glaze, who struck out six and has allowed three runs in 19 tournament innings. "Everything was working for me."

Reed Drysdale's RBI double keyed Central Catholic's four-run first inning against Hartsough (4-4). The Knights sent 11 men to the plate while scoring seven runs in the second, highlighted by Austin Munn's grand slam to Highland Park's short right field.

Every Central Catholic starter had at least one hit. The first three hitters in the lineup -- Scott Windler, Cole Hruskovich and Drysdale -- went 6-for-9 and scored seven runs.

"It makes it a lot easier on the pitchers, and even the batters," said Munn, who just missed a second grand slam and settled for a sacrifice fly on a five RBI day. "It helps you relax. You know the pitcher's going to throw strikes and you can put the bat on the ball and get some RBIs."

Central Catholic improved to 18-1 in state tournament play over the past four seasons. The Knights hope for more of the same in their 20th game.

"Our guys are just focused," CC coach Tim Bordenet said. "They've been working really, really hard. I don't think there's anybody in the state that outworks us. We ask a lot of them, and I think it pays off come tournament time."