INDIANAPOLIS ― The positive postseason moments were few and far in between for North baseball the last decade.
One might be able to count them on a single hand. There seemed to be a disconnect once the calendar turned to Memorial Day. The Huskies either struggled to win or ran into a better team. But this month finally proved to be different.
The kicker? It may represent a significant shift for years to come. Because it allows North to say it with its chest: a tournament run is no longer theoretical. The proof is there.
No. 8 Valparaiso ended North’s season with a 5-0 victory in the IHSAA Class 4A state championship on Saturday, June 21 at Victory Field. The Vikings were simply the better team with an elite performance on the mound.
“We’re not the most talented team in the world,” North coach Jeremy Jones said. “Our guys love it and embrace it. They’re baseball kids. I told them to keep their heads high leaving here. Not too many people who make it to Victory Field.”
The championship game boiled down to one player. Valparaiso had Caden Crowell. North did not.
The Notre Dame recruit authored one of the stronger performances in IHSAA history. Crowell pitched a two-hit shutout with eight strikeouts on 85 pitches and went 4 for 4 at the plate ― the highlight being an RBI ground-rule double in the first inning.
Crowell tied two individual Class 4A championship records: fewest hits allowed by a pitcher and most hits by a batter. He hit his spots with multiple pitches and never allowed a runner past second base.
“He’s going to Notre Dame for a reason,” Jones said. “Low 90s and established his fastball early. He mixed in that slider to keep us off balance. When you’re down 0-2 most of the night, it’s tough.”
Valpo (26-5) jumped on the board early with two hard-hit balls in the first. Dennis Malloy added a two-run single in the third and another run-scoring base knock in the fifth. The Vikings had 10 hits in the championship, chasing North starter Conner Watson in the third.
What had been a strength this entire postseason ― the Huskies’ pitching staff ― wasn’t a true negative against Valpo. They only truly missed their spot one time, the double by Crowell. But the Vikings were aggressive and relentless.
It just made it a tougher hill to climb on offense. Watson had both hits for North (25-9), including a double that was inches from leaving the yard in the fourth.
“We left it all out there and gave it everything we have,” junior Brooks Carroll said. “We just ran into a really good arm. It happens in baseball. We’re just glad to state our names out there and be legends in North history.”
This was Valpo’s first trip to the state championship in program history. In fact, the Vikings had never won a regional in program history prior to this spring. The old idiom of riding an ace to the state finals proved true once again.
Jones also labeled their lineup “the best hitting team we’ve seen all year.”
“It’s, obviously, the number one goal I’ve had forever,” Crowell said of the state title. “That’s been the one thing I’ve always wanted to win. Last year, we got bounced in the first round, and that left a bad taste in my mouth. We all took it personally.”
The final game won’t ― or at least shouldn’t ― be the lasting impression of this North team. For a group with obvious limitations since the first week of April, the Huskies continuously defied the odds. No team emerged stronger over the last month.
The first postseason win against Castle in 12 years. The extra-inning thriller against No. 2 Center Grove. The first trip to the state finals in two decades. North offered hard evidence that its program was no longer snake bitten. It played with house money and ran with it.
“You always battle to get out of sectional,” Jones said. “They play with such confidence. They have no fear. That’s what makes them great. The seniors created that culture and really set the bar high for the younger guys.”
There is an obvious caveat: this may never happen again. No program is guaranteed to play for the state championship, let alone advance beyond the sectional. North was proof of this the past decade.
But it did happen this year. It could then happen again. The blueprint is there.
“Our guys learned the path it takes to get here,” Jones said. “It’s not going to be easy, but it’s possible.”
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: North baseball proved championship run is possible with 4A title game appearance
Reporting by Kyle Sokeland, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
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