Guerin Catholic second baseman Ben Canada remembers the pain of looking up at the Ruxer Field scoreboard and seeing: Jasper 5, Guerin Catholic 0.
The Golden Eagles’ 2025 season ended that night in Jasper, but underneath the pain of losing was a burning determination to make it back to the Class 3A semistate finals. Coach Dave Schrage recalls going down the line and talking to every member of his team, telling them to bottle up the emotions they were feeling.
“Remember this moment,” Schrage said. “Because we want to be back here with the opportunity to maybe win this game.”
Those emotions erupted out of Canada against Gibson Southern in Saturday’s Class 3A semistate final. His solo home run over the right field fence at Ruxer Field put the Golden Eagle up 1-0 in the fourth inning. Grant Beard added two insurance runs and Colten Price closed out the game, helping Guerin secure a 4-2 win, punching a ticket to Victory Field.
Now No. 2 Guerin Catholic (27-3-1) will face No. 1 Andrean (30-3) at Victory Field on Friday at 4:30 p.m. for the state championship.
“Last year when we lost, I knew (making it to Victory Field) was possible,” Canada said. “We didn’t lose any seniors; we didn’t lose any starters. We got preseason No. 1 (in Class 3A). I knew Victory Field was our goal the whole year.”
Senior pitcher Tate Troxell is a four-year starter. He’s been a regular contributor since his freshman season. He came to Guerin ranked as one of the top in-state players in the 2026 class thanks to his talent and 6-foot-4 frame, prototypical size for a starting pitcher, size that will take him the mound at Alabama next season.
Canada, a junior, is a three-year starter for the Golden Eagles. Seniors Ian Taylor, Karson Smith, Nolan Ratcliff and Beard are also four-year starters. Canada and catcher Carson Kail joined the fold as freshmen during the 2024 season. Designated hitter Liam Zurger and right fielder Brody Cain became varsity contributors as sophomores last season.
Schrage took over as Guerin’s coach in 2025 after a lengthy college coaching career with stops at North Iowa, Northern Illinois, Evansville, Notre Dame, South Dakota and Butler, amassing over 800 wins and twice winning Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year (1995, 97′) at Northern Iowa.
Schrage helped spark belief within the team that a trip to Victory Field was possible, and the Golden Eagles quickly put the rest of Class 3A on notice. Guerin heads to the state title game on a 10-game winning streak. Their three losses have come by a combined seven runs, and they have a plus-194 run differential.
Taylor, a George Mason commit, leads the team with nine home runs. Canada, a Northwestern commit, leads the team with 17 doubles and 37 hits. Kail, Beard, and Canada have four home runs each.
Every team’s goal at the beginning of the season is to make it to the state championship game. When their season ended last season, the Golden Eagles knew the only team capable of stopping them from reaching their goal was them.
“You have your goals list and that was always it,” Beard said of reaching the state finals. “With our group of guys and our senior class we’ve had all four years, plus our younger guys, it was always the goal.
“We knew we were going to make it happen, we just had to play our game. It wasn’t up to whoever we played, it was up to us. Just go out and play our game, do our thing and we made it happen.”
State finals
At Victory Field
Friday, June 19
4:30 pm ET | Class 3A | Guerin Catholic (27-3-1) vs. Andrean (30-3)
8 pm ET | Class A | Northeast Dubois (23-5) vs. Kouts (31-1)
Saturday, June 20
4:30 pm ET | Class 2A | Evansville Mater Dei (29-3) vs. Bluffton (19-10)
8 pm ET | Class 4A | Bloomington South (25-6) vs. Lake Central (27-8)
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: From heartbreak to Victory Field: No. 2 Guerin ready for state finals vs. No. 1 Andrean
Reporting by Akeem Glaspie, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Akeem Glaspie, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
