We’ve reached the final days of the 2026 IHSAA baseball season.
Four teams will take home championship trophies across two days at Victory Field.
Friday starts with the Class 3A title game between No. 2 Guerin Catholic and No. 1 Andrean. The two top teams in the class will play in what should be a great game.
Class 1A follows between reigning runner-up No. 1 Kouts and No. 4 Northeast Dubois.
Day 2 starts with the Class 2A final featuring No. 1 Evansville Mater Dei and unranked Bluffton, the surprise contender of the entire tournament. The tournament concludes with the Class 4A final featuring No. 10 Bloomington and unranked Lake Central. Lake Central is a consistent title contender with three state title appearances since 2012. Bloomington South is making its first title appearance since 1972.
Here are my predictions.
Class 1A
Kouts has the experience of playing for the state title last season. Sophomore pitcher Billy Miller is one of the best players in the state. I think Kouts’ experience will pay off.
Pick: Kouts 6, Northeast Dubois 4
Class 2A
Evansville Mater Dei is a seven-time champion and preseason favorite to advance out of 2A. Bluffton is making its first ever title appearance. Bluffton catcher Axton Beste enters scorching hot at the plate, but Mater Dei’s combination of talent and experience will be too hard to deny.
Pick: Mater Dei 10, Bluffton 4
Class 3A
This was the game we expected at the beginning of the season featuring two uber-talented teams. Andrean has the program pedigree, but Guerin is building something special under Dave Schrage. This should be the game of the tournament and is a complete 50/50 toss-up.
Pick: Guerin Catholic 3, Andrean 2
Class 4A
Lake Central is a baseball powerhouse regularly producing MLB Draft picks and will likely have a few future draft picks taking the field on Saturday. Bloomington South’s best player, IU commit Collin Marcum has not pitched all season. His availability will greatly impact the final score of the game. My prediction has Marcum not playing, allowing Lake Central to produce just enough offense to win.
Pick: Lake Central 7, Bloomington South 4
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Who lifts the trophy? Here are our Insider’s baseball state finals predictions
Reporting by Akeem Glaspie, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Akeem Glaspie, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
