Eight years after winning its last state championship, LaPorte won its state-best eighth with a 10-6 victory over Evansville Harrison in the IHSAA Class 4A title game on Saturday at Victory Field in Indianapolis.

The Slicers had to rally to do it, however. Trailing 6-2 after five innings, LaPorte regained control of the game in a big way scoring an all-time championship game record eight runs in the sixth inning to take a 10-6 lead which turned out to be the final margin.

Scott Upp, in his third year as coach, guided the Slicers to a 30-5 record this season. LaPorte is 8-1 in state championship games having previously won in 1967, 1971, 1976, 1982, 1987, 1990 and 1992. LaPorte finished as the state runner-up in 1973.

Evansville Harrison, coached by Andy Rice, was making its first appearance in the baseball state finals. The Warriors finished 20-13.

In the LaPorte half of the sixth inning, the big blow came when Nick Fritzen, in his second at-bat of the inning, sent a 3 RBI single to right field to make it 9-6. Fritzen had led off the inning with a walk and eventually came around to score. The Slicers had six hits on two Evansville Harrison errors and sent 12 batters to the plate.

Evansville Harrison had gone up 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning. Roman Zellerino’s double to left centerfield scored Eric Marecki and Nick McCool. McCool had singled up the middle that scored Brad Thomas from second base to give the Warriors a 3-2 lead at the time.

Eric Dhoore and Joe Hannon both went 2-for-4 for LaPorte, while McCool went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI for Evansville Harrison.

Nick Rosenbaum (14-1) was the winning pitcher for LaPorte striking out four in 2 1/3 innings of work. Adam Rogers (7-4) absorbed the loss for Evansville Harrison.

Most Doubles (Combined) – 6 by LaPorte (3) and Evansville Harrison (3).

Most Stolen Bases (Combined) – 2 by LaPorte (1) and Evansville Harrison (1).

Most Runs in an Inning (Combined) – 8 by LaPorte (8) and Evansville Harrison (0).

Most Doubles – 3 by LaPorte; 3 by Evansville Harrison.

Most Stolen Bases – 1 by LaPorte; 1 by Evansville Harrison.

Most Doubles – 1 by Corey Goers, Eric Dhoore, Joe Hannon, Roman Zellerino, Bart Conrad, Eric Marecki.

Most Runs in an Inning – 8 by LaPorte, (6^th inning)

Eric Jesch of LaPorte High School was selected by members of the IHSAA Executive Committee as the 2000 recipient of the L.V. Phillips Mental Attitude Award in Class 4A Baseball.

Jesch was the team MVP and captain this season and led the Slicers in at-bats and base hits. In addition to baseball, Jesch also was a member of the LaPorte basketball team, where he was a starter last season. He was a part of two LaPorte sectional championship teams during his high school career.

Academically, Jesch is a member of the National Honor Society and ranks among the top 20 percent of his senior class. He plans to attend Indiana University but is undecided on his area of study.

Farm Bureau Insurance, the corporate partner of the IHSAA, presented a $1,000 scholarship to LaPorte High School in the name of Jesch.

E – Jesch, Fritzen, McDonald, Hannon, Zellerino, Conrad, Rogers. 2B – Goers (9), Dhoore (4), Hannon (9), Zellerino (6), Smith (9), McCool (6). SB – Rosenbaum, Morton. WP – Markle. HP – by Rosenbaum (Brumfield), by Zellerino (Rosenbaum). LOB – LaPorte 6, Evansville Harrison 5. SAC – Schellinger. Umpires — Jeff Hull (Home Plate), Dave Mecklenburg (First Base), Scott LaPlace (Second Base), Keith Chavis (Third Base). Time of Game — 2:00.

Evansville Harrison survived an 11-inning marathon to defeat Carmel 1-0 on Friday at Victory Field in Indianapolis to join LaPorte in Saturday’s Class 4A Championship Game.

In the top of the 11^th inning, the Warriors’ Eric Marecki stole home plate with bases loaded and two outs and teammate Brian Brumfield facing an 0-2 count. Marecki slid just under the tag of Carmel catcher Mark Droese. Brumfield struck out on the next pitch and Carmel (28-6) went 1-2-3 to end the game.

Carmel’s Jim Brauer pitched the first 10 innings striking out 13 batters and giving up just six hits. By rule, he was forced to retire at the end of the 10^th inning. Garrett Berger, who came on in relief, picked up the loss. Kyle Markle, who pitched 3 1/3 innings for Evansville Harrison, was the winner.

Evansville Harrison (20-12), making its first appearance in a championship game, will meet LaPorte for the Class 4A title.

In the first semifinal, LaPorte’s Nick Rosenbaum threw a two-hit shutout as the Slicers advanced with a 5-0 victory over Lake Central.

Rosenbaum went the distance striking out seven batters to move to 13-1 on the year. With the win, the Slicers (29-5) moved into their state record ninth championship game. LaPorte is 7-1 in previous title games.

LaPorte’s Cory Goers finished 2-for-4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored, while Nick Fritzen finished 2-for-3 with 2 RBI.

With LaPorte leading 1-0 in the top of the third inning, Goers drilled a two-run homer over the leftfield fence with Mark Schellinger aboard. Fritzen had doubled in Goers in the top of the first inning to give the Slicers an early 1-0 lead.

Fritzen also knocked in Brian Manering in the fifth inning on a fielder’s choice to make it 4-0. Fritzen accounted for LaPorte’s fifth run in the seventh inning when Dee McDonald tallied an RBI single.

Lake Central’s Lenny Pearce and Tony Dotson accounted for both of Lake Central’s hits. Derek Goins (6-3) collected the loss for the Indians, who finished 21-10.