Rossville’s baseball team made two pieces of history during their 4-3 victory over Tri-County for the Class A state championship on Saturday at Victory Field in Indianapolis.

Not only did the Hornets win the school’s first state championship in any sport, but they also became the first school to win a team state championship in any sport despite a sub-.500 record in IHSAA tournament history. Rossville finished the season at 16-17 after finishing the regular season 10-17.

Despite a rain delay that halted action in the middle of the third inning and postponed play for an hour and 35 minutes, Rossville managed to score four runs in the next two innings once play resumed and posted its fifth one-run victory in six post-season games.

The Hornets, led by second-year coach Scott Stair, trailed 2-1 before breaking through with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Chris Bowyer, who pinch ran for Brett Butler who walked, scored the first run of the inning on a throwing error by the second baseman attempting to throw out Shane Turner at first base. Turner eventually made his way home on a Craig Padgett single through the right side with one away. After stealing second base, Padgett then scored on Nick Watkins’ single down the left field line with two gone.

Tri-County cut the deficit to 4-3 in the top of the sixth inning when Joe Barton scored on an Adam Berger single to left field with one out. Barton singled to get on base and advanced to second on Travis Hensler’s single before Berger came to the plate.

Watkins and Padgett finished 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI for Rossville, while Hensler and Rudy Taulmann went 2-for-3 for Tri-County. Hensler scored twice and Adam Berger knocked in two runs for the Cavaliers.

Brandon Paschal (7-6) was the winning pitcher for Rossville with Michael Luck (3-4) the losing pitcher for Tri-County.

Tri-County, the 1998 Class A state champion, was coached by Denny Stitz. The Cavaliers finished at 19-13.

Most Runs in an Inning (Combined) – 4 by Rossville (3) and Tri-County (1) (4^th inning).

Most Walks (Combined) – 8 by Rossville (4) and Tri-County (4).

Most Hits – 10 by Tri-County.

Most Runs in an Inning – 3 by Rossville (4^th inning).

Most Left on Base (Combined) – 16 by Tri-County (9) and Rossville (7).

Most Runs – 2 by Travis Hensler, Tri-County.

Most RBI – 2 by Adam Berger, Tri-County.

E – Taulmann 2. 2B – Stitz (5). SB – Anderson, Hensler 2, Stevens, Paschal, Bowyer, Padgett. CS – Fulkerson. WP – Luck 3, Paschal 2. HP – . SAC – Berger. LOB – Tri-County 9, Rossville 7. Umpires — Richard Watkins (Home Plate), Gene Butts (First Base), James Mann (Second Base), Michael Hall (Third Base). Time of Game — 1:55 (Rain delay of 1:35).

Brandon Paschal, a senior at Rossville High School, was chosen by the IHSAA Executive Committee as the 2000 recipient of the L.V. Phillips Mental Attitude Award in Class A baseball.

The third baseman/pitcher entered the state finals with a .309 batting average, and was tied for the team lead in runs batted in with 23. He went 1-for-3 and stole one base in the state championship game. He also was the starting pitcher throwing five innings and striking out three batters.

He also participated in tennis and basketball during his high school career, and was Rossville’s tennis co-captain as a senior.

Paschal ranked second in his senior class of 62 students and is a member of the National Honor Society. He was active in a number of school extracurricular activities, and served as a class officer all four years. He plans to attend Purdue University and major in management.

Farm Bureau Insurance, corporate partner of the IHSAA, presented a $1,000 check to Rossville High School in the name of Paschal.

Rossville (15-17) held on for a 2-1 victory over Riverton Parke in the second game of the Class A State Finals on Friday at Hartman Field in Carmel.

The Hornets (15-17) will meet 1998 Class A state champion Tri-County (19-12), a 5-0 winner over Jac-Cen-Del, in Saturday’s championship game at Victory Field in Indianapolis. No team has ever won an IHSAA state championship with a sub-.500 record.

Rossville struck first when Ryan Skinner smashed an RBI double to the right-centerfield fence bringing home Mickey McGill, who was hit by a pitch earlier in the first inning. Skinner then knocked home another run in the third with a seeing-eye single up the middle that scored Blair Stephens.

The two runs would be all McGill (8-8) would need to pick up the victory. With Rossville leading 2-1 and Riverton Parke threatening to tie the game with a runner on second base, McGill closed the door on the uprising. The Panthers got their lone run of the game from Dusty Pruitt, who scored from third on a ground out by Mike Petit.

Ryan Loomis was the losing pitcher for Riverton Parke (8-3), which finished 24-8-1.

In the first semifinal game, Tri-County used a four-run third inning as its springboard to victory.

Offensively, Tri-County gathered eight hits in a game that saw all nine Cavaliers reach base by the fifth inning.

Tri-County got started in the first inning when Jacob Ramsey scored on a passed ball. The Cavaliers then padded their lead in the third inning, which was highlighted by Ramsey’s two-run single up the middle that brought home Joe Barton and Michael Luck.

Michael Stitz (12-2), son of 10^th-year coach Denny Stitz, went the distance in Tri-County’s second shutout of the postseason. The right-hander, who was perfect through four innings, fanned six and allowed only three hits.

Ryan Dodson (10-5) was the losing pitcher for Jac-Cen-Del, which ended its season at 23-8.