Evansville Mater Dei erupted for five runs in the fourth inning and rode on to a 9-0 victory over Jimtown in the IHSAA Class 2A State Finals at Victory Field in Indianapolis.

Senior Josh Hodge started the uprising with a RBI single that scored Nate Schiff. Senior Ike Miller followed with a single that scored Billy Smith. The other big swing in the inning was a two-run double by senior Nick Miller that scored Ike Miller and Andy Woehler.

Evansville Mater Dei added another run in the sixth inning when Woehler scored on a RBI single by Dustin Macke with two outs. The scoring continued when Nick Miller ripped a three-run homer over the leftfield fence with one out. Miller finished the game with a record 5 RBI, the most ever in a state championship game.

On the mound, Macke went the distance for Evansville Mater Dei (26-8), yielding three hits. Jimtown finished 27-7.

It is the seventh IHSAA state title overall for Evansville Mater Dei and the second of the 1998-99 school year. The Wildcats have won the last five IHSAA wrestling titles, and also were the wrestling champs in 1986.

Keith Kinder, a senior at Jimtown High School, was chosen by the IHSAA Executive Committee as the 1999 recipient of the L.V. Phillips Mental Attitude Award in Class 2A baseball.

The third baseman for the Class 2A state runner-up team batted .376 this season while serving as the team captain. He also was the starting quarterback on Jimtown's Class 2A football state championship teams of 1997 and 1998 that went 30-0, and was the team's leading scorer as a senior in basketball. He finished his high school career with eight varsity letters.

Academically, Kinder graduated 23^rd in his senior class of 107 students and is a member of the National Honor Society and Jimtown's student council. He was active in a number of school extracurricular activities, and had the lead role in two school plays this school year. He plans to attend Tri-State University and major in education.

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

E — A. Schiff, J. Rider. 2B — Hodge, I. Miller, Gilbert. HR — N. Miller. SB — N. Miller, Woehler. WP — D. Macke, Davis. HBP — Hodge (by J. Rider), Smith (by J. Rider). DP — Jimtown. LOB — Evansville Mater Dei 8, Jimtown 6. SH — I. Miller, Woehler, Menchinger. Umpires — J. Michael DeBoy (Home Plate), Charles Leonard (First Base), John Gaylor (Second Base), Mark Jackman (Third Base). Time of Game — 1:53.