Phone: 317-846-6601
Fax: 317-575-4244 Website:
www.ihsaa.org
Blake Ress, Commissioner
____________________________________________________________________________________________
June
16, 2007
Parker Leads Norwell to Perfect Season and 3A Title with His Arm and Bat
The Norwell
Knights (35-0) completed an undefeated season behind the strength of senior
pitcher Jarrod Parker as he struck out seven batters from Evansville Mater Dei
(22-13) en route to a 5-0 victory in the Class 3A state finals. Parker pitched
a complete game to extend his record to a perfect 12-0 while Mater Dei senior
Cody Brandenstein took the loss finishing the season
8-5.
The Knights
plated two in the bottom of the first as Parker drove a pitch over the left
field wall with junior catcher Rhett Goodmiller
aboard who had reached on a walk. That would prove to be all the scoring the
Knights would need as Parker scattered six hits and only one Wildcat runner reached
third base.
In the
second inning, Norwell added three runs as senior second baseman Andrew Gerz led the inning off with a single. Junior first baseman
Ryne Otis’ deep fly ball to left bounced off the top
of the scoreboard and over the fence for a ground-rule double. With runners at
second and third, senior designated hitter Brandon Huggins was hit by a pitch
to load the bases with no outs. A perfectly executed squeeze bunt by freshman Klay Fiechter scored Gerz and all runners were safe as no Wildcat was covering
first base. Senior center fielder Scott Woodward then reached on an infield
single and senior shortstop Kreigh Williams flew out
to left field scoring Huggins. Goodmiller came to the
plate and singled to left scoring Fiechter to round
out the scoring for the Knights.
The
greatest Mater Dei threat came in the fifth inning after singles by senior
designated hitter Ryan Wink and junior left fielder Alex Weinzapfel.
Sophomore second baseman Jake Weinzapfel added to the
drama with a two out walk. With the Mater Dei crowd sensing a rally, Parker
forced senior shortstop Adam Schenk to fly out to right field to end the inning
and any Mater Dei title hopes.
Schenk
accounted for two of the six Wildcat hits as he doubled down the left field
line in the first and singled in the fourth. Coming into the championship game,
Parker had allowed only 19 hits in 63 innings.
Mater Dei,
coached by 11th year coach Darin Knight, was making its first
appearance in the 3A finals as their state title in 1999 and runner up finish
in 1998 came as a 2A school.
Norwell
head coach Kelby Weybright
is in his sixth year at the helm of the Knights. His squad gave up only four
runs in the six post season games while Parker allowed
only one earned run all year. Parker was drafted ninth overall by the Arizona
Diamondbacks in Major League Baseball’s draft earlier this month.
Kreigh Williams of Norwell Named L.V.
Phillips Mental Attitude Award Winner
Kreigh
Williams of
Kreigh
ranked 11th in his graduating class of 204. He graduated with
distinction and high honors carrying a 3.95 GPA. Kreigh
won the Norwell High School Rotary Award.
Williams is
involved with numerous organizations including Habitat for Humanity, Student
Council and High Life Youth Group. He volunteers his time at youth baseball,
football and basketball camps. Kreigh is also involved with the National Honors Society,
the Freshmen Mentor Program and is a sportscaster for the (Norwell) Knightly
News.
Kreigh
was a member of the Norwell football that finished as runner-up in 2006 (3A),
as well as Norwell’s runner-up baseball team a year ago.
He is the
son of Rob and Amy Williams of Ossian, Indiana.
Kreigh
plans to study computer engineering at the Rose-Hulman
Institute of Technology in the fall.
Brent Hoober of Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, the corporate
partner of the IHSAA, presented a $1,000 scholarship to
VSN Means Action Photography
Visit our
friends at Visual Sports Network, the IHSAA’s official photographer for all state championship
events and one of the leading action photographers in the
Championship Merchandise Still Available
For
t-shirts and other merchandise commemorating this year’s tournament or for any
of our events, visit our friends at Morris, Inc.
State Finals Programs Available
Couldn’t be
there for the state finals? You can still purchase a copy of the official
souvenir program while supplies last! Programs are $3.00 if you purchase in
person at the IHSAA Office (