Phone: 317-846-6601 Fax: 317-575-4244 Website: www.ihsaa.org
Blake Ress, Commissioner
____________________________________________________________________________________________
June 14, 2008
RECORD INNING
HELPS SHAKAMAK WIN FIRST STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
A record-tying
inning from Shakamak propelled the Lakers past Cowan, 6-2, in the Class A
championship game at Victory Field in Indianapolis.
It was the
first state championship in school history for the school located in the town
of Jasonville, which sits in an area of east central Indiana that was hit hard
by heavy rains and flooding early in the week. It was the fifth appearance in
the state finals for No. 4 Shakamak which was making its third straight trip to
the championship game.
No. 6 Cowan
struggled to come up with an answer to Shakamak sophomore pitcher T.J. Hill,
who struck out six through the first four innings. The Blackhawks broke through
in the top of the fifth putting up two runs. Junior Jacob O’Conner reached
third on an error by the leftfielder, scoring sophomore Skyler Toomey who had
walked earlier. O’Conner then stole home to give Cowan a 2-0 lead.
Shakamak
(26-8) answered in their half of the fifth inning. With two outs and the bases loaded, sophomore
Ben Grissom scored teammates Timothy Betts and John Smith to tie the game.
Betts had reached on a fielder’s choice and Smith had walked. Later, with one
man on, Grissom stole second, and after Cowan pitcher Justin O’Conner walked
senior Derrick Bennett, senior Justin Cox was hit by a pitch forcing in
sophomore Billy Newton to give Shakamak a 3-2 advantage. A double by senior
Jaret May drove in all three baserunners to increase the lead to 6-2. The six
runs tied the Class A championship game record for most in an inning.
Shakamak’s
defense prevented Cowan from scoring again, ensuring the win for second year
head coach Matt Fougerousse and his crew. Previously, Shakamak had to settle
for the runner-up position in 2004, 2006 and 2007.
No. 6 Cowan,
coached by Camden Parkhurst, finished the season 24-6. The Blackhawks were
playing in the state finals for the first time.
Shakamak’s
Hill finished with 10 strikeouts to set a new IHSAA Class A championship game
record. The previous mark was seven.
SHAKAMAK’S JOSHUA HORTON named Mental Attitude Award winner
Joshua
Horton of Shakamak High School was recognized by members of the IHSAA Executive
Committee as this year’s recipient of the L.V. Phillips Mental Attitude Award
in Class A baseball.
At the conclusion
of each championship game, the IHSAA Executive Committee presents an award for
mental attitude to an outstanding senior participant in each classification of
the state tournament. The recipient of the award, nominated by his principal
and coach, was determined to have best demonstrated mental attitude,
scholarship, leadership and athletic ability in baseball. The award is named in
honor of the late L.V. Phillips, who served as the second commissioner of the
IHSAA from 1945-62.
Horton
finished his high school career ranked fourth in his class with a 3.949 GPA and
was awarded the Core 40 Academic Honors diploma. He has received awards such as
the IUPUI Herbert Presidential Scholars Award, TRW Automotive Scholarship,
Chemistry Award and AP Calculus Award to name a few.
Horton
plans to attend IUPUI and study pre-medicine.
He
participated in baseball for four years, cross country three years and track
two years and becomes the second student-athlete from his school to be named an
IHSAA mental attitude award winner. Last year, baseball player Steven McNabb
won the award.
He is the
son of Andrea Creech of Jasonville.
Indiana
Farm Bureau Insurance, the corporate partner of the IHSAA, presented a $1,000
scholarship to Shakamak High School in the name of Joshua Horton.
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 (