Heritage Christian Wins First Baseball State Title

The Heritage Christian baseball team capped the 2008-09 sports season in triumphant fashion this weekend at Victory Field, defeating Cass 11-3 in the Class 2A state finals championship game.

The ninth-ranked Eagles pulled ahead 10-1 through the first four innings before scoring their final run in the top of the sixth on an RBI-single by Jeremy Sherrill to bring Christian Rector home from third base.

Heritage Christian’s Sherrill and Sterling Harpst finished 2-for-4 at the plate. Rector (1-for-4), Chris Ward (1-for-3, RBI) and Joe Perrott (3-for-4, 2 RBI) each recorded doubles. Ryan Ledbetter drove in a pair of runs and John Miley went 2-for-3.

Perrott recorded the win, going 5 1/3 innings, striking out seven while allowing five hits and two earned runs.

The championship was Heritage Christian’s first in baseball and third state title this season, winning IHSAA crowns in Class 2A football and girls basketball. Coach Dan Ambrose’s Eagles concluded their historic season with a record of 25-6.

Class 4A Westfield finished the 2008-09 baseball season as state runner-ups to Fort Wayne Snider, who rallied to win 3-2 in eight innings.

Westfield (24-6) led the game 2-0 through the game’s first six innings via RBIs from Andrew McCafferty and Nick Crouse. Snider tied the game in the bottom of the seventh before scoring the winning run in the bottom of the eighth.

In Other News:

Fort Wayne to Host 2010 Girls Basketball State Finals
On Monday, Indiana High School Athletic Association Commissioner Blake Ress announced that Fort Wayne will host the 2010 girls basketball state finals.

The principle agreement between the city of Fort Wayne and the IHSAA is scheduled for one year with the 35th Annual IHSAA Girls Basketball State Finals to be held at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, March 6, 2010.

The decision was voted upon during the IHSAA Executive Committee’s final meeting of the 2008-09 school year. The IHSAA also received bids from Ball State University and Indiana University. Both Conseco Fieldhouse, which hosted the girls state finals from 2001-08 and Lucas Oil Stadium, which hosted the event in 2009, were unavailable for use for the 2009-10 state finals’ date.

IHSAA Softball Tournament Changed
Beginning in 2009-10 the IHSAA softball state tournament will eliminate the Friday state semifinal games and incorporate a semistate round.
The sectional format (May 24-29, 2010) will remain the same and will be followed by a one-game regional (Tuesday, June 1, 2010). The four-team semistate will be held the Saturday (June, 5, 2010) before the state finals. Four state championship games will be played one week later (June 12, 2010).

The previous format allowed 64 sectional champions to advance to four-team regionals with 16 winners moving onto the state semifinals.

Track and Field State Finals Remain at IU
The IHSAA current contract with Indiana University in Bloomington as the host of the annual girls and boys track and field state finals was extended through 2014.

Instant Replay Approved for Basketball
The IHSAA Committee approved the use of replay for end-of-game decisions in the basketball state championship games. It will allow replay for review for shot attempts at the end of the fourth quarter or overtime periods, only when the shot would affect the outcome of the game. This rule will not affect sectional, regional or semistate contests.

The rule was passed by the National Federation of State High School Associations this spring and was not deemed mandatory, but instead was left to the discretion of state associations to adopt.