Published: June 16, 2007 01:02 am            

Kokomo faces Cathedral today for title

The Kokomo Wildkats stand one win away from a baseball pinnacle.

No. 3-ranked Kokomo (28-3) faces No. 5 Indianapolis Cathedral (28-4) in the Class 4A championship at 8 o’clock tonight under the bright lights of Victory Field in Indianapolis.

“The thing that excites me about the state championship game is you’re going to be able to showcase your kids to the state of Indiana and also show your program and school,” third-year Kokomo coach Steve Edwards said. “It’s an exciting time not only for the kids, but for the school and the community. It’s an opportunity to let these kids be rewarded for what they have done and how hard they’ve worked.”

KHS Athletic Director Mike Wade said he expects a good Kokomo following after selling all 800 tickets he was issued. Plenty of general admission tickets remain. Admission is $9 at the gate and that ticket is also good for Class 2A and 3A games that begin at 1 p.m.

The Wildkats are in the state finals for the first time since 1988 while the Irish are making their third appearance since 2001. They won the Class 3A title in 2001 and finished as the Class 4A runners-up last season.

Fort Wayne Snider beat Cathedral 4-2 in eight innings in the 2006 final. Cathedral led 2-1 after six innings, but Snider scored a run in the top of the seventh to forge a tie and added two runs in the eighth for the winning margin.

“They’ve been there before, but I don’t know if that really matters because when you get into the state finals, everyone is excited to be there and everyone feels the same pressure,” Edwards said. “It’s a big game, but if you keep the same routine and you practice hard, you will show up and see the same things you’ve seen all season. That is the approach we’re taking.”

Cathedral coach Rich Andriole, 266-72 in 11 seasons, hopes his team can win a state championship to take a bit of the sting out of last year’s extra-inning loss. He said that while he has only four starters back from last year’s 31-3 squad, he believed it was possible to make the return trip.

“We try to prepare every day in practice with the belief that we’ll be playing in the middle of June,” he said. “Sometimes that works out and sometimes it doesn’t.

“We graduated our entire infield last season and moved an outfielder to catcher, so we knew we had our work cut out. But we also knew we had an outstanding group of young players who were waiting their turn.”

Cathedral has played well the past month. Since back-to-back one-run losses to North Central (2-1) and Brebeuf (3-2), the Irish have rolled to 11 straight wins by a combined score of 96-23. One of those wins came by forfeit over Arlington.

Cathedral swings the bat. The Irish offer a team average of .368 and have scored just over nine runs per game in post-season play.

Outfielder T.J. Stark, a holdover from last season, leads the way with a .472 batting average that includes team-high marks of seven triples and 15 doubles. Alex Wright (.413), Anthony Agnew (.402) and Tony Ranek (.400) follow and Justin Cureton bats .393 while leading in home runs (8) and RBIs (41).

Agnew pitched against Fort Wayne Snider in the championship last season, allowing two runs in seven innings before being lifted. The 5-foot-10, 175 pound lefty returns to face Kokomo with a 12-0 record (19-1 career mark) that includes a 1.51 ERA. In 70 innings, he’s fanned 90 and walked 20.

“He’s a competitor much like the Kokomo kid [Bryce Robinson] and he’s pitched in a ton of big games,” Andriole said. “He mixes his pitches, hits his spots and really adapts his game to the opponent. He has confidence in all his pitches.”

Robinson may be a mirror image of Agnew. They are of similar size and Robinson is 10-0 overall and 19-0 over his career. He carries a 0.83 ERA and in 76 innings, has fanned 129 while walking 35.

Led by Cory Ringley’s .405 mark, Kokomo carries a team batting average of .321 into tonight’s game. Other offensive leaders include Craig Dollens (.383), Andrew Quinnette (.378), Evan Skiles (.360) and Robinson (.310).

Andriole is aware of Kokomo’s close victories in tourney play but doesn’t think the Kats arrived in Indianapolis blessed by any stroke of luck.

“We told our players that you don’t win five one-run games with one player,” Andriole said. “Robinson may set the tone, but he’s got eight defenders with him. McCutcheon, Jeff, Zionsville, Homestead, Penn — those are all top-drawer programs. You don’t beat teams like that and win 28 games without a lot of players contributing.”

Edwards expects a close, hard-fought game.

“Cathedral has a tendency to have a lot of good athletes,” he said. “They have a very balanced lineup and everyone tells us that any player in their lineup can hurt us.

“They’re very aggressive, they can play small-ball or big-ball — they are fundamentally sound and well coached. You mix all that together and that is why they are in the state championship for the second year in a row.”



Class 4A final:

• Matchup: Indianapolis Cathedral vs. Kokomo

• Time: 8 p.m., today

• Place: Victory Field in Indianapolis

• TV: ICN (Insight Communications ch. 16; only available on cable)

• Radio: WIOU, 1350-AM

        

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