By Michael Moreci
INDIANAPOLIS - The Athenians make it look easy. They’ve done so all year, mowing down any and all the competition in front of them—literally, actually. Crawfordsville pitchers have struck out 380 batters this season. But ask Coach John Froedge, and it’s anything but easy. In 27 years at the helm of the Athenians’ baseball team, this was his first time making it to the championship. The wait was well worth it, as Crawfordsville walked away with its first ever state title, defeating Mishawaka Marian, 5-1.
“It sounds like a long time, but it goes by pretty quick,” Froedge said. “We knew we had a great team coming in, we knew we had a chance to win and we felt it as the year went.”
Leading the charge, as he has been all year, was senior left-hander Cameron Hobson. Hobson did what he’s been doing for much of his high school career: he dominated. In five innings of work, Hobson struck out 11, including a span where he rattled of five consecutive Ks. He had a strikeout in every inning he pitched, and his 11 strikeouts were good enough to tie a class 3A championship record for a single game.
“It was just another game,” Hobson said. “There was no pressure.”
For Marian, junior Jordan Niespodziany threw well against an Athenian lineup where every out is tough. Over four innings of work, Niespodziany allowed three runs (two earned) and struck out four. He pitched his way out of a jam in the fourth to keep the Knights in the game. After an error, a double, and an intentional walk to Hobson, the Athenians had the bases loaded with nobody out. Niespodziany struck out junior Brett Linn, got an out on junior Brett McKinney’s sacrifice fly, and induced Mitchell Ray into an inning-ending ground out.
Marian was able to get a run across on Hobson—who entered Saturday’s game with a 0.51 ERA—on an RBI single from Mike Karason. But asking for more against a stingy Crawfordsville staff is a tall order. In this year’s tournament, the Athenians allowed 0.7 runs per game, making the one earned run from Marian an anomaly. Both Hobson and Stephen Rice—who come in for Hobson in relief in the sixth—have struck out over half of the batters they’ve faced this year (senior Andrew Swart barely missed the cut, striking out only forty-three percent of the batters he faced—though in all fairness, he faced 89 more batters than Hobson, 146 more than Rice).
Owing to this, Crawfordsville played it smart, utilizing a small ball strategy The first run they scored was the result of a stolen base, the second a sacrifice bunt, the fourth another sacrifice bunt; the fourth, more stolen bases and a timely single.
“It’s what we’ve been doing all year,” Froedge said. “One run at a time, small ball, scratch out, steal a base.”
Junior outfielder Brett Linn—who led Crawfordsville with 41 runs scored this season— was the sparkplug for much of the Athenians’ run-scoring success. After a walk in the first, he stole second and scored on a Mitchell Ray single. In the fourth, after a Hobson triple, Linn brought him home on a two-strike, suicide squeeze to give Crawfordsville a 4-1 lead. Linn then stole second and third and scored on McKinney’s single to right. Linn’s three stolen bases set a class 3A record; as a team, Crawfordsville stole four bases, breaking another 3A record.
“It’s about taking a risk,” Linn said. “If you err, coach wants you to err on the aggressive side and not be passive.”
After getting into a small jam, Froedge pulled Hobson in the sixth and brought in sophomore left-hander Steven Rice. With a runner in scoring position and no one out, Rice come out and struck out the side. Of the seven batters Rice faced, he struck out six. (There’s no record for team strikeouts, but it’s hard to imagine a team having more than Crawfordsville’s 17.)
“It was a really good job by Steven,” Hobson said.
“I’m just happy for the kids,” Froedge said. “Watching them celebrate, knowing how much it means to them. Being a small community, we coach these kids from fifth grade and we’ve been talking about a state championship with this senior group since then.”
Notes: Crawfordsville’s Justin Wright won the Mental Attitude award.