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player ready...Andrean gloves and hats were strewn across Victory Field, with Michael Doolin at the bottom of a massive dog pile.
Behind a record-setting performance from the junior right-hander, the 59ers downed Silver Creek 6-1 on Saturday night in the Class 3A state championship game.
Doolin (11-1), a Vanderbilt commit, tossed a three-hitter with 13 strikeouts, breaking the previous 3A state final record of 11.
“The record doesn’t mean much — I just wanted the ring,” Doolin said. “It’s a dream come true. Ever since I was 8 years old watching my brother (Matt) win state titles (in 2009 and 2010), this is what I wanted. To do it with this group of boys and this family we have, it’s a dream come true.”
The 59ers (31-6) won their sixth state title, and their first since 2015. The title also was the sixth for coach Dave Pishkur; only LaPorte’s Ken Schreiber and Lafayette Central Catholic’s Tom Bordenet, with seven each, won more.
“Every time’s like No. 1 because that’s the only one you’re playing,” Pishkur said. “It’s awesome for the kids, it’s awesome for the coaching staff. I don’t even need to be at practice. They are so good — I really mean that.”
Doolin definitely was good, not allowing a hit until the fourth and striking out seven of the first nine batters. He described his semistate outing as “iffy” and responded to a challenge Pishkur issued.
“I commanded the zone, I wanted to get ahead with my fastball and then work in my breaking stuff,” Doolin said. “For the first six innings, I did a decent job of that. The seventh inning was a little rough. But we got the job done, we won the state championship and that’s all that matters.”
Silver Creek (26-4) scored its only run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly. The Dragons loaded the bases with none out in an inning that included Doolin’s lone walk and a hit batter.
“He was so dominant through four innings,” Pishkur said of Doolin. “He spotted his breaking pitches, he had such command. We had a plan and he executed it.
“This was his best game through six innings. Who knows what happened in the seventh? He was amped up to close out the game.”
By then, Andrean had the game well in hand.
The 59ers broke it open with four runs in the fourth, including senior first baseman Joe Rycerz’s two-run homer, his team-leading sixth of the season. With two out, Matt Lelito added an RBI triple and Charlie Jones an RBI double.
Rycerz struck out in his first at-bat, but adjusted on his second.
“I backed off the plate and tried not to do too much, but I guess I did enough,” Rycerz said.
Doolin, who also had a double as well as a single that preceded the homer, praised Rycerz.
“My heart was racing a million miles an hour,” he said. “He deserved it.”
Andrean broke on top with two runs in the third. After Joel Holtcamp led off with a triple, Ball State recruit Nick Fushi followed with an RBI double. Tyler Nelson added a sacrifice fly.
With the way Doolin was pitching and that 2-0 lead, Andrean was primed to add to its collection of hardware.
“It means everything,” Rycerz said. “It doesn’t even feel real. This was our goal since the beginning of the year, even since I first got here. It feels great that we did it.”
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