Lake Central junior Blake Sivak’s height doesn’t offer much of a clue about his strategy on the mound.
The 6-foot-3 right-hander isn’t a power pitcher.
“I’m more of a finesse guy, get weak contact, use my breaking ball,” he said. “I have a great defense behind me. If I make a bad pitch, sometimes I get lucky and my teammates make a great play on it. We have guys who can make plays.”
It’s difficult to argue with his results, however he gets them.
Sivak is a team-best 9-0 with a 1.27 ERA as the Indians (27-4), ranked No. 3 in the final state coaches poll, get ready to play Penn (19-8) in the semifinals of the Class 4A LaPorte Semistate on Saturday. The winner of that game will advance to the final against either Homestead (19-9) or Hamilton Southeastern (19-14) that night.
Senior shortstop Hunter Snyder, a Columbia recruit, has appreciated Sivak’s contributions.
“He’s very collected,” Snyder said. “That’s what I admire about him. Whenever he’s on the mound, he doesn’t let the moment get too big. He’s just very collected. That’s one of the traits that will get him really, really far, not only in baseball but in life.”
Junior right-hander Griffin Tobias, an Indiana commit who is Lake Central’s ace, figures to get the ball against Penn, with Sivak at the ready.
“With the format of two games, if we’re fortunate enough to win the first one, he’s going to be a huge part of that second game, maybe even in Game 1,” Lake Central coach Mike Swartzentruber said of Sivak. “You have to win Game 1, so he may be in play in that one at some point too.
“He’s a huge part of our success and will be going forward. We have a lot of confidence in him. He’s done a great job, and he’s a great kid. He’s very coachable. He has a good idea of how he wants to prepare as a pitcher and what he wants to do. But he’s also very receptive to coaching and game plans and scouting reports.”
After gaining what Sivak called “some good building blocks” with a handful of appearances as a freshman, he put together a solid sophomore season last year. He went 4-1 with a 3.57 ERA.
“I enjoyed my role and got into the swing of things,” he said. “It was a fun year.”
Sivak used this past offseason to prepare for a more prominent role. He worked with Lake Central wrestling coach Luke Triveline as a personal trainer.
“He helped me with explosiveness and getting stronger,” Sivak said.
Sivak also trained with several pitching coaches in the Region and Indianapolis.
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“The main thing was helping me with my mechanics and getting my lower half more involved, using my legs,” he said. “Last year I never really used my legs at all. I was just all upper body.
“So that’s really helped me maintain velo. My velo hasn’t gone up by much, but it’s stayed a lot more steady throughout the game. It doesn’t waver.”
Swartzentruber has valued Sivak’s consistency.
“He’s answered the bell every week,” Swartzentruber said. “Every week, he’s gone out there and given us a good outing.
“We had a pretty good feel Tobias was going to be our (No.) 1, and Blake came in, and we had some options. We knew Blake gave us a lot of good innings last year, so he definitely was right there. Ultimately, it comes down to performance during the year, and he’s performed.”
Swartzentruber expressed disappointment Sivak didn’t make the all-conference team after Lake Central ran the table in the Duneland Athletic.
“I thought he should’ve, but it’ll give him something to shoot for next year,” Swartzentruber said. “Maybe he’ll have a little chip on his shoulder.”
For now, Sivak is firmly rooted in the present.
Lake Central’s season ended in walk-off fashion in both 2021, with a loss to Munster in a sectional final, and in 2022, with a loss to Penn in a regional final. Penn eventually won the state title last season.
Lake Central and the Kingsmen have developed a rivalry, with this game the fifth between them in two seasons. Most recently, Penn won 10-4 on April 22 — the second half of the scheduled doubleheader was called off because of inclement weather — but neither Tobias nor Sivak pitched.
After winning its first regional since 2014 in the tweaked format, Lake Central is seeking its second semistate title. The first came in 2012, when the Indians won a state championship.
“The past two years have been heartbreaks, two walk-offs,” Sivak said. “We’re just laying on the field, just heartbroken, everyone in tears. So the motivation for me is seeing the seniors the past two years, the way they reacted. It’s heartbreaking to see everyone emotional like that, and we don’t want to do that again.
“I’m just really excited for this week, the next couple of weeks, hoping we get a chance to play at Victory Field. That would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It’s been a long time coming. And with this group of guys, this is the team to do it.”