Even as a state champion at Washington Township, James Kirk’s experience at Andrean has been a new one.
The senior designated hitter has embraced it.
“It’s been awesome,” Kirk said. “I really like playing with all of these guys. They’re all super cool. Having a baseball team of this talent, with talent everywhere on the field, it’s really nice. Not to say there wasn’t at Washington. But it’s a whole different ballgame here. I really enjoy that. I like the competition aspect of it.”
Kirk transferred to Andrean before this academic year. His mother, Melissa Miller, is Andrean’s finance director. He moved within Valparaiso, from inside Washington Township’s district to outside it, and he believed the timing was right to change schools to Andrean.
“It was something I had been thinking about since my freshman year,” Kirk said. “This year, I decided it was going to give me the best opportunity, and I wanted to put myself first.”
A first baseman by trade, Kirk started as a sophomore when the Senators won the Class 1A state title by defeating Shakamak 6-0. He hit .393 with 25 RBIs, including a two-run double for the only extra-base hit in the state final.
Kirk hit .426 with four homers and 25 RBIs last season. But he injured his right elbow pitching in an early May game against rival Morgan Township and was relegated to the DH role for the rest of the season.
Out of the cleanup spot on Monday, the 6-foot-3 Kirk flashed his power in Andrean’s Northwest Crossroads Conference opener at Munster. He crushed a grand slam as part of a seven-run fourth inning as the defending Class 3A state champion 59ers, ranked No. 2 in 3A in the most recent state coaches poll, won 12-5.
“The first two at-bats I had, I was a little out in front,” Kirk said. “So I had a different approach that at-bat. I got the pitch I wanted, and here we go.”
Kirk also pitched in the seventh inning, his first appearance on the mound in a high school game since hurting his elbow. He allowed three runs before closing out the game for Andrean (4-1, 1-0).
“It hasn’t really been the same, but I can’t complain,” Kirk said. “I can throw the ball. I’m happy with it.”
Kirk, who committed last month to Wabash and is planning to major in philosophy, politics and economics, is not expected to log a ton of innings on the mound.
“James hit the ball well. … He’s really an offensive player only, and he is a force offensively,” Andrean coach Dave Pishkur said. “He’s doing a nice job for us offensively, and that’s really what we want him for.”
In all, Andrean smacked four homers against Munster (3-3, 0-1). Junior outfielder Moises Vazquez hit solo shots in the second and fifth innings, and junior outfielder Tyler Peller had a two-run homer in the fourth.
“James is a big power guy,” Vazquez said. “I love him. Great ballplayer, great kid, great hitter. I’m really looking forward to seeing what he can do at Wabash.”
Vazquez’s homer in the fifth gave the 59ers a 10-0 lead as senior pitcher Garrett Benko allowed just an unearned run on one hit with seven strikeouts and no walks in five innings.
“Give them a lot of credit,” Munster coach Mike Mikolajczyk said. “They hit four home runs, and I can’t tell you the last time that’s happened at a Munster High School varsity game, where a team has come here and done that. But kudos to them for doing that.”
Andrean and Munster shared the conference title last season. The teams were scheduled to play again Tuesday at Andrean.
“It feels great,” Kirk said. “We came into this game (Monday), we were all ready. We were all locked in. We all knew this was going to be a tough opponent. We wanted to come here and get the win, and that’s what we did.”