Tigers come up short in state championship

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Photo by Andrew Haughey

Players comfort one another after losing 3-1 in the state championship to Jasper.

Ben Rosen, Reporter

     On June 22 at Victory Field in Indianapolis the baseball team lost to Jasper 3-1 in the 2021 IHSAA Class 4A Baseball State Finals. The team finishes the season with an overall record of 23-13 and 7-7 record in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference (HCC).

     Following a 1-4 start, the team went on to win six of their next seven games before losing to Westfield in back-to-back outings. The games were the only series in the HCC that the team lost.

     Prior to the loss on June 22, the team had not lost since a conference loss at Franklin Central on May 13. The team beat the MaxPreps #1 ranked team in the state of Indiana, Columbus North on May 17 and Carmel on May 29, twice during their 10-game winning streak leading up to the state championship game. 

     Additionally, the team defeated rival HSE three times in the four games played between the two teams; twice in the three game regular season series and once in the opening round of the state tournament. FHS would go on to also defeat Carmel High School and Noblesville High School on their way to a Sectional 8 championship, not allowing a single run against either team.

     The team won Regional 2 with an 8-4 win over Homestead in the regional semifinal and a 7-5 win over Harrison (West Lafayette) in the regional championship game on June 5 in Kokomo where the team would win the Class 4A North Semi-State Championship with a 3-2 win against Munster on June 12 to advance to the Class 4A State Finals against Jasper.