Baseball semi-state: Shamrocks set to take on Lake Central in first semifinal game

The REPORTER

The Westfield baseball team had a nice time at Lafayette’s Loeb Stadium last Saturday, winning its first regional title in 13 years.

The Shamrocks are headed back to Loeb this Saturday, where they are hoping recent history repeats itself. Westfield is playing in the Class 4A north semi-state on Saturday, which features four teams battling for a place in the IHSAA state finals.

The Rocks take on Lake Central in the first semifinal game, playing the Indians at 11 a.m. Homestead and Concord face off in the second semifinal at 2 p.m., with the championship game set for 8 p.m.

Lake Central comes into the semi-state with a 22-9 record and has only given up one run during its four postseason games. That was in its sectional opener, where the Indians beat sectional host Munster 7-1. Lake Central then defeated Merrillville 10-0 in a six-inning semifinal before taking care of Hobart 4-0 in the championship.

Due to last Saturday’s bad weather, the Indians had to wait until Monday to play Chesterton in the Griffith regional. Lake Central won that game 2-0, advancing the Indians to the semi-state.

Lake Central has some capable hitters, including eight that have batted in 10 runs or more during the season. Senior Nick Robinson has the most RBIs with 18; he is batting at a .388 clip and leads the team in hits with 33. Robinson is tied for most runs scored with junior Drew Kosteba, both have 28 runs to their credit.

Senior Griffin Tobias has 17 RBIs and is one of the Indians’ top pitchers, with a 6-2 record, 0.96 earned run average and team-leading 81 strikeouts. Senior Blake Sivak is 6-1 for the season with 48 strikeouts and a 1.35 ERA.

The Shamrocks enter the semi-state with a 20-10 record. Westfield broke its long sectional title drought by claiming Sectional 8 at Noblesville’s Don Dunker Field with some dramatic victories.

The Rocks beat Zionsville 6-4 in its opener, made a big comeback against Carmel to win their semifinal 9-8, then won the sectional championship over Fishers 1-0. The game ended with a play that made ESPN’s SportsCenter Top 10: Nick Fero caught a certain Tigers home run over the left field fence for the final out.

With that, Westfield won its first sectional trophy since 2011 and made its first trip to Loeb Stadium for the Lafayette Jefferson regional. The Shamrocks took care of business by routing No. 7-ranked McCutcheon 13-2. Westfield broke another long drought with that victory: it was the Rocks’ first regional title in 15 years.

Junior Matt Drozlek is Westfield’s top hitter with a .321 average; he also has batted in 29 runs. Drozlek and senior Brayden Hibler both have 25 hits for the season, with Hibler driving in 26 runs. Junior Drew Law has the most runs scored with 29. Westfield also has eight players with 10 or more RBIs.

Senior Ty Anderson is the Shamrocks’ top pitcher. He is 8-3 for the season and threw a no-hitter in the sectional championship game. Anderson has a 1.82 ERA and has tossed 73 strikeouts.