By Reuben Warshawsky
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Two years ago the baseball team’s season consisted of a first-place Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference (MIC) regular-season finish and a first-round loss to Westfield in Sectional play. Then last year its season included a third-place regular-season finish in the MIC and another early exit in Sectional play against Westfield.

The baseball team’s pattern of regular season success and repeated failure to advance in the post-season tournament highlight the fact that regular season records have become almost irrelevant in high school athletics.
Head  Coach Eric Lentz said he understands this fact and said, “Although our main goal is to win games, a big thing for us during the regular season is we try to develop leadership and team chemistry so that we can be prepared for the post-season.”

The baseball team has finished in the top three of the MIC for six consecutive years, but it has not advanced out of Sectional play since 2000. This season, the team will attempt to continue its regular season success while reversing its theme of little post-season success.

Lentz said, “Our main goals for this upcoming season are to be competitive every game in the MIC and to progress in the (post-season) tournament.” He said he expects seniors John “Michael” Conner, Clayton Marrs and William “Billy” Cooke to provide leadership this season.

In an effort to accomplish his season-long goals, Lentz said, “in conference play  our goal is to be competitive and put ourselves in position to win the conference. WE can use the non-conference games to develop our pitching staff and younger players.”

Lentz said that junior infielder Cameron Cruz and pitcher and junior Matthew Lampe will also be key contributors. He said the team will rely on its pitching depth this year because questions linger about who will become the key hitters in the line-up.

Lampe, who has junior varsity and varsity experience in basketball and baseball, respectively, said, “On both teams that I played on, the coaches always stressed that we needed to be playing our best at the end of the season. In basketball, the coaches stressed that wins in the beginning of the season were forgotten by the end.”

The Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) relies on the blind draw for all high-school athletics. Athletics Director Jim Inskeep said its primary disadvantage is that it does not reward teams for regular-season success.
However, Inskeep said the blind draw is justified because its advantages outweigh its disadvantages. Also, it allows teams that have struggled during the regular-season to still have an opportunity to participate in the post-season. And, if teams were seeded based on regular-season performance, subjectivity would arise over how to view a team’s record and its strength of schedule.

Although Sectional opponents are determined through a blind draw, thereby dismissing regular-season records, the regular season still provides teams with an opportunity to improve. The more challenging the schedule, the more the team improves.

Lentz said, “The big picture is we play each team in the MIC two times. Those games help prepare us for the (postseason) tournament because the MIC is the toughest conference to play in, so it can only help us.”
As the new season approaches, Lentz said he already realizes the significance of winning in April—not much.