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A four-run outburst in the fifth inning and a fine pitching performance by senior left-hander Ty Bothwell led Boone Grove to the school’s first-ever state championship at Victory Field.

But, just barely.

The Wolves, of first-year coach Patrick Antone, entered the bottom of the seventh inning with a 5-0 lead, but saw Southridge plate four unearned runs and load the bases with two out. Boone Grove relief pitcher Bryce Morris, however, coaxed Joe LaGrange to popup to shortstop for the final out.

Bothwell pitched brilliantly until the bottom of the seventh. He allowed six hits and struck out 12 in 6 2/3 innings. Bothwell finished the season with a 10-2 record, a 0.48 ERA, and 170 strikeouts in 75 2/3 innings pitched.

In the Boone Grove fifth inning, Taylor Piazza broke the scoreless tie with an RBI double. Austin LeMar and Bothwell also had RBI singles in the inning, while Elijah Covington scored on the back-end of a double steal. The Wolves (22-5) added what proved to be the winning run when Dylan Paul stole home in the sixth inning.

Southridge, which was seeking to score a football-baseball championship double, didn’t go without a fight. The Raiders got their first two runs when Colin Smith’s fly ball was dropped with two out, then added two more when Chase Taylor slapped a single to make it a one-run game.

Coach Gene Mattingly’s Raiders finished 25-7.

Southridge’s Justin Lammers named Mental Attitude recipient 
Following the game, members of the IHSAA Executive Committee announced Justin Lammers of Southridge High School as the winner of this year’s L.V. Phillips Mental Attitude Award in Class 2A Baseball.

Lammers has excelled on and off the field. He is a three-year varsity multipurpose baseball player, has received leadership awards, volunteers with various organizations and is active in multiple clubs. He graduated in the top 15% of his senior class and earned Indiana’s Academic Honors Diploma.

He has been a member of the All-Pocket Athletic Conference Football First Team and Academic All-State Football First Team. In addition to baseball, Lammers also plays football and basketball for Southridge. 

Lammers is active in Huntingburg United Methodist Church, HMC Youth Group and 4-H. At school, he partakes in Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Future Farmers of America and National Honors Society. 

He is the son Brian and Ann Lammers of Huntingburg. He will attend Purdue University, but is undecided on his area of study.

Lammers is the second Southridge student-athlete to win an IHSAA mental attitude award this school year joining teammate Jayce Harter, who won 2A football award last November.  

The award is annually presented to an outstanding senior participant in each state championship game who has best demonstrated excellence in mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability in baseball. The award is named in honor of the late L.V. Phillips, who served as the second commissioner of the IHSAA from 1945-62. Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, the IHSAA's corporate partner, presented a $1,000 scholarship to general scholarship fund at Southridge High School in the name of Justin Lammers.