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State champs!: Penn tops No. 1 Center Grove 2-0 in IHSAA 4A baseball title game

michael wanbaugh, south bend tribune
·6 min read

The Penn Kingsmen Saturday night became both kings and queens of IHSAA diamonds in 2023. A week after Penn's softball team beat No. 1 Indianapolis Roncalli for its second 4A state championship, the Kingsmen baseball team collected its sixth state title — and second straight — under Hall-of-Fame head coach Greg Dikos with a 2-0 win over No. 1 Center Grove at Victory Field in Indianapolis.

Penn Kingsmen celebrate on the field Saturday, June 17, 2023, during the IHSAA Class 4A baseball state finals at Victory Field in Indianapolis.
Penn Kingsmen celebrate on the field Saturday, June 17, 2023, during the IHSAA Class 4A baseball state finals at Victory Field in Indianapolis.

10:14 p.m.: Final box score

Final box score of Penn's 2-0, 4A state baseball championship win over No. Center Grove Saturday, June 17, 2023.
Final box score of Penn's 2-0, 4A state baseball championship win over No. Center Grove Saturday, June 17, 2023.

10:07 p.m.: FINAL: Penn claims program's sixth state championship

9:55 p.m.: Bottom of 7th - Penn 2, No. 1 Center Grove 0

Penn enters bottom of seventh inning three outs away from a second consecutive state championship and sixth overall. Dawson French takes over after a masterful performance by Lehmann

9:48 p.m.: Top of 7 - Penn clings to 2-0 lead over No. 1 Center Grove

Adam Lehmann is over 100 pitches and has 10 strikeouts.

9:30 p.m.: Going into the 6th - Penn 2, Center Grove 0

Penn's Lehmann has allowed just two hits while striking our nine and walking three.

9:15 p.m.: End of 4 innings - Penn 2, No. 1 Center Grove 0

Centerfielder Cooper Hums with one of the great over-the-shoulder catches you'll see in a high school state championship to keep the Trojans scoreless.

8:42 p.m.: Middle of 3rd - Penn takes 2-0 lead

Kingsmen strike first with Cooper Hums' two-out triple and Cam Dombrowski's two-strike RBI double. Dombrowski scores on single by Evan Tuesley.

8:35 p.m.: End of second, 0-0 after 1-2-3 inning by Penn starting pitcher Adam Lehmann

8:25 p.m.: End of the first, 0-0

8:15 p.m.: Underway in IHSAA 4A state championship game

7:50 p.m. (EDT): 10 minutes until game time

How to watch IHSAA 4A state baseball championship

  • Who: Penn (26-8) vs. No. 1 Center Grove (29-3)

  • First pitch: 8 p.m.

  • Site: Victory Field, 501 W. Maryland Street, Indianapolis

  • Admission: $15 per person per day. Children age 5 and younger admitted free. All ticket sales will be digital only through the Indianapolis Indians at IndyIndians.com. .

  • Television: All four state championship games will air live on Bally Sports Indiana (BSI). Channel Listings

  • Streaming: All four state championship games will stream on IHSAAtv.org via pay-per-view for $15 per game or $20 for all games. Viewers who receive Bally Sports Indiana can stream the state finals on the Bally Sports app and BallySports.com, by signing in with their pay-TV login and password or with a subscription to Bally Sports+.

  • Radio: All four games will be broadcast on affiliates of the IHSAA Champions Radio Network. Affiliates Coverage. South Bend area: WEFM 95.9 FM (Michigan City)

IHSAA Class 4A Softball State Championsh Penn knocks off top-ranked Indianapolis Roncalli

IHSAA State Final Baseball Pairings

Friday, June 16

Penn High School Baseball Coach Greg Dikos watches the game from the coach's box Thursday, April 20, 2023, at the Penn-Mishawaka boys baseball game at Baker Park in Mishawaka. (Credit: Greg Swiercz, South Bend Tribune)
Penn High School Baseball Coach Greg Dikos watches the game from the coach's box Thursday, April 20, 2023, at the Penn-Mishawaka boys baseball game at Baker Park in Mishawaka. (Credit: Greg Swiercz, South Bend Tribune)

Saturday, June 17

  • Class 1A: No. 3 Lafayette Central Catholic (24-11) vs. No. 1 Barr-Reeve (29-3), 4:30 p.m. (EDT)

  • Class 4A: Penn (26-8) vs. No. 1 Center Grove (29-3), 8 p.m.

Pregaming

▶ Preview: Penn stares down Center Grove in quest for 2nd straight IHSAA 4A baseball title

Cooper Hums (3) celebrates his second run of the game at the Lake Central High School Indians vs. the Penn High School Kingsmen baseball game in La Porte, Indiana on Saturday, June 10, 2023.
Cooper Hums (3) celebrates his second run of the game at the Lake Central High School Indians vs. the Penn High School Kingsmen baseball game in La Porte, Indiana on Saturday, June 10, 2023.

▶ Noie: Winning his final high school game would mean everything to Penn senior Max Sanders

Max Sanders catches the ball at first just before Ben Gomez gets to the bag during the state championship baseball game between the Penn Kingsman and Cathedral Irish on Saturday, June 18, 2022 at Victory Field in Indianapolis.
Max Sanders catches the ball at first just before Ben Gomez gets to the bag during the state championship baseball game between the Penn Kingsman and Cathedral Irish on Saturday, June 18, 2022 at Victory Field in Indianapolis.

▶ The opponent: How Center Grove reached the baseball state finals

Head coach Keith Hatfield talks to his team during baseball practice Monday, June 12, 2023, at Center Grove High School in Greenwood. Center Grove will compete for the IHSAA 4A title Saturday, making school history.
Head coach Keith Hatfield talks to his team during baseball practice Monday, June 12, 2023, at Center Grove High School in Greenwood. Center Grove will compete for the IHSAA 4A title Saturday, making school history.

Penn's tournament path

Semistate final: Next stop for Penn baseball? Indianapolis and the Class 4A state championship game

Regional: Penn makes regional baseball championship win look easy

Sectional: Penn clips Goshen 10-0 for title at Northridge

Probable starting lineups

Penn Kingsmen

  1. 3 Cooper Hums, CF .413 (batting average)

  2. 30 Cam Dombrowski, SS .347

  3. 2 Evan Tuesley, RF .333

  4. 33 RJ Cromartie, 3B .326

  5. 12 Zach Pelletier, C .292

  6. 28 Adam Lehmann, P .274

  7. 24 Hunter Morrett, LF .355

  8. 13 Dawson French, 1B .244

  9. 17 Casey Finn DH, .333

  10. 7 Colton Hudnall, 2B .333

Center Grove Trojans

  1. 11 Noah Coy, 3B .370 (batting average)

  2. 1 Drew Culbertson, SS .438

  3. 12 Garrison Barile, CF .333

  4. 17 Evan Zapp, RF .378

  5. 9 Grant Sawa, C .317

  6. 25 Bradley Gilliam, LF .265

  7. 3 AJ Beggs, DH .236

  8. 5 Kobe Cherry, 1B .250

  9. 8 Gannon Grant, 2B .278

  10. 20 Jacob Murphy, P

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: IHSAA 4A State championship game Penn vs. Center Grove Live Updates