Wapahani baseball's underdog story end in IHSAA 2A semi-state final

CONVERSE — One of the great underdog stories of the IHSAA baseball state tournament came to a close on Saturday, June 14.

Wapahani got one win in the Class 2A North semi-state bracket, but came up short in the semi-state championship.

The Raiders started the day with a 3-0 victory over Oak Hill, the host of the semi-state. They returned to the field that evening to take on No. 6 (2A) Boone Grove to try and pull off another ranked upset, but failed to do so, losing to the Wolves 9-2.

"They fought," Wapahani coach Heath Dudley said. "They never quit. Even down seven, didn't quit, didn't give up, did what we asked them to do all year."

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Semifinal: Another Wapahani shutout

The first game of the day was a battle between two Davids who had slain Goliaths in their respective regionals the week prior. Wapahani defeated Lapel — the top-ranked team in 2A by the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association — while Oak Hill took down No. 2-ranked Lafayette Central Catholic, with both underdogs winning 2-1.

Just as they did against Lapel, the Raiders relied on their elite defense and a gem of an outing from senior pitcher Nate Luce to lift them to victory over Oak Hill. Luce pitched his third complete game of the postseason, gave up zero runs on five hits, walked one, struck out five and picked off two runners attempting steals.

Between Wapahani's sectional and regional title games, plus the semi-state win over Oak Hill, Luce pitched 21 innings and gave up zero earned runs (Lapel's only run was unearned) on 13 hits and 10 walks with 19 strikeouts.

As good as Luce was, Wapahani's biggest moments came from the guys in the field again.

Second baseman Noah Henderson electrified the dugout early with a leaping backhanded snag for the final out of the first inning, setting the tone for what would become the Raiders' third shutout in four postseason games. Third baseman Brandt Longfellow and shortstop Haiden James both had several nice plays in the infield, and center fielder Brock Zickgraf made another highlight throw, delivering a dime from shallow center field to the glove of Quentine James for an easy tagout at home in the fifth inning.

The defense was forced to contend with the elements, as a light rain picked up in the fifth inning and created slippery conditions for the rest of the game. Despite three errors within the last three innings, Wapahani held on to maintain the shutout.

"We played on turf the whole tournament, but it's a little different day," Henderson said. "It was wet, so the ball was skipping more. We just had to stay consistent. Nate threw strikes, we made plays and made it happen."

As for the offense, Wapahani got on the scoreboard within three at-bats. Luce hit a leadoff single and stole second base, then a pair of sacrifices by the James brothers — a bunt by Haiden and a groundout by Quentine — brought him home. After a four inning drought, Wapahani finally struck again in the sixth on a bases loaded walk and a sacrifice fly by Zickgraf that scored Eli Andrews.

Championship: Mistakes and misfortunes cost Raiders

Wapahani's ability to play consistently clean defense was its biggest strength throughout the tournament, but the semi-state final against Boone Grove was a different story. The Raiders made some mistakes in crucial moments that made a comeback feel more difficult and had some bad luck in other moments that made it feel impossible.

The Wolves got on the board first in the bottom of the third with RBI singles from Tristan Wilson and Davian Carrera, who reached base on an error. Wapahani started sophomore Kayson Perdue on the mound, and the southpaw had a perfect response to giving up those two runs — a two-RBI double in the top of the fourth that knotted the game at 2-2.

Unfortunately for the Raiders, that was the only offense they could muster against the arm of Boone Grove's Javy Carrera. The senior was dominant on the mound for the Wolves, pitching the complete game with two earned runs allowed on three hits and one walk with a whopping 14 strikeouts.

Boone Grove reclaimed the lead with five runs in the bottom of the fourth, largely thanks to some Wapahani mistakes and misfortunes. Andrew Batesole started it off with a leadoff single, but he quickly found himself at third after Perdue's attempted pickoff missed Clay Estep at first base. Caleb Thomas sent Batesole home on a grounder up the middle that just missed the outstretch glove of Luce at shortstop.

After a double and an intentional walk loaded the bases, Greyson Acosta fielded a sacrifice fly and delivered a great throw back to home, but it ricocheted off the scoring runner and allowed the other two to advance to scoring position. An RBI single from Wilson and a two-RBI double from Davian Carrera made it a 7-2 game, and a two-RBI triple by Javy Carrera in the sixth created the final score.

"Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to roll the dice at Victory Field, but, you know, we were right there," Dudley said. "There's a lot of other teams that would like to be in our situation right now. As sad as we are, we'll be able to look back on it fondly here shortly."

Swan song for Luce, Zickgraf

Saturday's loss marked the end of two particularly successful Wapahani athletic careers. Between basketball and baseball, Luce and Zickgraf have brought more hardware home to Selma than most high school athletes can even dream of.

Luce was a four-year contributor on both teams and was referred to by Dudley after the game as "the winningest athlete in Wapahani history."

He certainly has the resume to back up that distinction. On the court, Luce was part of three regional championship-winning teams, helped Wapahani to its first-ever semi-state title as a junior and started in a state championship game. On the diamond, he was a member of two regional champion teams, bringing Luce's trophy count at Wapahani to five sectionals, five regionals and a semi-state over his four years as a Raider.

For all the winning he did, Luce said the biggest victory over his four years was the bonds he created. The Raider legend spoke through tears as he reflected on the time he spent with his teammates.

"My teammates, my brothers, we've been through everything," Luce said. "It's definitely a small school, so we're with each other every day, every moment of the day. It definitely sucks, but I mean, I'm blessed, I'm grateful for it, and I can never ask for better people around me."

Zickgraf's journey to Raider stardom involved more patience than Luce's. In baseball, he didn't become a lineup mainstay until his junior year but became a crucial asset to the defense with his rocket arm throughout the postseason. In basketball, he played JV all the way through junior year before breaking out as a starter for this year's semi-state qualifying team.

Those experiences taught Zickgraf the biggest lesson he learned in his Raider career.

"Just to not give up," Zickgraf said. "In basketball, I was a junior on the JV, I was dressed in varsity, but it was still the memories being made and being around everything, just changed my life. With the people that I was around, the coaches that coached me, it's just never stop grinding what you love to do."

Contact Cade Hampton via email at cbhampton@muncie.gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CadeHamp10.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Wapahani baseball falls to Boone Grove in IHSAA semi-state championship