By E. Shawn Aylsworth
Managing Editor

FISHERS – Postponed three times by rain that rendered nearly a third of the state as disaster areas, the 24th Annual IHSAA Softball State Finals finally got completed June 10. In the Class A championship held at Hamilton Southeastern, that proved to be just fine for top-ranked Whiting.

The undefeated Oilers (34-0) shut out fifth-ranked Frontier, 2-0, in a drawn-out semifinal then blanked No. 3 Tecumseh, 3-0, in the championship game to capture the school’s second 1A state title in three years. Junior pitcher Mel Dumezich – a shoo-in for 2009 Miss Softball – led the way as usual for Whiting with 17 strikeouts against Frontier and another 16 versus Tecumseh.

“She’s not just a quality pitcher – she’s a quality athlete,” said Tecumseh coach Gordon Wood, who saw the 14-strikeout championship game effort from his own junior pitching sensation, Audra Sanders, completely overshadowed by the presence of the blonde Whiting right-handed flamethrower. “Her riseball’s a killer.

“If she wanted to move to Tecumseh tomorrow, I’d probably move her into my daughter’s room.”

Dumezich was absolutely dominant on the mound as Tecumseh (25-5) managed just one hit and four baserunners total. The Braves went three up and three down in five of the seven innings, and on only one occasion (the bottom of the seventh) did a Tecumseh player so much as touch second base.

It was the fateful fifth inning – the one that started Monday night and finished Tuesday afternoon – that was the difference in what had become a thrilling pitching duel through four innings. Dumezich had nine strikeouts and had allowed two baserunners to that point, whereas Sanders had eight strikeouts – including the first seven batters she faced – and had permitted but one runner to reach base.

A bloop double and a pair of Tecumseh errors in the top of fifth, however, signaled the undoing, both for Tecumseh and the extent of play Monday night.

Senior Sam Plavec led off the inning with a blooper over shortstop that glanced off the glove of charging sophomore centerfielder Teri Newmaster. When Plavec tried to reach second base and was dead to rights but managed to slide under the tag of junior second baseman Megan Froman, the play was ruled a double.

Sophomore Sarah Watkins then attempted a sacrifice bunt that was fielded by senior third baseman Katy Kruse, but Kruse’s throw to sophomore shortstop Ali Nord covering third was a good half-dozen feet right of the bag.

The throwing error allowed Plavec to score and Watkins to advance to second. Junior Adi Cruz’s liner down the rightfield line was then dropped by sophomore Julie Roeder, putting runners on second and third. Watkins then scored on a wild pitch, her slide just beating the tag of Sanders as she covered the plate for senior catcher Courtney Hilborn’s throw.

“I felt like we played excellent ball except for the fifth inning,” said Wood, whose Braves have finished second now in both his seasons at the helm in Lynnville. “We can’t make them type of errors – we haven’t done that all year.

“I take my hat off to them. They were a better team.”

Senior Natalie Mendez struck out before the count reached 2-2 on senior Victoria Franco, and that’s when lightning started flaring up. The game was delayed and then suspended, but the hammer had been applied.

When play resumed at 2 p.m. ET Tuesday, Whiting pushed across another run when Franco singled to right, scoring Cruz from third. That made it 3-0, and although Whiting would threaten again after a single by Mendez and a double by Dumezich in the seventh, the fateful fifth would clearly be enough to carry this victory.

That’s because Dumezich came out in the bottom of the fifth and mowed down Tecumseh freshman Chelsie Nuhring, Nord, and Hilborn for strikeouts Nos. 10, 11, and 12. Dumezich also retired Tecumseh 1-2-3 in the sixth and, although the Braves did get runners to second and third with two outs in the seventh, she finally recorded K16 after Nord valiantly fouled off six straight full-count pitches before succumbing.

“I had no idea what to pitch to her,” said Dumezich, who finally retired Nord after 11 pitches.

She certainly knew what pitches to throw all season in leading Whiting to all those wins, a new state record. And it’s not like she’s just a one-dimensional player, either.

Dumezich, who led Whiting to another perfect record and the 1A state title two years ago, entered state finals weekend tops in the state with 29 pitching victories and 456 strikeouts (in 175 innings – her five earned runs allowed translated out to a miniscule earned run average of 0.20).

But check these similarly “Nintendo” stats (thank you for that fantastic reference, WBNL-AM’s Nathan Blackford!) that Dumezich posted with the bat – ALL state-bests, mind you:

•    a .626 batting average
•    68 runs scored
•    62 hits

Ohyeah. Dumezich also had 52 RBIs and 15 home runs.

Eesh. It’s no wonder that Whiting played in only four games where the opponent scored more than one run, and where the Oilers won by shutout an astounding 27 times.

“I just go out and play my game, try to get better,” Mel (short for Melissa) said in trying to explain her unparalleled numbers.

Tecumseh, meanwhile, has to live with being the bridesmaid once again as the Braves have now finished runner-up three times in the last six seasons. The hard-throwing Sanders came in with great pitching numbers, too (318 strikeouts, a 20-4 record with an ERA of 0.58 in 157 innings), and she stayed neck-and-neck with Dumezich until her defense betrayed her.

“She has pitched outstanding all year,” Wood said.

His counterpart, 26th-year Whiting coach Paul Laub, was obviously ecstatic with the outcome.

“It’s been a long time trying to [complete] this game, and we got the outcome we wanted," Laub said. “We got some great play out of Mel and our seniors.

“They’re a playful-type group. It’s just so neat.”

A quick review of the much-delayed semifinals ...

Semifinal 1: #1 Whiting 2, #5 Frontier 0
Dumezich held fifth-ranked Frontier (26-6) to just one hit and racked up those 17 Ks as Whiting scored twice in the third inning and held on to a 2-0 victory in the first 1A semifinal. It was the Falcons’ first-ever state finals appearance.
                   
Semifinal 2: #3 Tecumseh 5, #1 Indianapolis Lutheran 0
Sanders limited top-ranked Indianapolis Lutheran (25-5), the defending 1A state champion, to just two hits as Tecumseh turned the tables on last year’s heart-breaking, nine-inning 1-0 championship loss to the Saints.

The Braves jumped out early with three runs in the bottom of the first and added single runs in the fourth and sixth, overcoming just three hits of their own by taking advantage of three Lutheran errors.

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