NEW PALESTINE — On Friday night at New Palestine High School, the Dragons baseball program celebrated the 2003 state runner-up team along with the 2004 state championship team.
Players from both teams were recognized, and head coach Al Cooper, along with the hero of the state championship game — Andrew Clark — threw out first pitches to kick off the Dragons game against East Central.
“It’s really cool to see these guys. It’s been 20 years. We told our players that they weren’t even born yet when these guys were on our field,” current New Palestine head coach Shawn Lyons said. “It’s just good to see that they’re gone but not forgotten around here.”
A young team in 2003, New Palestine lost to Norwell 3-1 on a walk-off home run in the eighth inning.
One year later, and with experience under their belts, the Dragons returned to Victory Field and left with a different outcome.
“That two-year run, those teams were close. They had played together, they had grown up together, and they were willing to work,” Cooper said. “Those were young kids though. We had three freshmen starting in ‘03 and then seven sophomores playing in ‘04.”
To capture the first state title in program history, New Palestine defeated Andrean 3-2 behind the bat and arm of Clark. They finished the season with a 30-4 record.
Clark threw a complete game, allowed two unearned runs on three hits, and struck out seven. At the plate, with the Dragons trailing 2-1 in the fifth, he hit a two-run home run to put the Dragons ahead for good.
After Andrean scored first, the Dragons tied it 1-1 in the bottom of the third. Craig Smith doubled to lead off the inning before being driven in by a Jake Lee double.
“I think 2003 got us going and we’ve been trying to hold serve since then. I’ve been blessed to be part of this program since 1998,” Lyons said. “It’s just great to have a culture and to have these guys come back. We talk about those guys all the time, our players didn’t know who they were, but now they do.”
Lyons was an assistant coach on Cooper’s staff until taking over the helm in 2012. Both believe those early 2000s seasons laid the groundwork for the program’s continued success.
“I would say that was the moment that our program really found its footing. We always had the expectation. From there the culture went to where we were consistently winning 20 games, and Shawn has continued that,” Cooper said. “Those are important things, and that culture carries over and allows us to get better facilities like you see now. I’m proud of that as an athletic director too because that’s what we were striving for with every sport.”
Since taking over in 2012, Lyons has led the New Palestine program to five 20-plus wins seasons and has just one losing season.
“I was just blessed that Al let me have the pitching staff and I was able to run with that,” Lyons said. “We were so good together, and I have that same relationship now with my assistant coaches. The biggest thing was that Al trusted me, and I trust my staff now.”
This season, the Dragons are off to another great start and are winning games in a similar fashion to the 2004 team — with good pitching and strong defense.
With a 2-0 win over East Central Friday, New Palestine moved to 13-2 on the season.
They have allowed just 34 runs over 15 games and have thrown five shutouts.
Sophomore Jacob Morris picked up his second shutout of the season and nearly had his second no-hitter. He allowed one hit, walked four, and struck out eight over the seven innings of work.
In the second inning, the first two East Central batters reached base, but a double play and a strikeout by Morris ended the threat. The Trojans were kept out of scoring position every other inning and were sent down in order in the first, third, fourth and seventh.
“He [Morris] had a good fastball and slider (Friday). He’s young, so we started him off against Batesville and he didn’t pitch great. Since then he’s no-hit Lebanon and pitched really well against Franklin Central,” Lyons said. “He’s just stacking them now and trying to get more confidence. He’s got a ton of talent, we’ve just got to keep him progressing.”
The Dragons added one run in the first and an insurance run in the sixth.
In the first Adam Rickey doubled to lead off the frame and later scored on a Jackson Kamp double.
For the second run of the game, Rickey singled in Gavin Neal.
With former players watching from tents down the leftfield line, the 2024 Dragons put on a display that they had laid the groundwork for 20 years prior.
“Those are great people, not just great baseball players. They’re great dads, great husbands and they’ve got great families,” Cooper said. “They’re just special people and a lot of them live in our community and contribute. I’m really proud of them, not just as baseball players, but more as people.”
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New Palestine 2, East Central 0
East Central (8-7);000;000;0;—;0;1;0
New Palestine (13-2);100;010;x;—;2;7;2
Ryan Ott and Lincoln Wilhelm; Jacob Morris and Jackson Kamp. 2B: NP – Adam Rickey, Kamp, 2. WP: Morris (3-0). LP: Ott (2-4).
