'Incredible' ride for Bloomington South baseball comes to end in state final

INDIANAPOLIS — Many of them started off as Scrappers, and they never lost that attitude.

From Smithville and other points, they converged on Bloomington South four years ago and as a senior class of 13 ended their careers where they all dreamed, Victory Field in Indianapolis in the IHSAA Class 4A state title game.

Lake Central and its lefty ace Owen Kopercinksi proved to be a bit too much, topping the Panthers 4-0 on Saturday, June 20. But it did little to dull the shine on what has been the time of their lives over the past three weeks. No other team in South’s history made it this far, dating back to BHS’ 1972 state champs.

“I didn’t realize how much it would mean to me,” senior pitcher Xavier Hemingway said. “We have guys since we were little Smithville Scrappers, had the dream of making it to the state final. I didn’t really think about that until I felt how hard it was losing my sophomore and junior year.

“We wanted to get here. The ride to get here was incredible. Amos Ewer and DJ Taylor, I’ve been playing with them since I was 8. I’ve been playing with them for 10 years. You see all the waterworks. I don’t think it’s because we lost, I’m so proud and so grateful that we made it to this moment.”

“It was unbelievable,” senior Max Surdam added. “It was one to remember for sure. Never been done in South history. We just came up short.”

“Just doing it with my team,” Surdam said. “Guys I’ve played with my entire life. The hard work we’ve put in. Our chemistry has been so good over the years.”

Phil Kluesner had the time of his life coaching them too and was appreciative of the large crowd that showed up hoping for Bloomington’s first baseball title in 54 years.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “Any time you can finish your season here? You’ve got to be kidding me. I know it sucks for them and they’ve done something pretty special as far as South on their chest. It’s not been done.

“I’m not taking any negatives away from this whatsoever. It was awesome.”

Kluesner heard all week from Panthers from all eras.

“We had people came in from out of state for the game,” Kluesner said. “The messages have been non-stop. I’m proud of it. That’s why I came (back) here, to elevate it.

“There’s a lot of eyes on it. Guys that we played with. Guys from ’72 that reached out. That’s what it’s about. You tell the kids, it’s bigger than you. It’s bigger than us. That right there shows you that.”

For Hemingway, getting the start in a state title game on the biggest stage of his career was an experience in itself.

“That was awesome,” Hemingway said. “I don’t think I fully relished it. When it was over, I started to take everything in, but I didn’t want to take everything in beforehand because I didn’t want to moment to get too big.

“Tough time for my second loss of the season.”

South (25-7) was never able to recover from a first inning that sort of set the tone for the rest of the night, in that every break was going to go LC’s way.

Reid Walker blasted a double to start the game, but ended up stranded at third.

In the bottom half, LC greeted Hemingway with a blast to right off the glove of Drew Palileo that turned into three bases. A base hit made it 1-0, then a sacrifice bunt and a grounder to second put another run up. A sliding catch in center by Jonathan Winstead kept it 2-0.

LC kept threatening, getting the leadoff batter on every inning. A double play saved the day in the third. A tag at the plate after a rundown kept LC off the board in the fourth.

In the fifth, South looked lke it might break through finally when Winstead singled and went on third on an error with two outs. But a pop to short ended the threat.

Then in the bottom half, two improbable hits, one that ricocheted off Hemingway and past the second baseman, led to a third run.

“That’s baseball and you hate to see it happen,” Kluesner said. “The thing is, too, on the way through the tournament we had some things that went our way like that. It’s give and take.

“(Hemingway) pitched well enough to win, but (Kopercinski) pitched better.”

And that was enough. Kopercinski limited South to three hits with six strikeouts.

“He was consistent,” Kluesner said. “He pounded the strike zone.”

It just wasn’t to be. Even in the seventh inning, the Panthers never lost hope, but Lake Central became just the second school in state history to pull off the softball-baseball sweep.

One positive came after the game when Blake Azcui was named the Mental Attitude Award winner.

“We had so many games that we came in and won it in the final inning,” Hemingway said. “We’ve made that comeback so many times this year.”

And that will be part of the legacy of the 2026 Panthers. The coaches, Hemingway said, were always pointing to the 2010 and 2015 regional champs.

“Those guys. Those guys,” Hemingway said. “Now, it’s going to be us.”