A change in leadership will be the theme next season as three local baseball coaches recently stepped down: Dave Schank at Southridge, Brian Kirchoff at Northeast Dubois and Greg Gogel at Heritage Hills.

Terry Gobert has a hypothesis, and it’s that defeats deep in the baseball postseason sting like no other.

South Bend St. Joseph blocked Jasper’s early scoring chances then capitalized on its limited opportunities to win in the same style that helped the Wildcats reach the state finals for a 16th time.

You can point to any number of things in the stuffed portfolio of Evan Aders to explain how he became the latest addition to Jasper baseball’s lengthy line of Mental Attitude Award winners at the state finals.

Whether it was a few minutes or a few hours after, it didn’t take long for seniors on the Jasper baseball team to grasp what the moment meant.

With the help of past experience, Evan Aders is trying to paint a picture.

Ray Howard retired as Jasper’s baseball coach 30 years ago, but with his pitching knowledge and brutal honesty, he remains an integral part of the program.

Jasper junior Johnny Verkamp endured a pair of operations after being hit in the face with a baseball in a preseason scrimmage. The recovery was cumbersome, but the Wildcat junior is back and has taken on a new role for the state finals-bound Jasper baseball team.

Get to know the players on Jasper's state-bound baseball team.

The route required was sometimes cumbersome, but Hedinger’s worked his way up to the ranks of the indispensable.

It’s been somewhat of a running joke for the last two years that Jasper catcher Adam Hedinger needs to take it down a couple notches. Funny how everything comes full circle.