Forest Park baseball wins first sectional title in 20 years behind Drew Howard's no-hitter
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Drew Howard spent countless hours growing up at the Forest Park baseball field with his father Jarred.
From practices to games, Howard was always present to watch his father lead the Rangers. He saw his passion and determination, witnessing how much this program meant.
Once he entered high school and reached the Rangers' varsity roster, he made a goal for himself to do whatever he could to help his father win a sectional title.
After 20 years of waiting, it happened.
Forest Park defeated Tell City 10-0 in five innings to win the Class 2A Sectional 48 championship at North. It's the Rangers' first sectional crown since 2002.
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"My dad has been with Forest Park for a long time. It feels so great to finally get it done and bring one back home," said Drew, who tossed a no-hitter. "I'm just proud of him as a coach and proud of him as a father. I know everybody else appreciates him, too."
It was understandably an emotional trophy celebration for the Forest Park head coach. The last sectional title happened early in his coaching career. He felt there were so many teams over the past two decades that had the potential but just fell short.
This group was determined to not let that happen. Howard sensed all season they were destined for something special, and it came to fruition Monday night.
"It's unbelievable. I really don't know what to think. I'm just trying to enjoy the moment right now," Jarred said. "This is something we've worked for and talked about for a long time."
The draw did the Rangers (20-7) no favors to get to the sectional championship. They opened with a 5-4 win over Mater Dei, a game they trailed 4-0 heading to the bottom of the fourth before scoring five unanswered.
They followed with an 8-2 victory over North Posey in the semifinal Monday morning. That contest was only a three-run game until a four-run seventh inning. The grit the Rangers showed all season paid off when it mattered the most.
"It was a grind just getting into the championship," said junior Clayton Weisheit, who earned victories on the mound against both Mater Dei and North Posey. "Our resilience has been unbelievable."
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The Rangers received another outstanding performance on the mound from a staff that's boasted an ERA below 1.70. Howard allowed just two Tell City players to reach base all game —one on an error and another on a walk. He struck out six and contributed one more hit than he allowed.
"We don't make a lot of errors on defense and I have a lot of confidence in my guys," Drew said. "I was rolling early and I just kept going with it."
Jarred added: "He’s battled and worked extremely hard. He's played a lot of baseball all over the place to try and get experience to be in situations like this. He’s put the work in and he deserves it."
While the pitching staff, led by Weisheit and Howard, often gets a majority of the credit it's been an all-around effort that's gotten Forest Park to this point.
Reid Howard, Jarred's youngest son, had multiple extra-base hits in the sectional including a bases-clearing triple in the morning contest. Joel Bueltel drove in three runs in the title game. Every player in the lineup made a contribution.
"They're a great bunch of kids. They all know their roles and they're unselfish," Jarred said. "This is something they've expected and wanted to do. Now, they've made it happen."
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Forest Park will face Providence in the Class 2A regional on Saturday at Bosse Field. The winner will take on either Linton-Stockton or North Decatur in the championship.
This group is hungry to make sure this postseason run goes deep. They've seen so many other teams at Forest Park have successful runs past the sectional such as the boys basketball team making the regional championship and the girls basketball team winning the Class 2A state title.
They're determined to make some history of their own.
"Since the beginning of the year, our goal was to win this," Bueltel said. "We knew coming in that we were the best team here. It just felt good to finally prove it."
Contact Courier & Press sports reporter Hendrix Magley via email at hendrix.magley@courierpress.com or via Twitter @TweetsOfHendrix.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Forest Park wins first baseball sectional title in 20 years
