Tecumseh, who defeated defending champion Whiting (3-1) in a marathon semifinal game on Friday that lasted a record-setting 17 innings and finished near 1:00 in the morning.   The Braves picked up where they left off less than twelve hours earlier and were crowned class A champions with a 4-1 victory over Indianapolis Lutheran on Saturday.

Tecumseh wasted no time as they plated 3 runs on 4 hits in the home half of the 1^st inning. Two bunt singles by junior’s Teri Newmaster and Ali Nord, a double by senior Audra Sanders and single by fellow senior Megan Froman provided all the offense Tecumseh would need as Sanders scattered 4 hits struck out 8 Lutheran batters to improve her record to 22-4 on the year. Sanders set a state finals strikeout record by fanning 38 Whiting batters on Friday. Junior Morgan Lewis of Lutheran took the loss but had an impressive 7 strikeouts on the day. She ends the season with a record of 11-4.

The three-run, four-hit, first inning for Tecumseh tied a record for the most hits in a class A inning.  In 2005, Clinton Prairie had four hits in both the 3^rd and 6^th innings against North Daviess.

The Saints threatened in the 2^nd inning with runners on 1^st and 2^nd with 1 out, but Sanders would strike out the next 2 batters she faced. Lutheran’s lone run came in the 3^rd when Lewis doubled to score sophomore Jensen Pritt who had singled up the middle and reached second on a sacrifice bunt by junior Amanda Korb.

Tecumseh would add an additional run in the 4^th on a single by freshman Kara Snow which drove in sophomore Jaylen Buse who was inserted as a pinch-runner.

Lutheran, led by 1^st year coach Nikki Wixson, finished the season at 20-5. The Saints were making their 4^th appearance in the championship game winning it all in 2004 and 2007. In 2001, they were runner up to Forest Park.

This was Tecumseh’s 1^st softball state title, having been runners-up the previous two years as well as in 2003. Coach Gordon Wood’s squad finished the season 29-4-1 in his 3^rd year at the southern Indiana school.

The 17 inning semifinal game on Friday night at Hamilton Southeastern High School was a state finals record for the longest game.  The previous mark of 15 innings occurred three times – once in a 2002 semifinal game when Clarksville outlasted Riverton Parke, 2-1; and twice in the state championship game when Penn defeated Decatur Central 1-0 in 1999; and in 2004, when Nikki Wixson, current Lutheran head coach, pitched the Saints past Union (Dugger) 2-1.