The North Central baseball team finished the regular season 19-10.
The team, led by last year’s seniors Garrit Ullom and twin brothers Tristan and Tanner Wilson, won their third straight MIC title, seizing the title in a dominant 10-0 fashion.
Following the 2024-2025 school year, the North Central baseball team went on a historic run in the IHSAA playoffs.
Topping that, the team went on to win both sectional and regional titles. The sectional title was the program’s first since 2006 and the regional title was the first since 1994.
The Panthers defeated Lawrence Central in the sectional semifinal in walk off fashion. In the sectional championship, the Panthers defeated Lawrence North in a nailbiter.
Following the Panthers sectional title, the Panthers defeated Greenfield Central six to three against now Mississippi State pitcher Parker Rhodes.
They fell short against Evansville North in their first semi-state matchup in over 50 years.
This season’s captain and senior center fielder Rykin Matthias reflects on last season’s success.
Matthias noted last year’s run was less about the players, and more about the program and the team.
“We didn’t play selfishly. We played to win the game the right way and put each other in the best positions possible,” Matthias said.
11 seniors graduated, leaving the team to fill those empty positions with new talent. The team looks to rely on other seniors like Charlie Barker, Kyle Burch and Christian Kropa.
Matthias looks forward to this season, and holds high expectations for his teammates.
“We have a much younger team this year. I still think this will be a very strong team. We have a lot of good hitters, we have a lot of good fielders and pitching wise we’ll be good as well,” Matthias said.
Junior third baseman Grant Trisler and Junior pitcher Zach Miller, along with others, look to fill some spots with new talent.
“This year, I think we’re even closer as a team and we also have a lot of diversity with a lot of sophomores, juniors and seniors playing,” Trisler said.
Matthias and Miller offered two different points of views on what the team could improve on this year. Miller offered insight on what he thinks the pitching staff could improve on.
“We need to improve on walks. You always need to improve on walks and strike percentage,” Miller said.
Team wise, Matthias provided his thoughts on what the team can do to continue to improve.
“I really want to win the MIC, I want to win county and make a good run and I want to make it farther in the state tournament, even winning it. I really think we have great chances with this team,” Matthias said.
The Panthers home opener and first game is April 9 against Decatur Central. With a mix of new talent and old talent combined, the Panthers look forward to another great season.
