WABASH, IN. - The baseball team is set to open the 2023 Indiana High School Athletic Association state tournament. LaVille will join the six-team field at Wabash High School for the 2A Sectional #36. Coach Brian Lawler's club will face Wabash in the second quarterfinal game on May 24 at approximately 7 p.m. Bremen will meet Pioneer in the 5 p.m. opener. The Lancers and Apaches did not meet during the 2023 regular season. And, in looking back at game scores from 2005 through 2023, the two squads have never met. Wabash is a member of the Three Rivers Conference. The Apaches joined the TRC in 2006. Coach Jack Holley's squad comes into the 2023 IHSAA state tournament with a 13-12 overall record. WHS finished 5-4 and tied for third place in TRC play in 2023. In their last 10 games, Wabash is 3-7. Keaton Fields is the top offensive threat for Wabash. Fields, a junior, enters the state tournament with a .449 batting average, .598 on-base percentage and .608 slugging percentage. He leads the team in hits, runs batted in, doubles and extra base hits. Senior Andrew Dillon is the top pitcher on a staff that lists five. Dillon is 5-2 this season, with an earned run average of 2.11 in 49.67 innings pitched. He has struck out 64 and walked 23 so far in 2023. Wabash has scored 146 runs, averaging 7.8 runs per game. The Apaches are 8-1 when scoring seven runs or more. LHS enters the sectional with a 12-15 overall record. The Lancers are 4-2 over their last six games of the season. Offensively, Lawler's crew has scored 119 runs, averaging 4.4 rpg. The Lancers are 9-4 when scoring 4 runs or more this season. "We just need to be able to put some pressure on them defensively and score some runs," Lawler said when asked about the sectional opener. "I anticipate a close ball game and the team with the fewest mistakes usually wins." A LaVille victory would put the Lancers against the winner of the Bremen-Pioneer game in the 2A Sectional #36 semifinal. That first semifinal contest is set for May 27 at 1 p.m. Rochester will face Manchester in the second semi scheduled for a 3 p.m. start. The sectional championship will be played on Monday, May 29 at 7 p.m. CLASS 2A SECTIONAL #36 At Wabash May 24 Game 1: Game 1: Bremen (8-14) vs. Pioneer (15-11), 5 p.m. Game 2: Wabash (13-12) vs. LaVille (12-15), 7 p.m. May 27 Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 1 p.m. Game 4: Rochester (19-6) vs. Manchester (11-14), 3 p.m. May 29 Championship: Game 3 Winner v. Game 4 Winner, 7 p.m.