ADDISON ROBERTSON: TWO TIME ALL-STATE PLAYER

From 2012 through the 2015 season, Addison Robertson was a fixture in the line-up for Lutheran High School. His love of the game was contagious for his teammates and valued by the coaches. As he developed as a young man and baseball player, Addison contributed to the school, football team, and baseball team at a high level. He is the only Lutheran baseball player to be selected as an IHSBCA All-State player two times. As a young man, student and athlete, Addison was one of my favorite guys to be around. His sense of humor, work ethic and personality always stuck out to me. As a student, I was Addison's teacher for Geography, Economics and Government. He was also in a Study Hall where I was around him in a low stress situation. I enjoyed being around Addison. I am very happy he was an excellent baseball player too!

As with the majority of baseball players in my time at Lutheran, Addison was a part of the Lutheran school/church system. He attended Trinity Lutheran on the east side of Indianapolis. When I first met Addison, I believe it was when his Dad, Adam Robertson, asked to use our gym and batting cage for his travel baseball team, the Bats. I recall that the team came one evening and worked out.

I am pretty sure I had talked with Adam about Addison and his skills, what position(s) he played, and other things regarding baseball. I know I was interested and excited about what Addison and the guys coming to Lutheran would achieve in their careers.

For the 2012 season, the baseball team was in a rebuilding mode. Several freshmen got some Varsity experience and Addison started as our shortstop. It was a tall order for Addison and he performed well for a freshman, but it was also clear that for him to be a high school shortstop, some work would need to be done! As with most freshmen playing Varsity baseball, Addison struggled some in hitting consistently and with his defense.

One excellent skill Addison had as a young player was that he knew the strike zone and did not swing at bad pitches. He was very patient at the plate. He led our team in Walks as a Freshman and Sophomore. By getting on base, he was able to steal bases and ultimately, score runs. In the 2012 season, we ended up with a record of 13-15, but did win our Sectional. We ultimately were defeated in the first game of the Regional by Rising Sun.

Some highlights of Addison's freshman season were:

• His first Varsity base hit was on March 27, 2012 in a home game versus University. Addison was hitting in the 5th spot of the batting order.

• On April 10, 2012, Addison hit in the lead-off spot for the first time against Morristown

• Facing Edinburgh on April 21, 2012, Addison scored 3 runs, had 5 stolen bases with 2 walks

As a sophomore, Addison was able to move to centerfield as Cody Moncel arrived at Lutheran. The addition of Cody made our team defense much better as he manned SS and allowed Addison to move to a more natural position of center field where he could use his speed to track down most fly balls. Our team was also much better in 2013 as we had a record of 19 Wins, 8 Losses and one tie. Addison was able to contribute at a high level in his second Varsity season. He hit in different spots in the order, and ended the season in the two spot as senior JC Faubion was able to establish himself in the lead-off position.

Highlights of his sophomore season were:

• At Trinity Lutheran on April 27, 2013, Addison walked 4 times as we won 9-0

• On May 13, 2013, we dominated Triton Central by a score of 10-0. Addison had 3 hits in 3 AB, 3 runs, 1 double, 2 stolen bases 1 walk and 1 RBI

• In the Sectional Championship game, versus Morristown, Addison was 2 for 3, scored 3 runs, stole two bases and had one RBI

Our season ended in the Regional Championship against Rising Sun. We had defeated Shakamak in the first game. Rising Sun played a weak team and was able to save their #! pitcher for us. This ended up being a situation that bothers me until this day. The Rising Sun pitcher was not eligible to pitch in the Semi-State due to grades. Hard for me to believe he should have been eligible for our Regional game.

2014 was an outstanding season for Lutheran Baseball. Addison and several other players were juniors and had developed into very good baseball players. Along with a few seniors, our team won 20 games and lost 8. Addison had an excellent season. He was selected to the IHSBCA All-State Team, was All- Conference for the ICC, and was a Co-MVP along with senior Eli Goff. A key for Addison as he approached his junior season was becoming more aggressive as a hitter. As a freshman and sophomore, Addison had a total of 57 walks! While he had demonstrated great knowledge of the strike zone and excellent patience at the plate, we discussed the need for him to be a hitter. This change in aggressiveness would help our team and also his ability to play in college.

Addison really came through as a hitter in 2014. He ended up with a Batting Average of .500, had 4 home runs, 8 doubles and 4 triples from the lead-off spot. He ended up with 16 walks.

Unfortunately our season ended in the Regional in a game versus Jac-Cen-Del. They had a good lefthanded pitcher who was able to slow down our hitters and base running, we lost 5-2.

Highlights for Addison in 2014 included:

• Against Greenwood Christian Academy (GCA) on April 10, 2014, Addison was 2 for 2, scored 3 runs had 1 double, 2 stolen bases, 1 Hit By Pitch, 1 walk and 1 RBI in a 13-0 win

• On April 12, 2014 against Perry Meridian, a double header in which we won both games at Lutheran, Addison had a big day. In Game 1, he was 2-4, scored a run and started our 7th inning comeback as we scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 7th to win 5-4. In Game 2, Addison was 2 for 3, scored 2 runs, had 1 double, and 1 stolen base. As in Game 1, Addison started a 7th inning rally as we came from behind to get the sweep of the Falcons.

• We had a spirited two games with Park Tudor in one week. We played them on Tuesday in a Conference game and then in the first game of the County Tournament on Friday. Both games were at Lutheran. We lost the Tuesday game. It was a game that left a bad taste for our team. We were ready for the County game. In the Tuesday game, Addison was 3 for 4 with 2 stolen bases in a 5-2 loss. In the County game, Addison started of the 1st and 2nd innings with singles and we jumped to the lead and defeated the Panthers 7-2. As I recall, their coach had his team running in left field after the game to reinforce how they had competed in the two games!

Addison's senior season was a outstanding. This team was one of Lutheran's best as we finished with a record of 21 wins and 6 losses. Addison put together one of the finest individual seasons of any Lutheran Baseball player. For the season, Addison had a Batting Average of .541. He scored 46 runs with 6 doubles, 3 triples and 3 home runs. He also drove in 23 runners. As a centerfielder, Addison made only one error in 25 chances. Post season honors for Addison were being selected as IHSBCA All-State, PBR 2nd Team All-State, All Conference ICC, Team Co-MVP and Captain. A big thrill on the diamond was this team defeating #5 Columbus North on their field on Senior Night. You can read about this game at "Bursting The Bulldogs Bubble" in Memorable Games. Needless to say that Addison had a big role in that upset win for the Saints. Sadly, our season ended in the Regional with a 2-1 loss to GCA. Their pitcher had a great game and we just could not put enough together to get a victory. A very difficult conclusion to a season and the careers of Addison and several other seniors.

Highlights for Addison in his senior season included:

• Playing Scecina on April 28, 2015, Addison was 3 for 3 with a home run, 2 runs scored, two stolen bases and 5 RBI in defeating the Crusaders.

• On May 19, 2015 against Columbus North, Addison got our offense going in a big win. He started off the first and second innings with singles and scored both times to lead our offense in a 7-5 victory over the Bulldogs.

• On Senior Night against Hauser, May 25, 2015, Addison was 3 for 3 and scored 3 runs. He led off three innings and ended up scoring in each of those innings to lead the way in our 9-1 win.

Addison ended his high school career by going 7 for 12 (.583) in the Sectional and Regional. He scored 4 runs and had 4 RBI along with 3 stolen bases.

In the four years Addison played baseball at Lutheran High School, his teams recorded 73 wins, 37 losses and one tie, a winning percentage of 66%. Over these years we had many good players take the field. Addison certainly was among the best.

Following are Addison's statistics for his high school career:

SEASON AVG. HITS AB 2B 3B HR RUNS RBI BB K SB FIELD AVG. CH ERR

2015 .541 46 85 6 3 3 39 23 15 6 19 .960 25 1

2014 .500 45 90 8 4 6 49 25 16 10 29 .938 32 2

2013 .278 20 72 5 - - 29 11 28 19 20 .946 37 2

2012 .237 18 76 4 - - 35 10 29 20 17 .697 66 20

TOTAL. . 399 129 323 23 7 9 152 69 88 55 85 .949 94 5 (OF)

In his career, Addison did very well in establishing himself among the statistical leaders of Lutheran Baseball. The following information reflects his excellent performance over his career.

Career Base Hits 3rd Season Base Hits 3rd

Career Runs 1st Season Runs 2nd

Career Batting Average 7th Season Batting Average 4th

Career Triples 2nd Season Triples 2nd

Career Stolen Bases 1st Season Stolen Bases 2nd

Career Base On Balls 2nd Season Base On Balls 3rd

Career At Bats 1st Season At Bats 6th

Career Sacrifices 2nd Season Sacrifices 2nd

Addison Robertson was a foundational baseball player for Lutheran High School. He was a leader on his teams. His enthusiasm for playing baseball was great. Addison's skills were excellent. He was very fun to be around on a daily basis. His accomplishments were well deserved as Addison gave it his best every day. He was a winner. We were blessed that he and his parents chose for Addison to attend Lutheran High School.

Following high school, Addison went to Earlham College and played four years of baseball.