INDIANAPOLIS | For excitement in a baseball game, it doesn't get much better than seeing an inside-the-park home run.

Except when it leads to a state title, then the dog pile at the end tops any ol' run in the third inning.

Mike Pokers' shot that ricocheted off the deep right-field wall and led to two runs -- including the eventual winning tally -- in Andrean's 6-3 win over West Vigo for the Class 3A state baseball title. It was the 59ers' second state title after the program also won in 2005.

"Words can't even explain how this feels," Pokers said. "We finally did it and I'm so proud of myself and all of my teammates."

Pokers' two-out home run also scored Kenny Mahala as the West Vigo outfielders scrambled to field the ball off of the right-field wall that sits at a 45-degree angle at Victory Field.

"When I saw it hit the wall, all I could think was: 'If I'd eaten the other half of my sandwich at lunch it would have been gone,'" Pokers said. "The bounce I saw it take, I knew I was getting three (bases) easy, and when I was coming around third and saw Coach (Dave) Pishkur jumping -- which he doesn't do very often -- I knew that I had a chance to score and I put in everything I had in my tank to score."

Andrean set a state record, becoming the first 3A team to hit two homers in the state finals when Mahala added a solo bomb over the center-field wall and onto the burm in the sixth inning.

"When we were on defense in that inning, I thought: 'I'm gonna try to hit a home run,'" Mahala said. "This is my first time playing on this field and the last time with these seniors so I wanted to do it for them."

For the latest sports news, visit nwi.com/sports. For complete coverage of Andrean's state championship, read Sunday's edition of The Times.