High school sports: Okarche's Austin Kretchmar will play in 10th state tournament

The feeling of accomplishment hasn't diminished for Kretchmar.

“It's still there,” he said. “Making the state tournament is still special to me.

“There's only eight teams that get here. We're always just as excited for it as we were the first time.”

The Warriors open the tournament against Pioneer-Pleasant Vale at 4 p.m. Thursday at Dolese Park.

Kretchmar says this tournament is different, though, for multiple reasons.

First, Kretchmar and his teammates have won state tournament games. They've made state championship games. What they haven't done yet is bring home a title.

“It's my last one,” he said. “There's not going to be another high school state tournament for me after this. I want to make the most of it.”

To that end, Kretchmar also enters the tournament more confident.

“We've all played in big games before,” he said. “And this year, the tournament is wide open. There's always been that one or two team that you didn't want to face in the tournament. This year, I think we're that team but it's going to be whoever puts three good games together that's going to win.”

Last spring, Kretchmar was excellent on the mound, going 10-0 with a 1.51 ERA.