Andrean's Charlie Sollars loves ‘that adrenaline rush.' Just wait until the state championship game.
The Lincoln Trail commit doesn't shy away from those high-pressure moments. He embraces them.
'I just love to compete,' Sollars said. 'That pressure you have sometimes when the bases are loaded and there's a 3-2 count … I love the feeling of that adrenaline rush.'
Sollars could get his chance when the 59ers (30-3), who are ranked No. 1 in the 3A state coaches poll, play No. 7 Jasper (28-6) at Victory Field in Indianapolis at 7 p.m. Friday. They will try to win their ninth state title and first since 2022.
Although Sollars pitched earlier this season, he has made most of his impact with his bat. He's hitting .357 with six doubles, one home run, a team-high 36 RBIs, 38 runs scored and 12 steals.
Sollars was in the cleanup spot during Andrean's 4-0 win over NorthWood in the LaPorte Semistate championship game on Saturday.
'He's been a consistent offensive player the whole year,' Andrean coach Dave Pishkur said. 'He's a competitor, and he likes the moment, whatever that moment may be.'
Sollars has had plenty of moments like that during his high school career, which included time as an outside linebacker on Andrean's football team. He had 71 tackles and two interceptions for the 2A semistate runner-up last season.
Pishkur said Sollars sometimes approaches baseball like he's on a football field.
'You'd expect him, being a linebacker, to take some of that mentality onto the baseball field,' Pishkur said. 'He doesn't do it in baseball because it's a different sport, but in football he's a talker. If he makes a tackle, he might say something to you as well.'
Sollars noted that he doesn't have as many opportunities to talk like that because he's in the outfield for half of the game.
'Football's a much more emotional sport,' he said. 'Baseball is more of a mental battle, so you try to keep your emotions to a minimum.'
It can be a different story during practices, however. Sollars takes advantage of opportunities to be heard by his teammates.
'Any way to create competition in practice is a good thing,' he said.
Andrean senior catcher Blake Kouder said Sollars has a knack for making practices feel like game situations.
'He can get on your nerves for sure,' Kouder said with a laugh. 'There's no harm intended with it, but sometimes during practices it can be hard to find that competition, so he just implements it himself.'
Sollars implemented that in the weight room during the offseason too.
'It's more about flexibility rather than just heavy lifting,' he said. 'Instead of getting on the bench press and trying to lift as much as you can, it's about explosive movements and power, moving the weights as fast as I can to build up the smaller, faster-twitch muscles for baseball.'
Kouder said Sollars savors any chance to compete.
'It just comes with his personality,' Kouder said. 'He's not a guy who's going to stand down to anybody. He's just competing with the guy on the mound, and he's not going to let them beat him.'
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