INDIANAPOLIS — Kouts junior center fielder Jesse Overholt and his teammates arrived at Victory Field with a game to win.

But it was the Class 1A state championship game, and the Mustangs were making their first appearance.

“We told the guys to enjoy it,” Kouts coach Jason Dorshorst said. “It didn’t mean we didn’t have business to take care of. But just seeing their faces when we get into the stadium and everyone taking their phones out and taking pictures, just being in awe of it, it was pretty cool.

“We’ll remember that in a couple of days.”

Until then, the Mustangs’ 14-1 loss to Indianapolis Lutheran, which won its first state title, may sting.

Overholt went 2-for-3, but those were the only hits for Kouts (27-7), which was seeking the school’s first state title in any sport after winning the program’s first sectional title since 2011 and first regional title since 1998.

But the Mustangs, who ended the regular season ranked No. 1 in the state coaches poll, didn’t have a senior in their starting lineup against Lutheran (21-10).

“We’ll be back,” Dorshorst said. “I worried if we won, what the encore was, what you were going to do to motivate people. But I think we have it. We know what we have to do.

“We have a lot of people coming back. We’re going to be a year bigger, better, stronger. So hopefully we’ll be back here.”

Overholt singled in the third and fourth innings. Junior right fielder Noah Gudeman scored Kouts’ run in the fourth after Lutheran catcher Caleb Courtot made a throwing error as Overholt stole second.

Kouts freshman ace Billy Miller (8-1) took the loss. He was charged with nine runs, but only three were earned. He allowed eight hits, walked three and struck out five in five innings.

Miller had given up just four runs — only two earned — and 17 hits in 52 innings this season. He had been particularly dominant in three postseason starts, allowing five hits and three walks with 35 strikeouts over 21 scoreless innings.

On Friday, the first inning initially ended when Lutheran was called for batting out of order. But that was an issue with the numbers written on the lineup, not the players. After the teams cleared the field, the umpires conferred, the teams returned, and the Saints scored three runs.

Lutheran added six unearned runs in the fifth and five unearned runs in the sixth, batting around in both innings.

“That was the right call,” Dorshorst said of the umpires’ decision in the first inning. “They just had their numbers screwed up. They had the right guys, but in their lineup cards, they had the wrong numbers. It goes by the humans, not the numbers. They got the rule right.

“That’s the wind out of the sail a little, but you still have to come out and execute.”