Hammond pitching outlasts Crown Point 15-14 in 12-inning duel for American Legion Sectional Championship
	A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith 7-24-2006

CROWN POINT SECTIONAL
at Teagle Field - Crown Point -  July 18-23
Crown Point (20) 7, Hammond (168) 5
Hammond (168) 14,  Cedar Lake (261) 1 (7 inn.)
Crown Point (20) 10, Cedar Lake (261) 2
Hammond (168) 11, Crown Point (20) 5
Hammond (168) 15, Crown Point (20) 14 (12 innings)


CROWN POINT REGIONAL
at Teagle Field - Crown Point -  Friday, July 28, 2006

7-29 (Fri) South Bend (50) vs. Highland Post 180 (14-5)   4:00 p.m.
7-29 (Fri) Hammond 168  (16-15-1) vs. Valparaiso (94)   7:30 p.m.

The tentative schedule has three games Saturday at 12 noon, 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.
with Friday's winners meeting at 3:30 p.m.
The championship round is tentatively scheduled to begin Sunday at 1 p.m., with a 4 p.m. back-up game set for Sunday.  
Rain can, and will, change this schedule.


Lafayette (11) SECTIONAL
at Loeb Stadium - Lafayette -  July 18-23

Lafayette (11) 4, Remington (280) 0
Remington (280) 6, Delphi (75) 4
Lafayette (11) 26, Delphi (75) 6  (5 inn.)
Lafayette (11) 14, Remington (280) 0 (7 innings)


Kokomo Sectional
at Kokomo -  July 29-31

7-29 (F) Lafayette Post 11 (28-1) vs Anderson Post 127 (13-17)
7-29 (F) Kokomo Post 6 (25-7) vs. Bristol Post 143 (25-6)

Sunday, July 23, 2006 - 78 degrees, American Legion Sectional championship game at Teagle Field - CP

WP - Matt Murphy  (1-0) 3K, 2 walks, 1 run (0 ER) (4.7 inn.) 
   (Hammond) Ranko Ivetic (SP) 3K, 6 walks, 8 runs (4ER) 3 hits (5.3 inn.)
LP - Jon Sertich (2-1)  0K, 2 walks, 1 run (1 ER)  (1/3 inn.)
(CP) Chris Saroff (SP) 4K, 0 walks, 7 runs (1 ER) 8 hits  (3.3 inn)
(CP) Adam Farag - 5K, 1 walk,  7 runs, (4 ER)  (7.7 inn.)

CROWN POINT (19-7)
Chris Saroff (P-SS) Single walk, RBI, 3 runs scored
Andy Stalbaum (1B) Double, walk, run scored
Matt Dobin (LF) Double, 2 singles, walk, RBI
Jon Sertich (CF-P) Double, 4 RBI, 2 stolen bases, 3 runs scored
Adam Kennedy (C) 3 walks, RBI, 2 runs scored
Adam Farag (P) HR, 3 RBIs
Greg Eberhart (RF) Single, walk, run scored
Matthew Schweitzer (RF) Single, walk

Hammond (15-14-1)
AJ Doyle (SS) Single, sac bunt, RBI, run scored
Bret Keil (2B) Double, RBI
Ranko Ivetic (P-SS) 5 singles, 2 walks, 3 runs scored
Brett Keeler (3B) 2 doubles, 2 singles, RBI, 4 runs scored
Steve Adjinovich (C) Triple, double, HBP, sac bunt
Ryan Frost (CF) 3 singles, sac fly, 4 RBIs
Chris Winterhaler (LF)  Double, single, 2 RBIs
Brad Gerlach (P-LF) Double, RBI
Pat DeRolf (RF-LF) Double, single,walk, RBI

CROWN POINT (7-23-2006) - Greatness probably requires excellence and there were a lot of mistakes Sunday at tradition-rich Teagle Field during the American Legion sectional championship game between Hammond Post 168 and Crown Point Post 20.  So it wasn't a great game from a technical standpoint.  There were far too many errors and misplays for boys with this level of talent.  But if you get to talk to anyone of the 200 or so fans who saw all or part of this battle of arch-rival post teams made up largely of arch rival high schools, they will have a story to tell.

As they have since some of them were 10 years old, boys from Post 20, which is largely Crown Point high school players -- battled Post 168, which is more than 50%  players from the Dyer Little League, the Tri-Town area and Lake Central high school in the setting Sunday sun.  Finally, Hammond proved to have the deeper pitching staff, with Hammond's Bret Keil walking on a 3-1 pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 12th inning against CP back-up pitcher Jon Sertich, breaking a 14-14 tie.

Hammond (15-14-1), which had lost 7-5 to CP to start the tournament five days earlier, had rallied for wins 11-5 and 15-14 to eliminate the home team and advance to Friday's opening round of the Crown Point regional.

"The boys believed in themselves," said Hammond manager Mark DeRolf, who saw his team step up over the .500 mark for the first time since mid-June. "And they never gave up.  It was an incredible game.  I wish there were not so many errors.  But there were some great plays."

"I told the guys to hold your heads up," said CP manager Tony Samano. "We had lots of chances to win.  We just made too many errors and we couldn't get the big hits."

It was a game of vivid contrast and controversy, never more clearly illustrated than in the bottom of the 10th inning.  With runners at second and third and two out,  Hammond leadoff man and Lake Central high junior AJ Doyle sliced a line drive into right center field.  Crown Point (19-7) made seven errors in this game but it was Sertich, CP's regular center fielder, who raced to his left and made what appeared top be a head first diving catch.

"He trapped it," admitted Samano later, after his 26th summer season had come to a close.  "He asked me after he came in, 'Did it look good?' He made a great effort.  They (Hammond) have a very good team.  I think they'll win the regional.  We just didn't have any more pitchers.  Caleb (Douglas) pitched yesterday and he had a tight arm.  The only guys I had left were (KV star) Matt Dobin and Sertich and Sertich has a better curve ball.  He just couldn't get it over the plate.

In the 12th inning, Ranko Ivetic, who was 5-for-5, sliced a single to left.  Relief pitcher Matt Murphy, the Lake Central senior who allowed just one CP run in the final 4-2/3 innings, also walked on a 3-2 pitch.  Munster grad Pat DeRolf laid down a sacrifice bunt, but when Sertich picked the ball up, no Post 20 player was covering first base and the bases were full.  Keil then walked on a 3-1 pitch to end the game and start a wild player celebration under the artificial light on the first base side.

Crown Point held leads of 4-1, 9-8 and 13-12 after eight innings, but Hammond scored the tying run in the bottom of the ninth on a one-out single by Lake Central graduate Ryan Frost.  Sertich stole home on a hotly contested 'safe' call to give CP a 14-13 lead in the top of the 11th, but Frost's one out sacrifice fly tied the game against relief pitcher Adam Farag in the bottom of the 11th.  In the 12th, Sertich, CP's regular center fielder replaced Farag, who pitched almost eight innings in relief of starting pitcher Chris Saroff.

The steal of home appeared to give CP the game.  With the score tied 13-13 in the CP 11th inning, Post 20 rallied with two out.  Sertich was safe on an error and he stole second base.  Matthew Schweitzer smacked an infield hit to the first base side, moving the lead run to third base.  On an 0-2 pitch to Farag, Sertich, the CPHS football halfback charged up the line and, with a right-handed hitter at the plate, Hammond catcher Steve Adjinovich, didn't appear to realize what was happening until the runner was within 20 feet of the plate.  Sertich dived head first as Adjinovich stepped up and leaned down to tag him.

"He was safe," said Samano, who was watching from the third base dugout.  "My son Artie (an assistant coach) called that.  He surprised them."

DeRolf didn't agree. 

"The catcher (Adjinovich) said he never touched the plate.  I don't think he made it."

The play gave CP a 14-13 lead and seemed to lift them.  But Brett Keeler doubled to right to lead off the bottom of the 11th and he scored on a passed ball and Frost's one out flyball to deep center.

The path of the game may have changed on an obscure American Legion rule that Post 168 alertly cited in the ninth inning.  With CP leading 13-12 in the bottom of the ninth, Adjinovich doubled with one out.  Samano then attempted to make a pitcher change, bringing back right-hander Chris Saroff, who had pitched the first 3-1/3 innings before moving to shortstop.  Saroff, who had struck out Ryan Frost twice in the first three innings, would pitch to Frost again in the ninth.  But hold on.  Hammond' s coaches then cited a rule which said that if a manager takes two trips to the mound in the same inning to remove a pitcher, that player cannot come back to pitch in that game.  After a 15-minute delay, the umpires agreed and Farag came back out from the dugout to face Frost, who slapped an RBI single to right.

"We thought that Farag should have been out of the game, too," said DeRolf, because they removed him (in the ninth).

Ironically, had Hammond gotten the lefty Farag removed from the game as well, Frost would have had to face a right-handed pitcher and might not have tied the game.  Lost in the contest were several things.  Farag, who threw 131 pitches in defeating Hammond 7-5 five days earlier, threw another 100 pitches in 7-1/3 innings Sunday before he could go no further.  The Merrillville grad also hit a three-run, opposite field homer in the sixth inning.  Third baseman Brett Keeler of Post 168 had four hits, three of which led off scoring innings.  Hammond saved the game defensively by turning ground ball double plays in the eighth and the 11th. 

"We had the lead three times," said Samano.  "We should have won.  We made seven errors.  We didn't deserve to win.  They have a great ball team."

LEGION NOTES:  It is not definite that Hammond will see Valpo lefty Charles 'Chooch" Sizemore in the 7:00 p.m. opener of the regional playoffs Friday night.  Washington Township lefty Carl Chambers, the top winner on the 2006 Porter County Conference (PCC) regular season champs, also pitches for Valpo Post 94 and he could get the call.

In a three-team Friday-Saturday-Sunday double-elimination tournament, you have to win some time Saturday to reach the final round.  Sizemore, who was 5-3 at Valpo high last spring, has pitched in big school competition.  But Chambers, who was 7-1 at Washington Township, is a big hard throwing strikeout pitcher who Hammond has seen rarely, if at all.  Hammond is the regional favorite, based on the presence of four starting pitchers: Matt Murphy, Brad Gerlach, Ranko Ivetic and Brett Summers. 

Crown Point manager Tony Samano said again Sunday that he will not return in 2007.  Samano cited problems with the Legion leadership over the acquisition of a team bus, which Samano had arranged for free and the Post 20 management turned down for liability reasons.  There has been talk of some hard feelings between Post 20 and Samano in recent years, even though the Post 20 manager lives at Teagle Field during the summer and maintains it.

The post may have thought the baseball program got too big, with two complete teams and a big pro-sized ballpark.  Whatever the reasons, Samano sensed the post didn't totally support him.  He said at the start of the season he would not return in 2007, but he didn't want it announced until the season ended and many hoped he would change his mind.

"I'm done," he said.  "I gave them my heart and soul and then they wouldn't even try the bus for one year.  I won't be here next year."

Post 20 commander Tim Evans said Tuesday that the Post and Tony Samano will turn the team over to his son, Larry Samano, who has managed the 'B' team for four seasons.

"Tony did a great job with the team and the field.  It's very nice," he said.  "I think some of why he wants to leave has to do with health reasons, too.  He has had some health problems.  But Larry has agreed to take over the team and I am OK with that.  As far as taking care of the field, Larry and people he will find will take care of it.  I don't know if it will be quite as good as it is now, because Tony actually lives there."

Evans agrees that the acquisition of a team bus, something Samano had stated publicly he wanted to do for years, was an issue.  Even though Samano had acquired the bus at no cost, Post 20 did not want the Post-sponsored baseball team traveling in it and they have not changed their minds about that.

"We did not want the bus," Evans said.  "It had to do with liability and maintenance and you have to have a driver with a special license.  There's a lot of expense there.  I don't even know if the city bus (it was a used vehicle) would have been capable of going the distances we're talking about.  All this for a few trips a year.  We just didn't want it."

Since Larry Samano will no longer coach the 'B' team, it has been assumed that the 'B' team will no longer exist.  But Evans said Tuesday that it is not definite that Post 20's 'B' team will not continue.

"We're going to have to come to a decision about that," he said.  "It's a lot of expense and we have to decide if we want to continue to do it.  But nothing is definite yet."

Evans also says that Post 20 is not moving and that friends of Post 20 shouldn't worry about the post selling the field to developers who have built a brand new neighborhood of homes on what was, for decades, acres of farm land, directly west of Teagle Field.

"We like where we are," Evans said. "The only thing is that we'd like to be above ground.  We (the post) are down in the basement and we'd like to be able to see the street.  But we aren't going to sell the land."

Post 20's B team won the three-team 'B' regional Sunday with an 13-3 win over Hammond.  Tommy Parks had two hits and three-RBIs and Munster native Jack Standley pitched a complete game for Post 20.  Hammond defeated Post 20, 7-3 Saturday afternoon as Lake Central junior varsity right-hander Will Green pitched a complete game and LC sophomore Jake Lecea had three hits for Hammond.

On Thursday night (July 20), CP defeated Hammond 11-5 behind five RBIs from Parks after CP and Hammond had both defeated South Bend Post 50 to begin the 'B' tourney for ages 17 and under.

CP, the 2005 'B' team state and Midwest regional champion, will now advance to the double-elimination state finals in beginning Thursday, July 27 in Evansville at Harrison high school.  One of the other state finalists will be Bristol Post 143 (14-10), who won the Elkhart Regional with a 2-1 win over Mishawaka.

7-27-2006 Update:  Crown Point's American Legion "B" team won the 1st game of the Indiana State Tournament against Bristol Post 143-B by a score of 7-3.  They play again at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, July 29 against the winner of Evansville Pate and Newburgh.

Lafayette Post 11 (28-1), perhaps the American Legion state title favorite, advanced with a 14-0 win over Remington at the Lafayette sectional (age 19-and-under).  They are not slotted through the CP regional and could not meet Hammond, Highland or Valparaiso until the state finals.  Lafayette's only loss is 3-1 in 11 innings at home on July 1 against Limestone Post 979 from Illinois.  In the CP regional semifinals Friday (July 28) Hammond (15-14-1) plays Lowell Sectional champ Valparaiso, a double winner 7-1 and 3-2 over Lowell Saturday.  Highland, a 16-5 winner over East Chicago in the Highland sectional title game early Sunday, will play South Bend Post 50, an upset winner at the Plymouth Sectional.  Plymouth Post 27 was defeated by Mishawaka 18-10 Saturday afternoon and Mishawaka lost 10-9 to Osceola Post 308 Saturday night (July 22).

On Sunday, Osceola defeated Post 50 by a 14-11 score before Post 50 took the winner-take-all-game, 11-6 for the sectional title.

Plymouth hosts the state finals beginning Thursday, Aug. 3.

CROWN POINT POST 20-A  (19-7, 12-2 1st District)
Manager: Tony Samano - 26th year
Coaches Artie Samano, Rich Hands, Jimmy Wilson

All games 7 innings unless otherwise indicated
*** opponents home games to be played at night at CP

6-13 (Tu)   Hammond Post 168  L, 5-10
6-14 (W) Whiting Post 80 W, 9-0
6-14 (W) Whiting Post 80 W, 15-0
6-17 (Sat) Leo Post 409  (Game 1) W, 12-2 (5-innings)
6-17 (Sat) Leo Post 409  (Game 2) W, 12-2 (5-innings)
6-19 (M) at Hobart Post 54  W, 17-3 (5-innings)
6-20 (Tu) Plymouth Post 27 W, 5-4 (9-innings)
6-21 (W) Cal City Post 330  W, 16-0
6-22 (Th) Highland Post 180  W, 4-3
6-23 (F) Valparaiso Post 94  - (To be rescheduled for a later date)
6-25 (Sun) at Kokomo Post 6 (rained out after 3-innings)
6-27 (Tu)  Cedar Lake Post 261 W, 10-0 (5-innings)
6-28 (W) East Chicago Post 369 Game 1, W, 4-0
6-28 (W) East Chicago Post 369 Game 2, W, 9-6
6-29 (Th) Steel City Giants  L, 14-18 (9 innings)

7-2 (Su) Cedar Lake Post 261  W, 10-2
7-3 (M) at Plymouth Post 27  W, 2-0 
7-5 (W) Lowell Post 101  W, 9-2 
7-8 (Sat) at Lowell Post 101 (at CP) W, 16-2 (5-innings) 
7-9 (Sun) at Lafayette Post 11  L, 2-10  (9-innings)
7-10 (M) Hobart Post 54  W, 13-1
7-12 (W) at Highland Post 180  (rained out)
7-13 (Th) Hammond Post 168  W, 3-2
7-14 (F) at Valparaiso Post 94  (rained out)
7-15 (Sat) at Muncie Post 19  L, 3-10 (9-innings)
7-16 (Sun) at Anderson Post 127  W, 12-5 (9 innings)

2006 “A” TEAM SECTIONAL 2 TOURNAMENT (age 19 & under)
&
2006 JR. "B" LEGION REGIONAL TOURNAMENT (age 17 & under)

(1B) Tue, 7-18  Crown Point #20B - 9, South Bend #50B - 6
(1A) Tue, 7-18  Crown Point #20A - 7, Hammond #168A - 5 

(2B) Wed, 7-19  Hammond #168B - 7, South Bend #50B - 4 
(2A) Wed, 7-19  Hammond #168A - 14, Cedar Lake #261A - 1

Thur, 7-20  Both B and A games cancelled due to rain

(3B) Fri, 7-21  Crown Point #20B - 11, Hammond #168B - 5 
(3A) Fri, 7-21  Crown Point #20A - 10, Cedar Lake #261A - 2 

(4B) Sat, 7-22  Hammond #168B - 7, Crown Point #20B - 3  
(4A) Sat, 7-22 Hammond #168A -11, Crown Point #20A - 5  

(5B) Sun, 7-23  Crown Point #20B - 13, Hammond #168B - 3
(5A) Sun, 7-23 Hammond #168A -15, Crown Point #20A - 14 (12-innings)


Crown Point Regional

7-29 (Fri) South Bend (50) vs. Highland Post 180 (14-5)   4:00 p.m.
7-29 (Fri) Hammond 168  (16-15-1) vs. Valparaiso (94)   7:30 p.m.

The tentative schedule has three games Saturday at 12 noon, 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.
with Friday's winners meeting at 3:30 p.m.
The championship round is tentatively scheduled to begin Sunday at 1:00 p.m., with a 4:00 p.m. back-up (if necessary) game set for Sunday.  
Rain can, and will, change this schedule.

American Legion State Finals (dates are tentative)
8-3 (Th) 1st round double-header
8-4 (F) 1st round double-header
8-5 (Sat) championship round game one
8-6 (Sun) championship round game two