Friday, 7-27-2007  -   CP Sectional at Teagle Field - CROWN POINT, IN

WP - Joe Angone (3-1) 5 K, 1 walk (5 innings)
LP - Jake Plesac  (2-4) 7 K, 3 walks (6 innings)

CEDAR LAKE (11-9)
Joe Angone (P - HANOVER CENTRAL) 2 singles, walks
Justin Faught (SS - Morton) Double, single, walk, 2 RBIs
Aaron Graciano (3B - Morton) Double, single, RBI
Gerrick Sanchez (LF - Morton) Double, 2 singles
Tony Soto (C - Morton) 2 singles, walk

HOBART (9-11)
TJ Sanchez (Hobart - C) Double, walk, 2 RBIs
Bobby James (Hobart - 1B) 2 singles, RBI

Saturday, 7-28-2007  -   CP Sectional at Teagle Field - CROWN POINT, IN

Friday, 7-27-2007  -   CP Sectional at Teagle Field - CROWN POINT, IN

WP - Cory Talian (Hobart) 1 K, 0 walks (2 innings)
LP - Kyle Weddington (Morton) 0 K, 0 walks (1 inning)

CEDAR LAKE (10-9)
Tony Soto (LF - Morton)  Double, single
Justin Faught (SS - Morton) Double, single, 2 RBIs
Aaron Graciano (3B - Morton) Single, walk, RBI
Matt Kozlowski (LF - HANOVER CENTRAL) Single
Jeremi O'Brien (CF - Griffith) Single, stolen base

Hobart (9-11)
TJ Sanchez (2B - Hobart) 2 singles, 2 RBIs
Brad Ross (RF- Hobart) 2 singles, RBI
Cory Talian (Hobart - 3B) Single, walk
Greg Glover (Hobart - SS) Double, run scored

"If we can't beat Hammond and Highland," said Post 20 manager Larry Samano, "then we don't deserve to go any further.  The good thing about playing at this regional is that we've played Highland and Hammond before.  And both times we played them, we were shorthanded."

Post 20 was at full strength last weekend.  Chris Saroff and Michael Hernandez both turned in strong starting pitching efforts and side-arming Hebron graduate Andrew Higgins closed out both games.  Saroff retired the first 17 batters in a row in the win over Hobart.  The CP high grad, who was 9-0 during the CPHS sectional and regional championship season, could have easily finished the Hobart game, but Samano didn't want him to.

"I told him that as soon as he gave up a hit he was coming out," said the manager.  "Sure he could have finished, but why?  There was no need for him to stay in there."

In Saturday's final game, Hernandez, who is a senior at CPHS, pitched over an early 2-0 deficit and posted five consecutive shutout innings before leaving with an 8-2 lead after seven innings. 

"He seemed tentative in the first couple of innings," said Samano.  "I don't know what was wrong.  Maybe he was nervous.  But then he really started throwing the ball and he was fine.  He did a very good job and Higgins did a good job in relief again."

Crown Point led 4-0 after three innings as Post 54 contributed to its own demise with two third inning errors.  CP's Matt Dobin drove a long fly ball to deep left that Hobart's Brad Ross lost in the 8:00 p.m. sunset.  Two runs scored on what should have been the second out.  But as Hobart manager George Plesac said, that might not have mattered.

"We weren't going to get much off Saroff," said Plesac, who is the cousin of Crown Point's Joe, Ron and Dan Plesac, the former major league baseball player.  "He was the area player of the year.  We knew it was going to be tough against him."

Samano pulled Saroff to save him in case he was needed in the weekend's final game.  It was the best outing of the season for the CP grad right-hander, who was working on a perfect game.

"He could have gotten it," said Post 20 catcher Adam Kennedy. "He had the stuff to get it."

Samano got Saroff out of the game after Zach Schmelter's slicing single to left broke the string of 17 consecutive batters retired.  Crown Point was not great in this game.  Though they had 11 base hits, they left 11 on base.

"We have got to work on execution when we have runners on base," Kennedy said.  "Two-out hitting.  Scoring runners from third.  That's our weakness."
 

Crown Point, which has hung around the .500 mark all year, lost 2-1 to Plymouth Post 27 and 5-4 to Hammond Post 168, both potential regional foes.  Instead of losing confidence due to those losses, Post 20 is encouraged by them.
 

"We can beat Plymouth and Hammond and Highland.  We should have beaten them all when we played them.  When we come to play, we have a good chance," Kennedy added.  "I told the guys in the dugout that CP is all about tournament baseball.  This is when we start making the tough plays."

POST 20 NOTES:  This is the seventh consecutive sectional title for Crown Point since Lowell upset them in July of 2000.  While CP's "B" team has won two state championships, the "A" team, the 19-and-under group, has never won the state crown and has only won one game in state finals double-elimination play.
 

Crown Point moved Caleb Douglas, a first baseman and pitcher, to second base this month and, while he has some defensive issues to work out with first baseman Matt Dobin, the move appears to have improved CP defensively.  Since Boone Grove's Josh Cobb left the team, Post 20 truthfully has no backup catcher for Adam Kennedy, a serious problem if CP has to play twice in the same day Saturday.

"Kennedy promised me he won't get hurt or ejected," smiled manager Larry Samano.
 

Andy Rasala, a junior at Kouts, would be the emergency backup catcher.  Matt Zurbriggen, Post 20's "B" team catcher and the probable "A" team catcher next season, is not on the playoff roster.

Game time temperatures Friday afternoon in the Plymouth area call for the low 90s.  Crown Point's game with Hammond won't begin until, at least, 6:30 at night.  The Saturday and Sunday weather forecast call for upper 80s.  There is a chance of rain Sunday afternoon.

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Revised: August 01, 2007.