Friday, 6-15-2007  -  88 degrees at Teagle Field, CROWN POINT, IN

WP - Morgan Drazer (2-0) CG, 6K 4 walks
LP - Justin Barkhurst (0-1) 2K, 0 walks, 7 ER

Illinois Lightning
Dave McNeil - Illinois Lutheran  (3B) Double, RBI
Justin Barkhurst - Illinois Lutheran (P) Single, walk
Scott Smith - Illinois Lutheran  (CF) Single, walk
Jim Penney - Illinois Lutheran (PH) Walk, RBI

CP Post 20 (4-2)
RJ Zambrano - MERRILLVILLE (3B) Single, 2 runs scored
Adam Kennedy (C) Triple, RBI,  2 HBP
Radric Dix - MERRILLVILLE (DH) Triple, single, RBI, 2 runs scored
James Frasure - CP (RF) Double, 2 singles, 2 RBIs
Joe Baker - CP (DH) Double, single, 3 RBIs
Chris Saroff - CP (2B) 2 doubles, 3 RBIs

CROWN POINT (6-17-2007)  I'm no fan of sitting out in 95-degree weather for any reason.  But every once in awhile you see something you didn't expect.  Like Cedar Lake's American Legion Post 261 defeated Crown Point Post 20 by a 2-1 score in Crown Point Saturday.  That's like the Chicago White Sox beating the Yankees.  The Cubs beating the Cardinals.  That's like LeBron James playing defense.

It happens so seldom that you'd pay to see it. But a tiny crowd that sat through a 30-minute rain delay saw a well-played game and a distinct upset.  Since the most recent reincarnation of the Cedar Lake Post's baseball team in this decade, this is the first time they've defeated Post 20.

Left-hander Kenny Tipman, a curve-balling control specialist, teased CP's hitters with bad ball and held the host team to just six hits inside CP's Teagle Field.  Post 261 got a first inning run on three base hits and a fifth inning score on a walk, an error, a sacrifice bunt and a mental error by the home team.  But it was the steady pitching of Tipman and errorless defense that put Cedar Lake over the top, to the delight of their new coaches and team members.

"We know they're a very good team," said Post 261 manager Craig Faught.  "Our pitcher was in a zone today.  He hadn't pitched in quite a while.  I had my two best pitchers ready for today and we only had to use one of them.  He didn't play at Lake Central.  The pitcher and the catcher (Post 261's John Singel) were both cut from Lake Central's team.  They must have been awful good if they couldn't use those two."

"I usually call the pitches but my catcher's been doing a phenomenal job.  I give him a lot of credit.  I've been telling him (Tipman) it's all about location, location, location."

"We've had some bad games, but this is the best we've played so far.  We just want boys who want to play and the key thing is to go out there and have fun.  That's what we're trying to do."

This is an all-new Cedar Lake American legion team, for several reasons.  Only one player in uniform Saturday, first baseman Mark Furman, is from Hanover Central high school.  One, center fielder Jeremy O'Brien, was from Griffith and three are from Lake Central and seven were from Morton high in Hammond.  What?

"I tried to get a Hammond post to sponsor us," explained Faught, whose son Justin Faught, is a top flight player for Post 261 and for Morton (21-7).  "None of them would so it.  They said they didn't have the money.  They didn't think enough boys were interested.  So, we went to the Legion meeting, hoping the brass guys could get us in some way."

He (Post commander Rich Mayden) was there to say that he didn't have a team to play the schedule this year.  We said we'd combine Hanover and Morton and play for Cedar Lake and we'll have a team.  They approved it.  We'll have half of the games in Cedar Lake and half of the games at Morton.  No one's complained about the drive yet."

If they start winning, no one will complain.  Former Hanover manager Al Myszkowski, now a coach with Post 20, said he could see a difference.

"Last year's team would have lost that game in the late inning," he said.  "You can tell they are used to winning.  I've worked with Tipman.  I know him and I tried to tell our guys (Post 20) that, after he gets ahead of you (in the count), he's not going to give you a strike."

Crown Point got a line drive home run from Crown Point graduate Chris Saroff, but KV alum Matt Dobin was 3-for-3 with three doubles and Post 20 could not score him any of the three times.

"Outside of Saroff and Dobin, we did nothing today," said Post 20 manager Larry Samano.  "I still think we're going to hit.  But I was telling the guys.  We're not used to losing here.  Teams don't come in here and beat us.  We've got some new guys on the team and they've got to understand it's a big deal for other teams to beat us.  They (Post 261) had a lot of energy.  We didn't."

This is a new Post 20 team as well.  The bad news for the Crown Point American Legion team is that core stars Tim Mummery, Jon Sertich and Tommy Parks from the CP Bulldogs (29-3) high school team, chose to prepare for college instead of playing another season of American Legion ball.  The good news is that speedy Merrillville regulars Alex Ponce, RJ Zambrano and Rahdric Dix have signed on with Post 20 as have Boone Grove catcher Josh Cobb, Kouts junior Morgan Drazer and graduate Marty Rasala.  Some seasons, Post 20 is made up almost exclusively of CPHS players but on the 'A'; (19 and under) team, this won't be one of those years.

"We can't be worried about who didn't play this summer," said Samano.  "I had to go out and get some new players, but we're going places with this team.  We're going to hit the ball and we've got a lot of speed.  We'll go as far as our pitching can carry us."

Post 20's pitching staff will be led by Saroff (9-0 at CPHS) and Caleb Douglas (3-4 at Merrillville), who pitched three innings Saturday before leaving with a tender elbow.  Drazer (3-2 at Boone), Rasala, Andrew Higgins (3-2 at Hebron) and Matt Dobin (2-1 at KV) give CP a talented, but largely unproven staff.

Zambrano, who graduated from Merrillville this month, combined to score four runs Friday night as the Post 20 won without Dobin, who was at a college orientation session Friday.  Drazer is a tall right-handed pitcher with more potential than experience.  He struck out six in five inning against the Lightning, but walked four.  Dobin came back Saturday and had three hits, but surpassingly, CP had less of an offense.

"We didn't hit the ball today," Samano said plainly.  "We can't expect to win with that."

Post 20 also made a defensive miscue.  Kyle Weddington was safe on an error leading off the fourth inning and he stole second base.  Mark Furman walked and Tony Soto bunted both runners along.  As catcher Josh Cobb fired the bunt to first, Weddington, who started the play at second base, noticed that no one covered the plate. He scored without a throw.

"I don't know what Mike (Hernandez) was doing," said Samano.  "There's really nothing else for him to do there but cover home plate.  We gave them that run."

Samano says that this week's Terre Haute Invitational might not see Post 20 dominate the field, at least not from the mound.

"We're going down there short on pitching," he admitted.  "Chris Saroff isn't going to be able to go.  Hernandez and Clayton have to go play in the a (high school) summer league tournament in South Bend.  Morgan will get a chance."

Samano, who led the Post 20 'B' team to back-to-back state titles in 2005 and 2006, said he's getting a look at everybody.

"The good thing is," he said, "we're letting everybody play.  "How many times did we not get the ball out of the infield today?  With runners on base.  I'm not going to put up with that very long.  We'll move guys around in the order and put guys on the bench.  We'll play the guys who produce."

POST 20 NOTES:  Cedar Lake manager Craig Faught played American Legion baseball in Hammond but the landscape has changed.

"I played for Hammond Post 16 years ago,"  said Faught.  "The legion used to be big there.  But when the Chiefs and the Seminoles came in, nobody in Hammond wanted to play legion ball anymore.  I've been trying to tell boys that the legion will pay for everything.  Why would you want to pay to play when the legion will pay for you to play?"

Faught complemented Jeremy O'Brien, who made a run-saving catch on a long line drive in left center off the bat of Chris Saroff in the first inning.

"Our defense was immaculate today," said Faught.  "This is the first time we've made no errors.  We played as well as we can play on defense.  Jeremy is a natural center fielder.  They batted for him at Griffith.  I told him that I'd make him a hitter.  He hit two bombs today."

The Illinois Lightning are a team made up largely of players from Illinois Lutheran high school in Crete.  Pitcher Justin Barkhurst, third baseman Dave McNeil, catcher John Boersma, among others, are all varsity players for Lutheran, a Class A small school that lost to Beecher 7-6 in the Illinois small school state playoffs on May 17.

Post 20's playoff games may finally get on live radio in NW Indiana as Larry Samano has confirmed that the Region Sports Network, which airs games on WWCA (1270) AM and WJOB (1230) AM, has inquired about airing playoff games from Teagle Field.

"The Region Sports Network wants to come out here and do some games," Samano said.  "So we're going to have a phone line hooked up out here as of Thursday.  They want to do the sectional and host the 'B' team regionals.  I think they'll definitely be out here for that."

"We needed a phone line out here anyway. The guys (scorekeepers) are calling in games on their cell phones?  If somebody gets hurt out here, we need a phone line.  We needed it anyway.  So I went ahead and ordered it."

Samano is now the head groundskeeper, which means he spends a lot of non game days at Teagle Field, the only American Legion-owned ball park in the northern half of the state.  He stayed after the game Saturday to work on the field and it won't be the last time.

"I sort of prepared myself for it," said Samano, who has taken over as Post 20's manager with the retirement last season of his father Tony who ran the team for more than two decades.  "I knew I'd better do it because nobody else was going to do it. This field  would be a disaster if nobody took care of it and I don't want to see that happen. I've been in this program too long.  As long as they continue to allow baseball out here, I'm going to continue to do it.  We've moved out here (Larry Samano formerly lived in Munster). It's easier for me to get to the field.  Chris (Larry's son) has been handling the outfield.  It's his job now."

"I said to some people at the post, 'There will be baseball after Tony Samano.  Just because he left, that doesn't mean there won't be baseball anymore.'  I was sorry to see him go, but life goes on and the baseball goes on."