Friday, 7-24-2009  -  76 degrees, American Legion at Bill Nixon Field, PLYMOUTH, IN

WP (Warsaw) Chase Byerly (7-0) 6K, 2 walks (6 innings)
   (Glenn) Mike Fansler (Save) 7K, 1 walk (3 inn.)
LP (Hebron) Larry Spore (3-3)  3K, 1 walk (3 innngs)

CP Post 20 (16-6)
(Hebron) Larry Spore (P-CF) 2-for-5
(CP) Miles Atherton (SS) 0-for-4, walk, 2 runs scored
(North Newton) Mike Schroeder (1B) 3-for-5, double, RBI
(North Newton) Bobby Anderson (C) 1-for-5
(Andrean) Evan Rapacz (LF-P) 0-for-4
(CP) Matt Zurbriggen (3B) 1-for-2, 2 walks
(Hebron) Cody Hayes (CF-LF) 0-for-4
(CP) Eli Kvachkoff (2B) 0-for-4
(Merrillville) Dustin Blaylock (RF) 0-for-3
(CP) Mike Kessler (RF) 1-for-1

PLYMOUTH (22-6)
(Bremen) Steve Cornett (CF) 1-for-3, HBP, walk
(Rochester) Steve Wottring (2B) 2-for-4, double, triple, sac bunt, 2 RBIs, stolen base
(Plymouth) Brandon Elliott (SS) 1-for-3, Sac. Fly, walk, stolen base
(Plymouth) Darren Howe (1B) 4-for-5, HR, 2 RBIs
(Plymouth) Jay Badell (RF) 1-for-4, walk
(Culver Military) Tyler Weddington (C) 1-for-4, double, walk, stolen base
(Rochester) Marcus Bowers (DH) 1-for-5, double, RBI
(Plymouth) Joel Solis (3B) 1-for-5, stolen base
(Warsaw) Jacob Bloom (LF) 0-for-4\

 

2009 PLYMOUTH REGIONAL
Hammond (168) 16, South Bend (50) 5
Plymouth (27) 12, Crown Point (20) 6

Saturday, July 25
Hammond (21-6) 13, Plymouth (22-6) 8
CP (16-6) 5, South Bend (19-7) 3
Plymouth 13, CP 5

Sunday, July 26
Hammond (20-5) 18, Plymouth (23-7) 6
 

PLYMOUTH (7-24-2009) It's tried and true.  It's never going to change.  When you wake up on the day of the American Legion playoffs and one of your players is hurt and one of your players is sick.  And a couple others can make it.  That's a sign.  A message from the Almighty.  The 'word'.  Your season is over.

That's what happened to America Legion Post 20 Friday night.  You can call it 'making excuses' or not 'playing your best', but the Crown Point franchise didn't have the talent to win this game.

With at least five players missing and at least five others playing out of position, Crown Point Post 20 lost 12-6 late Friday in the first round of the double-elimination Plymouth Regional to the host Post 27 at Bill Nixon Field.  Post 20 did regroup to defeat South Bend Post 50 behind lefty Mike Schroeder Saturday afternoon, but they ran out of pitchers and lost 16-5 to Plymouth Saturday night.

But the last two games were somewhat anti-climactic.  CP knew they only had three starting pitchers available, so they had to win three in a row or they were doomed.  Even had CP defeated Plymouth late Saturday, they had no pitching for the championship round, which was won by Hammond Post 168.

The key was Friday's game.  Playing without left-handed pitching star Josh Negele, who was diagnosed with mononucleosis during the week, Post 20 was down to just three pitchers on the roster and, with the rain-delayed Crown Point Sectional, they could not use Schroeder who had just pitched three days earlier.

With 2008 grad Mike Hernandez (at a college summer league) unable to get back to Crown Point until next month and two other right-handers (including top 17-year-old starter Steve Lowe in Kokomo with the 'B' (age 17-and-under" team, that left Hebron's Larry Spore and Andrean's Evan Rapacz as the only available pitchers for the biggest game of the season.

You don't have to be a great all-around team to reach the regional level in American Legion baseball anymore.  But regional qualifiers still are teams with big run-scoring offenses and there's no way two boys who truthfully were not regular starting pitchers most of the season were going to stop what is basically a Marshall County all-star team.

"We just didn't play well enough to win," said a disappointed CP manager Larry Samano.  "We're shorthanded, but that's an excuse.  We made too many errors and we gave them too many outs.  This is not Lowell or Valparaiso or the teams we played at the sectional.  This team (Plymouth) is too good to give them extra outs in an inning."

Two infield errors led to a three-run Plymouth second-inning and a 4-1 lead against left-hander Larry Spore.  When Post 20 rallied for four runs, including a three-run double by Mike Schroeder, there was hope for a CP upset.  But Post 27's Darren Howe led off the third with a homerun and Plymouth took the lead on a two-out double-steal, a play where Post 20 should have simply held the ball and pitched to the ninth place hitter.

Plymouth, which split two games with Post 20 during the regular season, took the lead on a fourth-inning error by CP shortstop Miles Atherton and another double steal.  Atherton was one of four Post 20 players playing out of position (he was a second and third basemen in high school) due to the severe lack of depth.  Of the 18 players on the Post 20 roster, only 10 were able to play Friday.  Three players were 'B' team players who were in Kokomo at the 17-and-under state finals.  Infielder-pitcher David Heath is out for the season with a broken hand.  Mike Hernandez, a 2008 CPHS graduate who Samano hoped could get away from his summer team to pitch for Post 27, could not get back to Indiana.  Sophomore infielder Darren Blaylock couldn't get the weekend off.  It was just a blueprint for losing.

With only one substitute on the bench, CP was not going to be able to play too many nine-inning games.  Plymouth's 14-hit attack was more than enough, although CP did pull within 9-6 in the eighth inning and got the tying run to the plate.

"We just couldn't get hits when we needed them," said Samano, who was very disappointed in the key loss in a regional that CP hoped they'd be competitive in all season.

"We had to stay in the winner's bracket," he admitted.  "We could come back tomorrow and win, but there isn't anybody left to pitch Sunday."

REGIONAL NOTES:  Lake Central grad Ryan Boss hit two home runs as Hammond rallied form a 4-0 deficit to win the key game Saturday, 13-6 over host Plymouth.  Another LC grad Matt Skura hit three home runs in the championship win 18-6 over Plymouth.

CP's Mike Schroeder pitched all nine innings as Post 20 eliminated South Bend 5-3 with the help of a two-run sixth inning single by Eli Kvachkoff.  Plymouth scored six times in the first inning of Saturday night's 13-5 Post 27 win in the elimination game.  CP had to bring back Evan Rapacz as the starting pitcher on one days' rest.

"Evan didn't really pitch that badly," said CP manager Larry Samano.  "He gave up six in the first inning but then he settled down.  He only had seven innings and I had to pull him out in the seventh.  That's when they put the game away."

Samano praised Schroeder as well.

"He threw 136 pitches," the manager reported.  "I wanted to take him out in the ninth and he wouldn't come out.  He kept telling me he can finish and he did.  That's the kind of kid he is. I'm glad he can come back next year."

Post 20 loses catchers Matt Zurbriggen and Bill Anderson, infielder-pitcher David Heath and multi-purpose player Larry Spore.

"We're going to need a catcher," Samano admitted.  "But we'll have Negele, Schroeder and Evan Rapacz.  Schroeder should be really good after a year pitching in college.  I'm going to pitch Cody (Hayes) a lot at Hebron next spring and we'll be able to use him out here."

Post 20 would welcome more Crown Point high school boys, but many now play on traveling teams.  Post 20 went all year without a true shortstop or a right-handed starting pitcher.  All three pitchers Samano hopes will return in 2010 are lefties.

The Post 20 'B' team lost the double-elimination state title game 20-9 at Kokomo when they, too, ran out of pitching.

While there were new Legion teams in other portions of the state like Carmel Post 155 and St. Leon Post 435, the number of teams in Northwest Indiana is dropping.  Samano said that Post 20 will have to do a little more traveling next season.

"We might play Plymouth four times (instead of two)," he said.  "I'm going to try to get Kokomo back on the schedule.  Bristol and South Bend were on the schedule this year.  The games just got canceled.  With the season ending early and the (Crown Point) high school season running late, we've got to squeeze the entire season into about a four week window."

2009 CROWN POINT Post 20 (16-7-1)
Manager Larry Samano - Teagle Field - Crown Point

6-10 (W) 17-3 at East Chicago (369)
6-15 (L)  4-5 Valparaiso Post 94  (8-1)
6-23 (L) 9-11 Hammond Post 168 (10-1)
6-24 (W) 14-2 CP Post 20-B (6-5)
6-26 (L) 7-8 Highland Post 168 (7-2)
6-26 (L) 2-6 Highland Post 168 (7-2)
6-27 (W) 3-2 Plymouth Post 27 (15-3)
6-29 (T) 4-4 (darkness - 4 innings) at Valparaiso Post 94 (8-1)
6-30 (W) 8-2 Hammond Post 168 (17-4)
7-1 (W) 8-6 (9 innings) Highland Post 180-B (7-4)
7-2 (W) 9-4 Hammond Post 168-B
7-5 (Sun) Bristol Post 143 (canceled -schedule)
7-6 (W) 9-3 Lowell Post 101 (1-10)
7-6 (W) 8-2 Lowell Post 101 (1-10)
7-7 (L) 3-7 at Plymouth Post 27 (15-3)
7-8 (Wed) 10-1 East Chicago Post 369 (1-7)
7-10 (L) 1-3 Post 20-B

Crown Point Sectional
at Teagle Field - Crown Point
7-16 (Thu) CP (20) 15, Lowell (101) 1
7-17 (F) CP 8, Valparaiso (94) 5
7-18 (Sat) Lowell 11, Valparaiso (94) 5
7-19 (Sun) CP (20) 11, Lowell (101) 1.

Plymouth Regional
at Bill Nixon Field - Plymouth
7-24 (Fri) 6-11 Plymouth Post 27
7-25 (Sat) 5-3 South Bend Post 50
7-25 (Sat) 5-13 Plymouth Post 27

2009 American Legion State Championship
at North Side High School - Terre Haute
7-31 (F) 1st round double-header
8-1 (Sat) 2nd round - 3 games
8-2 (Sun) Championship round - TBA