American Legion Baseball: Crown Point Sectional Preview
	A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith 7-15-2010

Post 20 left-hander Mike Schroeder.  (All Photos by Mark Smith)

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American Legion Sectional Baseball Playoffs

at Teagle Field - Crown Point double-elimination
post number is in parenthesis - $5 per night - 19 and under


Wednesday, July 14
CROWN POINT-20 (17-5) vs. Hammond-168 (19-4-1)
East Chicago-369 (4-12) vs. Highland-80 (17-4)

Thursday, July 15
Wednesday winners meet - 5 p.m.
Wednesday losers meet - 8 p.m.

Friday, July 16
loser’s bracket elimination game - 6 p.m.

Saturday, July 17
Championship round game one - 4 p.m.
Championship round game two (if necessary) 7 p.m.*
* winner returns to Crown Point for the four-team double-elimination regional beginning Friday, July 23

Big-3 Sectional Questions

Who really was the high school player of the year?

Both local newspapers picked Post 168’s Ryan Wilkinson (9-1, 1.01 ERA) of 4A regional champ Munster even though Post 180’s Ken Mahala (10-0, 1.53 ERA) won the regional, semistate and state championship games for 3A Andrean. On the face of it, the choice would have to be Mahala, who had five hits in a double-header win by Highland at Lafayette last Sunday (7-11-10).

Wilkinson figures to pitch against Crown Point Wednesday so Wilkinson and Mahala may not pitch against each other this weekend. But there could be a key moment where Mahala the hitter (.318, 8 HR, 35 RBIs this spring) faces Wilkinson, the pitcher.

Who’s the boss?

Hammond Post 168 (17-4-1) is the defending Indiana state champion. Many of those players were not eligible to return this year but they still have a quality team. On the other hand, most of Crown Point’s players did not play American Legion ball last summer. The core of Post 20’s team (17-5) went 86-14-2 the last three years in high school but they never reached a state final. The Sunday Sectional survivor will be the team to beat in regional play.

Blame it on those liberal lefties

Post 20 is loaded with top-of-the-order left-handed hitting like Triton College freshman Mike Schroeder, who drove in six runs against Plymouth on July 3, plus CP all-staters Josh Negele (.429, 6 HRs, 38 RBIs in the spring) and Scott Donley (.419, 43 runs scored.). Hammond has an all-state lefty pitcher in Wilkinson and Highland has hard-throwing left-hander Jordan Minch but its only about 340 feet to the Teagle Field fence in straight-away right field. If the left is in power, Post 20 has an edge.

American Legion Regional Baseball Playoffs
at Teagle Field - Crown Point double-elimination - all games - 9 innings - $5 per day - 19 and under
Friday, July 23
CP Sectional champ vs. Plymouth Sectional champ - 4 p.m.
South Bend Sectional champ vs. Elkhart champion - 7 p.m.

Saturday, July 24
Friday’s winner’s meet - 12 noon
Friday’s losers meet - 3:30 p.m.
Elimination game - 7 p.m..

Sunday July 25
Championship round game one - 1 p.m.
Championship round game two - 4 p.m.*
* winner goes to the four-team Indiana state finals
beginning July 29 at Bill Nixon Field in Plymouth

CROWN POINT (07-15-2010) This should be the best baseball of the year under bone dry conditions at the north end of Crown Point.

All three ‘loaded’ local American Legion squads will walk onto pro-sized Teagle Field this weekend, but two of them have to walk home.  The 2010 Crown Point Sectional has enough quality to produce the regional favorite the following week.

In sectional previews last week, Highland Post 180 topped Hammond Post 168 by a 7-5 score before Crown Point Post 20 nipped Hammond 3-2.  But don't be fooled.  In the match between Hammond (17-4-1) and Crown Point (17-5), Hammond used Brad Wartman, a decent pitcher.  But they didn't use Lake Central high school star Kevin Kudrecki or Munster star Ryan Wilkinson, who figured to pitch against Crown Point in this week’s sectional.  CP senior Mike Manion (4-1) pitched a complete game for Post 20 against Hammond and won when Josh Negele’s seventh-inning single broke a 2-2 tie.

In the Hammond-Highland game, Highland started Josh Stowe, even though they have Highland all-stater Ken Mahala (10-0 in the spring) on the roster.  Kudrecki and Wilkinson both pitched two innings in that game, but the short assignments showed clearly, they were not in it to win it with the sectional match ups looming.  Highland (17-4), romped over overmatched sectional rival East Chicago Post 369 last week in a four-inning game shortened by rain at Block Stadium.  Highland got the great good fortune of drawing EC in the sectional opener, scheduled for last night.

The only question about East Chicago is, who will show up for them.  They may have some players on the roster who have not played so far this summer.  But if they won any games, I never saw reports of them.  So here's just hoping they show up at all.  Facing EC will allow Post 180 to line up whoever they want to face the CP-Hammond winner.  It will also allow the CP-Hammond loser to regroup quickly and remain alive heading into Friday's elimination game.

The biggest factor this weekend may be weather and pitching depth.  American Legion playoff games are nine inning games and, by rules, cannot be shortened by rain.  If the weather stops play on any night, the game will be suspended and continued the next night.  If you lose in the first round, you must have enough pitching to play five nine-inning games in the next three days.  You also must have enough good pitchers to win five times in three days.

What American Legion managers must do in a double-elimination state tournament is designate one pitcher as a relief pitcher.  Someone who will come in and close out the wins.  If you let your starter go nine innings Wednesday or Thursday and throw 140 pitches in 90-degree heat, he's done for the tournament.  And the odds of you getting four nine-inning complete games in big time mid-summer heat are about as slim as the chances of a LeBron James appreciation day in Cleveland next season.

I'm thinking that Highland might use Ken Mahala in relief as he has state championship experience.  CP may use Mike Manion as a relief pitcher since he's a compliment to lefty starters Josh Negele and Mike Schroeder.

The team that wins Wednesday and Thursday gets Friday off, a huge advantage in this weather.  High school boys often think they're in better shape than they actually are and there's going to be some burned out puppies on the field if there's a second game Saturday night.

But this is the kind of baseball you wish you could see during the spring and I think the next American Legion state champion (or, at least one of the final two) could be on the field at Crown Point this weekend.

If you can take the heat (low 90s every day all weekend), there should be some very hot times at the very old ballpark.

2010 American Legion State Finals
[4 regional champions and host- double-elimination at Plymouth (27)]
7-30 (F) 1st round double-header
7-31 (Sat) 3 games
8-1 (Sun) final round (TBA)

2010 American Legion Midwest Regional
[7 state champs and host - double-elimination at Mattoon, Illinois (88)]
8-5 (Th) 1st round games
8-6 (F) elimination games
8-7 (Sat) elimination games
8-8 (Sun) final round (TBA)
8-9 Mon) final round (if necessary)