American Legion Lafayette Regional Preview
	A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

American Legion Lafayette Regional
at Loeb Stadium, West Lafayette  -   Friday, Aug. 1, 2003

Highland Post 180 (9-12) at Lafayette Post 11 (25-8)   4 p.m.
Crown Point Post 20 (19-4) vs. Plymouth Post 27 (25-3)    7:30 p.m.

at Loeb Stadium, West Lafayette  -   Saturday, Aug. 2, 2003
Friday's winners meet -  12 noon
Friday's loser's meet - 2:30 p.m.
Elimination game -    12 noon loser vs. 2:30 winner - 7:30 p.m.

at Loeb Stadium, West Lafayette  -   Sunday, Aug. 3, 2003
Championship round - 1 p.m.
Championship round - 4 p.m.

(winner goes to 2003 state finals - Aug. 7-10 in Madison)

LAFAYETTE  -  In theory, the pivotal game is that 12 noon battle Saturday, which is supposed to be between Lafayette (25-8) and Plymouth (25-3). The winner of that matchup would have to lose twice Sunday afternoon to be stopped from going to Madison for the state finals.

Plymouth and Lafayette have big decisions.  Plymouth's top pitcher is right-hander Andy Groves of John Glenn high school. Groves was drafted in the 45th round by the Kansas City Royals but turned down the assignment to take a scholarship to Purdue.

Groves, a 6-2, 185-pound right-hander, was 15-2 this season and 35-6 in his career. He has been clocked at 91 miles-an-hour but he's consistently at 88 MPH.  Glenn was 30-3 this season, losing in the 2A state semifinals.  Plymouth has to decide if they need him against Crown Point or if they can save him for the host post Lafayette.

Lafayette has a similar decision. Their top pitcher is McCutcheon grad Cory Peabody, who struck out 14 as McCutcheon beat Brownsburg in June's 4A state championship game. On July 27 Peabody pitched a two-hit shutout against Greentown to give Post 11 the Lafayette American Legion Sectional title.

Will Lafayette throw Peabody, who was 9-2 during the prep season for McCutcheon (30-5) against Highland or save him for the expected match with Plymouth?

When these two teams met in a double-header on July 11, Plymouth swept the twin bill 7-4 and 6-5 in Lafayette. Adam Foust (5-0) pitched the 7-4 win allowing nine hits. In the other match, Plymouth got 12 hits and held on for the one-run victory. 

Plymouth has home run power in Blake Ruff, who hit two homers in a 15-7 win over Crown Point on July 18.  Josh Dietz hit two homers in Plymouth's 5-4 win over Bristol Post 143 last Saturday in the Plymouth Sectional. Warsaw's Brandon LaFolette hit three homes against CP.

Highland appears to be in over their heads here, after a dramatic 7-6 win in the East Chicago Sectional title game against Hammond Post 168, a team dominated by players from high school arch-rival Munster.  They have been routed all season by any team of quality and Lafayette will be the toughest team they'll see.

Crown Point crushed Highland 14-0 on June 23 but they will only see Highland in the loser's bracket. Manager Tony Samano has a decision to make on his starting pitcher.

Crown Point can go with Mike Schultz, a tall right-hander whose American Legion post-season debut was a 12-5 complete-game win over Hobart last week. Or, he can go with Lance Losinski, who threw almost 150 pitches in a 12-1 win over Lowell last Saturday. Losinski a 2002 Boone Grove graduate, struck out 15 and walked eight in that game.

There isn't much of anyone else. Left-hander Brian Sparks is unavailable this weekend and right-hander Kyle Long, who did an admirable job filling in for injured pitchers this season, left the team last weekend.

The only way Post 20 can win is if they stay in the winners bracket. It's not that they don't have  four quality starting pitchers. They don't have four pitchers total.  Jake Pierce, who pitched an 11-1 victory over Remington in a key championship round game Tuesday night (7-29-3) in the Crown Point Sectional isn't really a pitcher. He's the center fielder. Even if he pitches well, CP is hurt by taking him out of center field.

Plymouth wins if they save Groves for Lafayette and he blows them away. I'm of the opinion that Post 27, after beating CP 15-7 last month, will not use Groves against them.  In a three-day tournament, no starter can start twice. Plymouth will hold Groves for Lafayette.

Post 27's right-handed power may be neutralized in the larger Loeb Stadium. Post 27's Bill Nixon field has a close left field fence.

Groves, who throws five pitches including a split finger fastball that breaks sharply, had 412 strikeouts in 250 innings late this high school season.  If he beats Lafayette Saturday, Post 27 will win one of two games Sunday and go to the finals.

Lafayette wins if they continue to hit. At the sectional they outscored three foes 31-6.  Against Terre Haute Post 346 (27-10), Lafayette won 7-2 and 4-1.  Dane Secott (.411, 22 RBIs in 30 games), Jared Wynn (.375, 20 RBIs), Tristan McIntyre (.477, 19 RBIs), Sam Shahine (.341, 23 RBIs) and Kyle Thompson (.426, 20 runs) lead a relentless attack.  Thompson was the '3' hitter for Lafayette Central Catholic during their run to the state high school finals this season. He had six hits in three sectional games last weekend. In Legion ball, good pitching doesn't always stop good hitting. Big time offense usually wins and Lafayette has big-time offense. If they beat Groves, they win the regional. Case closed.

Highland truthfully has no chance to win the regional. They are a sub-.500 team that did very well just to get here. If Lafayette overlooks them, they could stun Post 11. But they then will have to take out either Post 20 or Post 27, both much stronger teams. There is a large jump from the sectional to the regional in Legion play. Unless they can get a hold of some players who have not played for them all year (Legion teams sometimes put one or two 'ringers' on the tournament roster in the hopes of getting them to play in the state tournament), Highland will play two games and be home before the sun sets Saturday.

Crown Point is the X-factor. If they lose the first game, they will not be able to win the tourney because they don't have five starting pitchers. CP could beat Highland in the loser's bracket and could make it to Sunday with an upset Saturday night. But Lance Losinski, Mike Schultz, Brandon Barr and Jake Pierce are the only remaining pitchers on the roster. In a four-team double-elimination tournament, unless you win the first two games, you must play five times to win.

Post 20 has to win with offense. CPHS grads Chad Pierce (28-47, .464) and Kevin Vandas (21-41, .512) have to abuse the baseball all weekend. Steve Georgian, a big left-handed hitter batted only .250 in regular season games but he had 12 hits in five sectional games. The Boone grad has the power to jump the fence at Loeb Stadium. A secret weapon is big catcher Kelly Fricke who looked good at the plate in the sectional after batting just .286 during the regular season.

Frankly, Post 20 also needs their 'B' team, Post 20's 17-and-under squad, to be eliminated in two games at the state finals in CP. That would free up speedy 17-year olds Matt Cowan, Dave Dickerson and Matt Long to come to Lafayette for the final three games.

Without Sparks or Jeff Mills and Jason Plys, who have been out all season, CP is woefully short of pitching.  The two-time regional champs can't make it three unless they upset Plymouth and Lafayette in the first 24 hours. If Plymouth doesn't throw Groves against them and Mike Schultz can go nine against Lafayette's fearsome bats, they have a chance.

But they need rain to push Saturday or Sunday's games back to Monday or Tuesday when extra players would be available.  That's a lot of ifs.

Some times, you look so hard you can't see the obvious. Post 11 has played the most games and the toughest schedule. It will be a big surprise if Lafayette doesn't win on their home field.

LEGION NOTES: There is a 40% chance of rain all three days in Lafayette. Temperatures are scheduled for the mid-80s.  There's also a chance of rain in Crown Point Friday as CP hosts the 'B' team finals Friday night at Teagle Field.   CP plays Evansville Post 246 at 7 p.m. Friday in the four-team double-elimination playoffs.

Lafayette manager Scott Stair is Rossville's varsity baseball coach.

Andy Groves was not dominant in an 8-5 win over Walton at the Plymouth sectional, allowing three hits, five walks and two hit batters in five innings. Adam Foust, in relief, struck out seven to get the victory. Plymouth left 15 runners on base in that game.

Lafayette was 31-4 last season but did not reach the regional.

Loeb Stadium is in West Lafayette on the west side of town. Exit I-65 on Route 26 and head west almost three miles. Look for Colombian Park. Loeb is an open air stadium. No roof. No overhang of any kind. In excess heat it can be miserable in the concrete grandstand unless you bring a hat or an umbrella.

Crown Point was 32-7 last year, losing to Evansville in the state finals. They beat Plymouth once and Walton twice at the Plymouth Regional.

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Revised: July 10, 2004.