As I've written here before, the American Legion might want to consider expanding the age limit even further (age 18-21 seems beneficial) to take it's squads out of 'recruiting' competition with Little League, Babe Ruth and any other baseball organizations. The 'B' teams could then include players in the age 16-18 bracket and 15-16-year olds could be left to Senior Little League (age 15-16) and Babe Ruth. Those squads would still have to deal with high school football and basketball camps and workouts but the towns' older American Legion team would not need to be concerned with high school conflicts.

The original idea of Legion baseball was that locals could play for their town post. There needs to be a place for college age players to play summer baseball anyway and it probably should be the Legion.

With that said, the CROWN POINT SECTIONAL now comes down to a two-team battle between Lowell Post 101 and Crown Point Post 20.  (See latest American Legion scores and statistics page.)

Hobart Post 54 has some solid players like Josh Coons (.322), Luke Shaw (.300), Victor Pedroza (.310) and Larry Rich (.308) but they do not have the pitchers to hold down either Lowell or Crown Point. Hobart could conceivably pull an upset of Lowell, but they would then have to win two more games. Will Farrell will make a funny movie before this Hobart team wins three games against Lowell and Crown Point.

Lowell beat Hobart 13-2 on June 10, jumping to an 8-0 lead after two innings. Hobart defeated Lowell's 'B' team 15-5 on July 14 but the gap between Lowell's 'A' and 'B' teams got wider all season. There is no one game you can point to that indicates that Hobart can win a game this weekend. When Lowell met Hobart again on July 8, Lowell won 11-0 in five innings.

The probable scenario is that Lowell beats Hobart Wednesday (July 21) and Crown Point eliminates them Thursday.

This game will be closer than it was on July 1 when CPHS graduate Mike Schultz pitched a strong seven innings and beat Post 101 by an 11-2 score.

Lowell outscored Highland 12-8 on July 14 with Ed Overdorf going 3-for-5. On July 12, Lowell won at Whiting 10-6 with Larry Pempek collecting a double and two singles. Jon Radosevich, a 2003 Hanover Central graduate, pitched a complete-game five-hitter, surviving four Lowell errors.

Overdorf (.372) and Pempek (.380) have to play well all around for Lowell to win. They are both multi-tool players who have as much or more talent as anybody on either side. They are also two very erratic players who can go 4-for-4 or make four errors. You don't ever know.

In recent weeks, Overdorf, a leadoff hitter and shortstop, has hit very well, including a long home run at CP's Teagle Field last week in a 7-6 loss to Valparaiso. Overdorf, who plans to walk on at Indiana University next season, is a momentum player. If the game begins well for him, it could go very well. He hit two home runs in the 13-2 win at Hobart in June.

Pempek, a catcher and pitcher, has perhaps the strongest throwing arm in northwest Indiana, including pitchers. He was the MVP of the Porter County Conference (PCC), leading the league in strikeouts. But don't expect to see him start any games. As a pitcher, Pempek is more out-of-control than Dick Cheney on steroids. In the PCC tournament, the righty with an 85-88 MPH fastball, struck out 10 and walked 11. But Pempek is an impact player (probably a low-Division I prospect ) as a catcher and he'll probably catch against Crown Point to slow down speedy CP boys like Jake Pierce and Dave Dickerson.

Another defensive key will be Hebron graduate Scott Denton, the Post 101 centerfielder. Teagle Field is pro sized (400 feet to center) and the centerfielder must make all the plays. Lowell's Mike Beier is another key OF defender whose play is highlighted in the big ball park. Lowell grad Nate Oaf (.348) and HC's Danny Kozlowski (.421) have to keep the pitchers in the game with solid defense. Post 101 has lost on errors more often than bad pitching or lack or quality bats.

You want a left-hander against Post 20 to slow down Jake Pierce (.319), Ryne Pishkur (.471), Steve Georgian (.354) and Steve Walsh (.278), all left-handed hitters. But Lowell doesn't have a left-handed starter that I know of except for Jake Kint, a HC sophomore and Denton, who they need in center field. The pitcher figures to be Radosevich, who has not faced CP. Hanover's 2003 lead pitcher, Jon Radosevich is a curveballer who could hold Post 20 in check for five or six innings. Another choice might be John Cusack, a Kankakee Valley right-hander who struck out 13 and threw 160 pitches in a nine-inning 16-10 win over Remington post 280 on June 30, surviving seven Lowell errors.

These are nine inning games so, in a three-team sectional, a team like Lowell could use the same three or four pitchers in back-to-back games. Manager Greg Ford will have a plan to tag-team his pitching staff to victory.

Post 20 will go without Andrean star Tommy Finn (.333), who left the team last week to prepare for the upcoming 59er football season. Finn, an all-area shortstop, struggled with Post 20, possibly due to fatigue. He started in three sports at Andrean during the recent school year and took no time off and his Legion defensive play with Post 20 was nowhere near what it was with Andrean's state finalist team (.440, 17 doubles, only four errors) in the spring. Finn, who is probably a better baseball player than he is a basketball or football player, figures to be back at Post 20 in 2005 when there are no football conflicts.

His departure leaves Post 20 a little short at short with Hebron grad Sean Brummett (.306) manning the most important infield position other than pitcher and catcher. Brummett is erratic defensively but he is an experienced player who will contribute offensively and won't be overwhelmed by the situation. Georgian, the Boone Grove graduate, is a solid third baseman and Pishkur has been hot all summer with 24 hits in 51 at-bats after batting. 276 for Andrean. I don't believe that Pishkur is a natural second baseman but he'll probably start there in the sectional with Steve Walsh (.278), who batted .436 for Andrean's semistate champs, at first base.

Post 20's outfield will be a strength with Pierce, an all-DAC leadoff man in center and Dickerson (29-73, .397, 13 extra base hits), a natural No. 3 hitter, in right field.

Nick Bodinet (17-41, .415), who batted under .300 for CPHS, has been a potent hitter this summer and has caught top starter Mike Schultz (4-2) all the way through Babe Ruth and high school seasons.

You need five starters in four-team, double-elimination tournaments (like the regional and state finals) in case you take a loss early. CP has found them in Schultz and Kouts star Joel Oezer (5-2). Sean Adam (2-2) defeated highly-regarded Bristol Post 143 8-3 in the CP Invitational with a complete game performance. Manager Tony Samano also has 6-4 righty Jimmy Wilson (3-1) and Walsh, who struck out 13 in five innings against Lowell's 'B' team on July 7.

A key here will be who wants to pitch relief. In the post-season, American Legion games are REAL baseball. That means nine innings. It's not unusual for an American Legion pitcher (unlike their wimpy major league counterparts) to throw 130-140 pitches. But often, that's not enough to finish. Schultz pitched all nine innings of a 4-3 win over Calumet City on June 22 and Sean Adam went nine in a 6-1 win over Mishawaka on June 15.

Oezer, who has good control, figures to be coming out of the bullpen for Crown Point in this tournament because the ends of the games are more important than the first 5-6 innings. I expect Lowell to roll the dice with Pempek as a late-inning relief pitcher moving experienced Luke Besse behind the plate. You shouldn't use a catcher as a starting pitcher, but your starting catcher's arm is always warm and ready to get some key outs near the midnight hour. After a game of throwing the ball around, Pempek might only have about 40-50 pitches in him.

CP has won the last three American Legion Sectionals since Lowell upset them in 2000. What Post 20 has to fully appreciate is that they are Lowell's biggest rival. Lowell's season goal is not to win the state title. It's to beat Crown Point at the sectional. There's the big powerful schools like Andrean and CP (one kid from Boone and Kouts doesn't count) against the small, underdog schools (Lowell, North Newton, Hanover, Hebron) plus the battle between Samano, and Lowell manager Greg Ford, a Post 20 player under Samano in 1990 and 1991.

Many Hanover Central boys have never beaten Crown Point or Andrean at anything and they welcome a couple of chances. Post 20 assumes they'll have a showdown with the Munster-Lake Central fueled powerhouse Hammond Post 168 at the regional level, but they have to get there first and that is not guaranteed.

Lowell and Crown Point is somewhat of an unknown rivalry in north Lake County but more than a couple of people will be coming north for the games and whatever crowd shows up will be lively.

CROWN POINT 12, LOWELL 1

CP finished 20-6, losing to Lafayette 6-3 in the Lafayette Regional championship round.

CROWN POINT 6, LOWELL 1

CP dominated the sectional and finished an all-time best 32-6, losing 15-5 to state champion Evansville Post 265 in the state finals.

LOWELL 7, CROWN POINT 5; CROWN POINT 6, LOWELL 3

CROWN POINT 6, LOWELL 4 (title)

A three-day, double-elimination classic. CP's Jeff Mills struck out 14 in the 6-3 Post 20 win. Lowell's Greg Smith pitched into the ninth inning of Lowell's 7-5 triumph. Mills and Smith both came on in relief in the final game with Mills stopping a two-run Lowell eighth-inning rally. CP finished at 28-11, losing 10-2 to state champion Evansville Post 265 at the state finals.

LOWELL 12, CROWN POINT 11

Present day Post 101 assistant coach Al Myszkowski had two hits and two RBIs in that game. Lowell finished 25-9-1 and Crown Point closed at 19-6. This is Lowell's only American Legion Sectional championship.