Andrean shuts out Boonville 2-0, captures state 3A Softball title

A USA-365 special report by Mark Smith

6-11-2007

Saturday, June 9, 2007 - 83 degrees & sunny, 3A State Championship Game at INDIANAPOLIS, IN

WP - Alyssa Mosely (18-3) CG, 3K, 1 walk
LP - Erika Taylor (20-1) CG, 9K, 0 walks

ANDREAN (29-5)
Audrey Bickel (1B) HR, 2 RBI
Alyssa Mosely (P) Single, run scored

Boonville (23-6)
Erika Taylor (P) Double

Friday, June 8, 2007 - 81 degrees & sunny, 3A State Semifinal Game at INDIANAPOLIS, IN

WP - Alyssa Mosely (17-3) CG, 3K, 0 walks
LP - Amy Morrison (20-6) CG, 5K, 1 walk

ANDREAN (28-5)
Audrey Bickel (1B) 2 singles, run scored
Taylor Kendra (CF) Single, RBI
Kylie Temple (3B) Double, RBI

Bishop Luers (21-8-1)
Amy Morrison (P) Single, run scored

INDIANAPOLIS (6-9-2007) - This was not a great team by Andrean standards.  But Andrean standards are very high.  It's been said before that under the present format with four classes of softball playoffs and a weak sectional, that Andrean should be in the state finals every year.  I know this because it was Andrean people who said it.  But the Niners aren't supposed to win it all every year.  Nobody is.  That's still very special.

A solid team that came to Indianapolis to play when they had to will go down as the 59ers second state championship squad.  Andrean turned back Bishop Luers 4-1 and upset Boonville 2-0 to win the 2007 Class 3A state championship.

When Audrey Bickel lifted a fourth inning, two-run homer off undefeated Boonville right-hander Erika Taylor, the ultimate victory became possible for the 59ers (29-5), who won seven playoff games, five by shutout, and a couple in an almost matter-of-fact fashion, as if this is what Andrean teams are supposed to do.

"That's the strangeness of the game," Podkul said after the 4-1 victory over Luers (21-8-1) Friday night.  "We're seven inning from glory.  Our defense has really stepped up.  We're just playing well right now."

In the semifinals, Andrean scored three times in the sixth inning against Luers freshman Amy Morrison.  Audrey Bickel singled and moved to second base on a passed ball.  Allison Bickel's ground ball to short was fumbled by Luers sophomore Kelsey Wyss, putting runners at first and third.  Consecutive run-scoring hits by Taylor Kendra, Megan Hutton and Kylie Temple created a 4-1 lead and that was all that freshman pitcher Alyssa Mosely and senior catcher Christina Caldwell needed.  Caldwell, who calls the pitches (something that is unusual in varsity girls softball) for the Niners, is in total control of the game and she and Mosely, who is 15, combining for seven consecutive victories, especially the final four over strong competition, is remarkable.

"It does feel strange," said Caldwell of the age difference between her and some of her teammates.  "The underclassmen have all stepped up.  I don't know if they listen to me.  I think they've just played well as the season has gone on."

Andrean probably was not intimidated by Luers or Boonville because they have traveled so much and have played teams that are better than anyone they'd seen in the post-season.  The Niners lost to Lowell (30-7) twice and to McCutcheon (29-7), a 4A state finalist.  They'd played in tournaments at Twin Lakes, Mishawaka Marian and Dowagiac, Michigan and they do that every year.

"We only play seven home games," Podkul said.  "Because that's not what it's about.  We need to go play the best teams we can find.  We always want to do that."

The 'traveling team' mentality leads to something Podkul talks about a lot.

"This speaks to the Andrean family," he said after the title game on the Region Sports Network.  "They won't quit.  They like each other.  They expect to be able to believe in each other.  It's positive peer pressure.  You can't account for character.  You can't account for the staff that worked with these girls.  On paper, maybe there were better teams and there were points this year when we were not very good.  But the girls just made the decision, which was the most unpleasant one.  They worked harder.  They got better.  They made this happen."

FINALS  NOTES:  On June 21, 1998 (and note the date the season ended back then), Andrean defeated Greensburg 5-0 to win what was then the 2A title in the old three class softball tournament.  Annie Puntillo pitched a three-hit shutout and stuck out three, very similar numbers to Alyssa Mosely's performance Saturday.  That team was not an unheralded group, however.  The 1998 Niners were 31-7 and had at least four college players in Katie Ray, Jodie Mojzik, Gretchen Messenger and Angie Grimmer, who got a scholarship to Notre Dame.

This is the sixth year in a row that Andrean has won at least 25 games.  No other school in NW Indiana can make that statement.

Boonville senior pitcher Erika Taylor was 20-0 before losing to Andrean Saturday and success was not new to her.  Taylor was 19-2 in 2006 and pitched a two-hit shutout, striking out 11 in a 5-0 win over New Prairie in the 2006 3A state championship game.  Class 4A Martinsville (2005-2006) is still the only team ever to repeat as state champ in the 23 years of the Indiana state softball tournament.

Andrean graduate Jodie Mojzik, who played on the 1998 Andrean state championship team and scored a run in the title game, came back to Pike and Ben Davis for the 2007 finals.  Truth is, she didn't have to come back.

"I live here now," Mojzik said of Indianapolis.  "I'm the assistant coach at Fishers now.  I feel so old.  I don't know anybody anymore.

Fishers is the high school that split from Hamilton Southeastern, the 4A champion in fast growing Hamilton County, which is in north suburban Indianapolis.

"In the first year after the split, we had no senior class," Jodie explained.  "All the seniors stayed at Southeastern.  We won't have our first senior class for two years.  By then, they'll be building a third high school in that area."

ANDREAN (29-5)
...all games at 4:30 unless otherwise indicated....LAC games in CAPS
(W) 2-0 HIGHLAND (17-13)
(W) 4-0 at BISHOP NOLL (9-19)
(L) 1-2 (8 innings) at LOWELL (30-7)
(W) 2-1 MUNSTER (24-7)
(W) 2-1 at GRIFFITH (16-15)

Chieftain Invitational - Dowagiac, Michigan
(W) 10-0 Grandville (6 innings)
(W) 8-3 Portage Northern
(W) 3-1 (Mishawaka) Marian (25-3)

(W) 3-1 KANKAKEE VALLEY (10-20)
(W) 10-2 HOBART (17-11)
(W) 1-0 at HIGHLAND (17-13)
(W) BISHOP NOLL

Highland Invitational
(W) 3-1 Griffith (16-15)
(W) 3-0 Morton (10-15)
(W) 4-4 (tie) Penn (23-8)
(L) 0-1 (Mishawaka) Marian (25-3) title

(W) 7-0 BISHOP NOLL (9-19)
(L) 0-4 LOWELL (30-7)
(W) 2-1 MUNSTER (24-7)

Twin Lakes Invitational
(W) 10-0 (5 innings) Merrillville (3-22)
(W) 18-0 (5 innings) Jefferson (6-23)
(W) 9-3 Pioneer (13-12)
(L) 2-7 McCutcheon (29-7)

(W) 2-1 GRIFFITH (16-15)
(W) 1-0 KANKAKEE VALLEY (10-20)
(W) 11-0 HOBART (17-11)

Bishop's Cup (Mishawaka)
(W) 6-1 Bishop Dwenger (14-16)
(L) 0-1 (Mishawaka) Marian (25-3)

ANDREAN (3A) Sectional
(W) 14-0 (5 innings) Wirt
(W) 10-0 (5 innings) Kankakee Valley (10-20)
(W) 13-0  (5 innings) Gary Roosevelt

TWIN LAKES  (3A) Regional
(W) 8-4 Griffith (16-15)
(W) 2-0 Benton Central (25-6)

STATE FINALS (3A) Championship
(W) 4-1 Bishop Luers (21-8-1)
(W) 2-0 Boonville (23-6) state title