Plesac's 10 K's paces Bulldogs to 7-1 win over Boone Grove

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

5-16-2011

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
BOONE GROVE (12-9)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	1
CROWN POINT (13-8)	0	3	0	1	3	0	-	7	10	0

Friday, 5-13-2011 - 47 degrees, windy at CROWN POINT, IN

WP - Ronnie Plesac (3-1) 10 K, 1 walk (5 in.)
LP - Zach Wein (2-2) 3K, 2 walks (3.7 inn.)

BOONE GROVE (12-9)
Jared Thill (2B) 0-for-3
Stefan Hess (LF) 0-for-3
Cody Poynter (RF) 1-for-3, double
Dean Hill (3B) 1-for-3, RBI
Jake Wright (SS) 0-for-3
Tommy Burton (CF) 0-for-3
Jason Sawa (C) 1-for-3
Zach Slicker (1B) 0-for-2
AJ Mosier (DH) 0-for-1, walk

CROWN POINT (13-8)
Zach Plesac (3B) 2-for-3, walk
Kevin Brunski (CF) 2-for-2, Sac Fly, sac bunt, triple, 2 RBIs
Jose Andrade (1B) 1-for-4, RBI
Brett Bayer (SS) 1-for-3, walk
Aaron Orosz (DH) 1-for-1, 2 walks
Jake Lindeman (2B) 2-for-3, HBP, double, RBI
Joe Hopman (RF) 1-for-2, walk, RBI
Ronnie Plesac (P) 0-for-3
CJ Becerra (LF) 0-for-4

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
CROWN POINT (12-8, 7-6 DAC)	1	0	0	2	5	0	3	11	17	3
MICHIGAN CITY (5-14, 1-11 DAC)	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	3	4	4

Friday, 5-13-2011 - 47 degrees (MC home game) at CROWN POINT, IN

WP - Alex Doppler (1-1) CG, 7K, 2 walks
LP - Robert Counsel (2-2) 5K 4 walks (6.7 inn.)

CROWN POINT (12-8)
Zach Plesac (3B) 2-for-2, run scored
Alex Nickla (3B) 0-for-3
Kevin Brunski (CF) 1-for-3, sac bunt
Jose Andrade (C) 3-for-4, double, 2 RBI
Brett Bayer (SS) 1-for-3, stolen base
Aaron Orosz (RF) 0-for-1, stolen base
Jake Lindeman (2B) 2-for-4, triple, 4 RBIs
Joe Hopman (LF) 1-for-3
Jake Negele (1B) 0-for-4
CJ Becerra (DH) 1-for-2

MICHIGAN CITY (5-14)
Vince Yadavia (2B) 1-for-4, RBI
Alex Ray (3B) 0-for-4
Robert Coursel (P) 0-for-2
Ron Rivera (LF) 0-for-1
Brendan Lomow (1B) 1-for-3
Rodney Washington (LF) 0-for-3
Lane Van Sickle (C) 0-for-2
Logan Kaletha (SS) 0-for-2, run scored
Chad Galloway (RF) 1-for-2, RBI
Tom Shaw (DH) 0-for-2
Tommy Shaw (CF) 1-for-1

CROWN POINT, IN (05-13-2011) The conditions deteriorated as the day went on Friday, but Crown Point's new-and-improved play didn't. The Bulldogs won twice, defeating Michigan City 11-3 in a 4:30 p.m. Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) game before topping Boone Grove 7-1 in Friday night's annual 'County Line Classic' in 45-degree weather.

Sophomore left-hander Ronnie Plesac (3-1) struck out 10 in five innings under windy conditions as CP (13-8) improved to four games over the .500 mark for the second time this spring. The Bulldogs were 4-0 but fell to 5-7 after 11 games. Now, CP has won eight of their last nine games.

"I thought we'd get better," said CP coach Steve Strayer. "But I didn't think we'd get this good this quickly. We're just playing with a lot more confidence now."

Boone scored in the first inning on an RBI single by Dean Hill, but Crown Point rallied in the third inning on RBI hits from Kevin Brunski and Jake Lindeman after Poynter, Boone's right fielder, lost a fly ball in the lights. CP scored three in the fifth with the help of an RBI double by Lindeman and a sacrifice fly by Brunski. Ronnie Plesac left the game after five innings with Nick Nauracy and Zach Plesac pitching scoreless innings to end the evening.

The game turned in the fourth inning when Jose Andrade hit a hard ground ball off the leg of Boone's 6-foot-6 junior right-hander Zach Wein (2-2), who had to leave the game. After that it seemed both teams were just playing to get the game over with as gusty winds dropped temperatures into the low 40s, although the home team was in a very good mood afterwards with Saturday idle for the school's annual prom.

"They know how to loosen up," said Strayer, who has had to make numerous roster changes this year. "And when the time comes, it seems they know how to focus."

The win on 'Senior Night' came after an odd scheduling scenario that had Crown Point playing Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) rival Michigan City (5-14) twice on consecutive days in Crown Point. The Bulldogs were originally scheduled to host Michigan City on April 22 but that was one of the many games lost to bad weather this spring.

When multiple efforts to make that game up met the same rainy fate, MC agreed to play it as part of to a double-header under the lights in Crown Point last Thursday, the day when CP was scheduled to play at Michigan City.

CP won the first game 16-5 before the second game was rained out, leaving a MC home game still to play. But since CP already had Friday's game with Boone scheduled at 7:30 p.m. the Wolves again graciously agreed to come back to CP to meet the Bulldogs at 4:30 p.m.

"We wouldn't be against coming back here," said Michigan City coach David Ortiz after Thursday's game, who obviously could have asked that the Wolves get to play their home game on their home field, which does not have lights. "I understand that they have a night game."

Crown Point reaped major benefits from the non-travel schedule, winning three games in 30 hours and running their winning streak to six games since a 2-1 loss at Portage on May 4. CP's seniors Jose Andrade, Nick Nauracy, CJ Becerra, Jake Negele, Alex Doppler and Steve Lowe were honored in pre-game ceremonies on 'Senior night'.

Boone, which has no seniors and nine sophomores on the roster, lost to CP for the fourth year in a row since the Wolves won 7-1 in 2007.

BULLDOG NOTES: Crown Point's final full week was to end with a day in Benton County at the Benton Central Invitational. The Bulldogs will face the hosts in a 9 a.m. breakfast first pitch. Western (15-1) and Heritage Christian (10-9) meet in the second semifinal. If CP loses, they will play in the third game of the day. Should they win, CP will play in the championship game at approximately 3 p.m. Crown Point is the defending champion of this tournament. Benton Central is the only school in rural Benton County, about 70 miles south of Crown Point.

Kankakee Valley completes the CP home schedule Monday night at 7 p.m. The Kougars (17-7) fell out of the Top-10 this week after their pitching gave up 35 runs in three weekend games and lost three times at Jasper's Hall-of-Fame Classic.

KV lost the finale 8-7 to Evansville Memorial in 10 innings. On May 3, CP lost a double-header 2-0 and 5-0 to top-ranked Indianapolis Cathedral (18-2). Last Saturday, Cathedral rolled over Lake Central 12-2 in the Indianapolis Classic at North Central high school.