Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
CROWN POINT (6-1)	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	5	4	0
LOWELL (7-3)	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	4	8	4

CROWN POINT (04-17-2010)  You don't ever come from four runs behind against a top team in high school softball.  That just does not happen.  It shouldn't.  But those who got up early Saturday saw Crown Point rise from a four-run hole, posting five runs in the sixth to top Lowell 5-4 in a match-up of the first place teams in the Duneland Athletic Conference and the Northwest Crossroads Conference.

Usually when two teams meet, you can look back in hindsight and make an argument for who the better team was.  Not on this day.

When Amanda Underwood lined a two-run single to left center in the fifth inning, Lowell led 4-0 and appeared to be on their way to a decisive victory.  But the visiting Bulldogs bunched their only four hits of the game with two Lowell errors, scoring five times in the top of the sixth to take the lead.  The Devils filled the bases in the seventh, but Underwood lined out to right and Nina Ioakimidis grounded out to second against winning pitcher Jackie Beilfuss and CP rode home on the winner's bus.

Crutchfield did not bring in hard-throwing Taylor Perry (4-0) to pitch the final two innings after the Bulldogs had taken the lead.  The assumption was that CP, the favorite in 4A Sectional 2 and Lowell, somewhat less of a favorite in 4A Sectional 1, could meet in a one-game regional in June and CP doesn't want Lowell to get any at bats against Perry before that time.

"I thought about it," said Crutchfield, who went out to talk to Beilfuss with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh.  "But she (Perry) wasn't warmed up.  She warmed up a little in the top of the seventh, but she wasn't warmed up.  It was kinda cold.  I just told Jackie, 'Its your ballgame.'"

Beilfuss said, "I was kinda campaigning for it," she said later of a potential pitcher change. "I said, 'Uh, coach. They're timing me up a little.' But he let me go."

Wells struck out 11, including all three batters in the fifth inning.  To come back and 'steal' a game that seemed out of reach has to lift Crown Point.

Lowell coach Pete Iussig said that CP may have gained a bit of an advantage for a potential regional rematch on this day.

"We'll see how it works," said Iussig.  "Maybe they leave confident.  If Perry is 1A for them as a pitcher, Beilfuss is 1B.  They've got that in their back pocket."

Lowell assistant coach Jim Chancellor found a silver lining in the late loss.

"One thing for sure," he said. "Crown Point didn't see our 'A' game."

"Getting down 4-0 to a team like Lowell is digging a hole you usually don't get out of," Crutchfield said.  "We showed a little heart, got some big hits and finished it off with defense.  Jessica (Palm) has come up in some big situations this year and gotten it done whether its a hit or a ground ball or a fly ball."

In the seventh inning, Lowell filled the bases with one out and Underwood hit a line drive into short right field.  Lowell's Megan Bolanowski didn't tag up and attempt to score, but Iussig said later, that was his fault.

"I thought their right fielder (Allison Amodeo) was playing where she had been all game.  She was in close.  I told Megan to go and then I said 'No' and by the time she cam back to the base, it was too late."

"But I don't think she scores on that anyway. That throw would have gotten her."

Crutchfield said, "She (Amodeo) is the most aggressive player to the ball that we have.  She catches the ball running and she gets a lot on the throw.  She gets the ball in so much quicker than a lot of outfielders.  It's hard for runners to advance."

Lowell has lost two large leads in late innings this year (they led LC 6-1 before losing 7-6), so they won't be forgetting about this game.  They should be 10-0.  Arguably, they outplayed all of their first 10 foes, but opened the door for the other side with errors.

Iussig said, "Used to be, before we got good, we'd shoot for 20 wins.  That was the barometer of a good season.  Now, you still want to have 20 wins.  But its like 'What can we learn from this game or that game'.  As long as we don't make the same mistakes again.  I can live with that."

DEVIL/DOG NOTES:  The winner of 4A Sectional One, most likely Lowell, Highland or Lake Central, will host a one-game regional playoff the night of June 1 against the winner of 4A Sectional Two, which could be Crown Point.

In the new IHSAA state softball format, the one-game regionals alternate at the home of sectional champions from year to year.  In 2011, the winner of 4A Sectional Two will host the regional game.  The semistate now is a four-team event at a neutral site; this season on June 4.

None of the four semistate tournament sites set for (1A) Clinton Prairie, (2A) Howard County (Eastern), (3A) Twin Lakes and (4A) Harrison are anywhere near Northwest Indiana.

St. Joseph's (6-0) had informed Crown Point that they will not be able to play in Saturday's Crown Point Invitational softball tournament next Saturday, April 24.  The late notice means that the day could be a little shorter with only three teams going head-to-head instead of a revolving field of four playing three times.  CP coach Brett Crutchfield says that CP is pursuing anyone willing to come and play three times.

"You should be prepared for a schedule change," Crutchfield said, to anyone who wishes to watch.  "I don't know what change could be.  It could just be us and Andrean and Hanover."

Since Andrean, CP and HC play in three different local conferences, it's unlikely that any NW Indiana school would want to come to CP Saturday and face a team they already see multiple times in league play.

Lowell catcher Nina Ioakimidis will walk on to the softball team this fall at Purdue University.

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2010 Crown Point (7-1)
Coach Brett Crutchfield - 24-5 in 2009

3-29 (W) 13-0 at Hobart (1-10)
4-1 (L) 4-6 Penn (8-0)
4-6 (W) 3-1 at MERRILLVILLE (0-10)
4-8 (W) 2-0 LAKE CENTRAL (7-5)
4-9 (W) 9-0 at Munster (4-5)
4-13 (W) 1-0 PORTAGE (6-3)
4-15 (W) 12-1 (5 innings) at VALPARAISO
4-17 (W) 5-4 at Lowell (7-3)

4-19 (Mon) CHESTERTON (9-3) 4:30 p.m.
4-21 (W) at LaPORTE - 4:30 p.m.
4-23 (F) MICHIGAN CITY - 4:30 p.m.

CROWN POINT Invitational
4-24 (S) Andrean and Hanover Central (2 games) 10 a.m.

4-27 (Tu) MERRILLVILLE - 4:30 p.m.
4-29 (Th) at LAKE CENTRAL - 4:30 p.m.
4-30 (F) Illiana Christian - 4:30 p.m.
5-3 (M) at PORTAGE - 4:30 p.m.
5-5 (W) VALPARAISO - 4;30 p.m.
5-6 (Th) CHESTERTON - 4:30 p.m.

Twin Lakes Invitational
5-7 (F) 1st round game
5-8 (S) semifinals/finals
5-11 (Tu) LaPORTE - 4:30 p.m.
5-13 (Th) at MICHIGAN CITY - 4:30 p.m.
5-14 (F) Griffith - 4:30 p.m.,.
5-17 (M) Boone Grove - 4:30 p.m.
5-21 (F) at Highland - 4:30 p.m.

4A Sectional 2
5-24 (M) quarterfinals (TBA)
5-26 (W) semifinals (TBA)
5-28 (F) championship (TBA)

Regional Championship
6-1 (Tu) one game

Semistate Championship
6-5 (S) semifinals
6-5 (S) championship

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Revised: April 28, 2010.