CROWN POINT (21-11) vs. LaPorte (29-4)

SOUTH BEND (6-11-2005) A collision of one of NW Indiana's deepest pitching staffs and NW Indiana's premier offensive team.

The Bulldogs have ace left-hander Matt Jansen (9-2), senior right-handers Adam Quinn (6-4 and Jimmy Wilson (3-1) plus solid relief pitchers Matt Ernest and Chris Saroff.

Nobody in NW Indiana has five good pitchers like CP does.

But LaPorte's offense is No. 1 in NW Indiana, averaging 11 runs a game. The Slicers embarrassed Penn (29-3) in the regional by a 12-0 score. Total humiliation for a proud Penn program.

Penn's a better team than Crown Point and they got crushed like bad grapes. But CP has hung with LaPorte as long as Matt Jansen (9-2) has been the pitcher. Jansen and Matt Ernest combined for an 11-inning 3-2 Bulldog win at CP on April 28.

The Slicers rallied to score a 5-3 win over CP in LaPorte on May 20. In that game, Matt Antos (10-2) started but Andy Weeks (15-2) pitched the final two innings to beat Jansen.

The first big question is whether CP coach Steve Strayer will come back with Jansen again after the junior lefty threw 100 pitches Wednesday night in a 2-0 regional win over Munster. LaPorte coach Scott Upp will certainly use Weeks, who pitched just 5 innings in the rout of Penn on Tuesday.

It seems likely that 6-foot-8 Adam Quinn will face LaPorte for the first time Saturday, with Jansen in the bullpen. I don't think you can ask him to pitch 10 innings (the IHSAA limit for two games in one day) and have him be effective.

This game will be played with the specter of Brownsburg (32-0) hanging over both sides' heads. Coaches can spout all the cliches' they want. You better save some pitching for the No. 4 team in the nation or you're going home a loser anyway. There's no difference between losing the first game or the second game at the semi state. You still lost.

LaPorte batted .390 as a team during the regular season with 33 home runs, eight each from shortstop No.2 hitter Nate Matheny and clean-up hitter and catcher Blake Hindsley. Junior Nick Overmeyer has started since his first game as a freshman and he is the premier leadoff man in this region.

The Slicers run some but they are so strong at the plate they don't want to lose runners on the bases. The big Covaleski Stadium outfield (over 400 feet to center field) works in Crown Point's favor as soph CF Jon Sertich can run down long fly balls.

It could be hard to be Jon's parents on this day as, if they win a quarterfinal match Friday, Kaitlyn Sertich will be playing with partner Cassie Pruzin in the state doubles semifinals as Jon gets ready to take the field in South Bend. The state title doubles match is set to start in the middle of the CP-LaPorte game.

Matheny is a monster. He is the co-MVP of the Duneland Conference over Weeks (14-1). His home run sparked the 7-3 sectional title won over Washington and Matheny's three-run homer was the difference in the 5-3 win over CP.

If Weeks and Jansen start against each other it will be their fourth start in the 13 days of the state tournament.

That's why this format hurts players. Coaches are pushed to start their number one pitcher too many times. And I can promise you, no matter who wins the semifinal, either Weeks or Jansen will be used in relief in the title game. You have to live or die with your No. 1 guy. In a four week tournament, there would be no way to pitch anybody more than 10 innings a week. The Baseball Coaches Association will look into this because the setup is not good.

These teams met twice last year with LaPorte winning both times. What isn't widely know is that Crown Point has beaten LaPorte more than anyone in the past three years.

CP was 3-0-1 against the Slicers in 2003 and they've been 1-1 against LaPorte in each of the last two seasons.

With Nick Ullman (24-58, .414) and Matt Jansen batting from the left side, LaPorte has to use Weeks but CP is a different team offensively with Chris Saroff batting in the third spot.

Weeks is the best left-handed pitcher in this part of the state but four starts in 13 days is too much. LaPorte's No. 2 starter Matt Antos (10-2) won't beat CP again.

I like Adam Quinn to pitch this game. LaPorte has never seen him and I think he'll do well against the predominantly right-handed LaPorte lineup.

These teams usually play low-scoring games and there will be another one here.

Crown Point advances through the fifth step in the playoffs with a 4-2 victory.

Brownsburg (33-0) vs. CROWN POINT (22-11)

June 11, 2005, 4A Semi-State Championship Game

SOUTH BEND (6-11-2005) If it comes to this, it's ironic. Four years ago, the final two Little League all-star teams in the state were Brownsburg and Crown Point. Matt Ernest, Joe Patrick and Brownsburg's TJ Baumet were among the players on the field that night. Patrick hit a three-run homer but Brownsburg won 7-5.

Matt Ernest was the winning run when he batted with two on and two out in the bottom of the seventh inning that night in August of 2001 and he struck out on a 1-2 pitch. Brownsburg, in the midst of a run of four consecutive Little League state championships (1999-2002), went all the way to the Little League World Series.

There will be just as much emotion in this game. Crown Point has faced 10 ranked teams but they've seen no one like this. Brownsburg lost the 4A state championship game the last two years and they have spoken openly in the Indianapolis press about how only a state title is acceptable.

They have the best Indiana baseball team in this decade. Brownsburg returned every starter from a 27-7 team in 2004 (they were 30-3 in 2003) and they have been ranked No. 1 every day of the season.

Senior Lance Lynn (14-0, 0.90 ERA, 154 Ks, 86 innings) is 6-foot-6 and 235 pounds and he was selected in last week's major league draft. But if Brownsburg used Lynn in the morning game against Carroll (and I am not giving Carroll much chance to win that game), then Brownsburg will use undefeated Drew Storen (8-0, 2.25 ERA, 84Ks, in 53 innings) against Crown Point.

Brownsburg, like Crown Point is nicknamed the Bulldogs but offensively, that's the only similarity.

Baumet (.422, 4 HRs, 23 RBIs) isn't the best offensive player by a long shot. Senior outfielder Gary King (.500, 39 runs scored, 27 RBIs) leads a team that batted .367 through the sectional title game.

Lynn (.388, 13 Hrs, 44 RBIs) will play first base if he isn't pitching and the ball park doesn't always hold him.

Cory Dragstrem (.392, 6 HRs, 28 RBIs) is another long ball threat.

Against Harrison's Josh Lindblom (8-2), the top pro prospect in the state on Tuesday (6-7-2005) night, Brownsburg scored five times in the first inning and won 6-3. Lindblom's only losses were to Brownsburg, a team that averages 9.5 runs per game.

So as Lindblom, who throws in the mid-90s proved, you don't fastball this team. I wouldn't be shocked to see CP senior Jimmy Wilson, a curve ball specialist with a top-flight pickoff move, start the game and try to get through the lineup twice. Then, coach Steve Strayer comes back with Jansen and he goes as long as he can. Remember, its his fourth or fifth (depending on whether he pitched in the opener) game in 12 days as well. The wild card might be Matt Ernest, who is not similar to Wilson or Jansen coming on in relief as he has done much of the year. There would be great irony in Ernest pitching against Brownsburg four years later.

Storen will pitch through the fourth inning and Lynn, the big senior will try to close. Brownsburg fans dressed in purple, will invade South Bend for this game but their crowd may be smaller than Crown Point's if Brownsburg's girls softball team is playing for the state title against Lake Central Saturday night at Ben Davis high on the west side of Indianapolis.

Expect half the Brownsburg fans to have cell phones glued to their ears all night.

2005  CROWN POINT (21-10, 9-5 DAC)
Coach Steve Strayer (3rd Year) 

Varsity Assistant: Rick Florkiewicz

23-10 in 2003, 17-11 in 2004  
DUNELAND ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (DAC) GAMES IN CAPS 

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Revised: June 11, 2005.