Bulldogs go 3-0 in inaugural Northwest Indiana Challenge to begin 2008 baseball season

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

4-7-2008

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
CROWN POINT (2-0)	1	1	0	1	0	7	0	10	11	4
GRIFFITH (2-1)	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	4	5	1

WP - Jim Donley (1-0) 3K, 1 walks one unearned run (2 innings)
SP - Eric Clayton (CP) 7K, 1 walk, one earned run (5 innings - 83 pitches)
LP - Jake Terpstra (0-1) 6K, 4 walks ( 5 2/3 inn.-103 pitches)

CP (2-0) starters
Eric Clayton (P) 3-for-5, stolen base, 3 runs scored
Scott Donley (3B) 2-for-4, 2 doubles, 3 RBIs
Nick Hladek (C) 2 intentional walks, RBI
Blake Mascarello (RF) 1-for-4, double
Jim Donley (LF-P) 1-for-2, 2 walks
Michael Hernandez (DH) 1-for-3
Jeff Limbaugh (1B) 0-for-3 Sac. Fly, RBI
Russell Chick (CF) 0-for-1
Miles Atherton (2B) 1-for-3, double, walk

GRIFFITH (2-1) starters
Kevin Konopasek (LF) 0-for-2, sac bunt, walk
Travis Litke (2B) 0-for-3, sac bunt,
Ryan Galiher (CF) 0-for-3, walk
Kyle Najar (RF) 1-for-4, double
Derek Hitt DH) 1 for-4, RBI
Jacob Evanich (SS) 2-for-3, 2 RBIs
Tim Cooper (3B) 0-for-3
Nick Trauscht (1B) 0-for-2
Jake Terpstra (P) 0-for-2, walk

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
CROWN POINT (1-0)	4	0	1	0	0	5	-	10	14	1
HIGHLAND (0-1)	0	0	0	1	0	1	-	2	5	3

Friday, 4-3-2008 - 49 segrees at season opener in HIGHLAND, IN

WP - Blake Mascarello (1-0) 7K, 0 walks (5 innings)
LP - Josh Minch (0-1) 1K, 3 walks (3 innings)

CROWN POINT (1-0)
Blake Mascarello (P) Triple, single, 4 RBIs
Eric Clayton (SS-P) 2 singles, 2 runs scored
Nick Hladek (C) 2 singles, RBI
Mike Hernandez (DH) 3 singles, 2 RBIs

HIGHLAND (0-1)
Josh Minch (P) 2 singles, RBI

The Northwest Indiana Challenge
Round One
CROWN POINT 10, Highland 2; Griffith 9, Portage 4; LAKE CENTRAL 7, Munster 1
Round Two
CROWN POINT 11, Griffith 4; Munster 9, Portage 4; LAKE CENTRAL 10, Highland 0
Round Three
CROWN POINT 9, Munster 2; Portage 4, Highland 3; LAKE CENTRAL 10, Griffith 3

CROWN POINT (4-05-2008) - The depth of big school baseball programs means that a lot of boys do not get a real chance to play until their senior year. Crown Point graduated 10 seniors last season and a lot of those players who helped roll up a 29-3 record last season, unavoidably blocked others from getting on the field.

Since the prep baseball season does not begin until the final weeks of the school year, you have boys who are about to head for college getting key roles in their high school teams for the very first time. CP's Jim Donley started one game as a junior. Senior teammate Mike Hernandez pitched a total of nine innings in two varsity games in 11th grade. That's what made Saturday special. Who knows what Crown Point will do this season, but Jim Donley pitched two innings of relief, got the win and stroked a two-run double as CP beat Griffith 12-4 Saturday morning before Mike Hernandez, a varsity starting pitcher for the first time, pitched into the seventh inning of a 9-2 win over Munster late Saturday afternoon.

These games in the inaugural Northwest Indiana Challenge (the Duneland Athletic Conference vs. the Northwest Crossroads Conference) were regular season contests, but they were truly used as warm-ups for the league seasons. It's fair to say that had these been playoff games, player moves and pitcher changes would have been significantly different. It won't matter to anyone that Crown Point defeated Griffith and Munster on a sunny, 60-degree Saturday in the first week of April. But I can't imagine what it meant to CP's 'senior rookies'.

"We probably all thought it," said Hernandez of how senior rookies know all along they probably will have just one year to shine. "Nobody actually said it. But we all know this is our time to step up and play. And this is our last year. I was a little nervous at first. But after the first inning, I settled down. I just spotted the fastball. I finally got the change up to come through in the later innings."

Seniors Nick Hladek and Blake Mascarello plus sophomore Josh Negele all had two base hits as the Bulldogs built a 6-0 lead after four innings. But Hernandez (6-2, 200), who is being recruited by Butler University (Indianapolis) largely off his Crown Point JV performances, college visits and his American Legion Post 20 experience, struck out eight in six innings before right-hander Mike Kozlowksi finished up.

"Mike is very talented," said CP coach Steve Strayer. "But he didn't get a lot of opportunities last year. He's very eager. I really didn't want to put him in against a team like Munster in his first start because we know what they can do. But we knew he'd compete against them and I was very happy with his performance."

As good as it must have been for Hernandez, it's hard to imagine how Jim Donley felt. Donley not only got the victory and a two-run double at Griffith in the morning game, but his little brother Scott Donley was 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Remember, Jim Donley played on the JV as a junior last year and Scott, who played on CP's Babe Ruth state championship team, was only a freshman in 2007 and never got anywhere near the varsity. To even suggest that the 18-year-old right-handed hitting outfielder and his brother, a left-handed hitting 16-year-old infielder, would ever both start and star in a CP varsity victory was crazy talk. But here was Jim Donley taking the mound in relief and winning when his brother Scott's 350-foot RBI double off Griffith left-hander Jake Terpstra broke a 3-3 seventh inning tie. Jim Donley's double then made it 7-3 inside a seven-run CP seventh inning.

"We knew he could do this," Jim said. "I'm proud of him. We played together on the Breakers (a summer team out of Michigan City) last summer. I know what he can do."

Word is that Jim Donley was 7-0 on the junior varsity last season, but nobody pays any attention to the JV. It was a surprise when Donley was inserted into a tie game in his debut.

"I have never pitched on the varsity in my life," said Jim, who, like Hernandez, waited three years for his chance. "First time out: 3-3 tie. You gotta love it. I knew we'd come together and win this. I had three at-bats last year on the varsity. I was 2-for-3 against Griffith. You've got to be patient and wait your turn. It's hard."

The little Donley (6-0, 165) batted second against Griffith while his big brother (6-3, 205) batted fifth. The first two times up, Jim saw 12 pitches and drew two walks. Facing the left-hander Terpstra, the elder Donley, an intimidating looking right-handed batter, hit a mid-range flyball to right and then drove the RBI double over the head of Griffith's high quality center fielder Ryan Galiher.

Scott Donley, a very non-intimidating left-handed stroker, popped up and grounded out his first two times. But with CP trailing 3-2 in the fifth, the younger Donley hit a hard slicing line drive that Griffith left fielder Kevin Konopasek at first came in on, and then chased to the fence. That hit tied the game 3-3. In the seventh, with runners at second and third and one out, Scott hit a 350-foot drive far over the head of Galiher in center to break that 3-3 tie.

"It was a good day for the Donleys," smiled Strayer, who is always very careful not to overplay the importance of one game. "They're doing a nice job. They've got their heads on straight and they're very focused right now. They are both good ballplayers."

"Jimmy pitched a lot for us last year on the JV. He did a nice job in the off season and his mental approach to the game is so much better. I think he can be a lot better, but we really like where he's at right now."

Two keys for CP are to work the very talented sophomore class in with the seniors who have waited their turn. The Donleys are a perfect example. Jim waited three years for his varsity shot. Scott played his first weekend as a sophomore. The other challenge is to deal with expectations. CP was 29-3 last year, but the majority of these 2008 boys had little to do with that.

"We're going to try to do that again," said Hernandez, of the 29-3 record. "That's going to be tough, but yeah, we want to do that again."

DOG NOTES: There was no trophy for the Northwest Indiana Classic. CP beat Highland 10-2, Griffith 10-4 and Munster 9-2, but LC beat Munster 7-1, Highland 10-0 and Griffith 10-3, so nobody really won the 'Classic'. Portage, from the DAC, lost to Griffith 9-4 and Munster 9-6 before beating Highland. The Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) won seven of the nine games played.

"In my opinion, it turned out great," said CP coach Steve Strayer, who organized the three-team round robin. "Now, we won all three and the weather today was great. So of course we liked it. It was great to evaluate these guys."

"Eventually, we'll talk to all the coaches and see if there's things we need to change. I'm going to get their input, too. They helped put it all together. I didn't do it by myself."

Griffith was 1-2 in the Classic and they actually could have defeated CP Saturday morning. The Panthers (2-2) only got five hits off curve-balling Eric Clayton, but they left six runners on base in the first four innings and took four called third strikes in the game.

"This is a good lesson for us," said Panther coach Brian Jennings, "that you have to play all 21 outs. We had a pop up drop in foul territory that we should have caught. We overran a ball in the outfield. We had a stolen base where the guy was out if we don't drop the ball."

"For six innings we were okay, but you can't keep giving a good team chances. You can't give Crown Point that many chances."

Griffith center fielder Ryan Galiher made two outstanding catches and he'll anchor Griffith's defense.

"Ryan us a baseball player," saifd Jenings. "He just doesn't play baseball, he's a baseball player. If that makes any sense. He's got bloodlines. He's a competitor. If you want to hit the ball to center field against us that's okay, because it's 'Death Valley' with him out there."

Munster coach Bob Shinkan saw his team win 9-6 in nine innings over Portage on Brett Keeler's grand slam home run in the ninth inning. The fact that Munster played an extra inning game Saturday morning may have led to the 9-2 loss to Crown Point later that day.

"That's his third home run in seven games," said Shinkan of Keeler, who moved from third base in 2007 to catcher in 2008. But Shinkan reminds us that third base was not Keeler's natural position.

"Keeler was a catcher all the way up, but he didn't play catcher last year because I had Pete Jurich, who was a north all-star," noted Shinkan. "His stock for college went up. He's an all-area third baseman last year. A lot of the colleges talking to him are saying they're looking for a catcher and a third baseman. He's a helluva player."

As for the Northwest Indiana Challenge, which matched three teams from supposedly rival leagues, Shinkan liked the way it worked for his side.

"We finally got Crown Point back on our schedule," said the 20-year Munster boss. "I didn't think we've played them during the regular season since they had the old Crown Point (Classic) tournament when it was us, them, Gary Roosevelt and Gary west Side (in the 80s and 90s). We've wanted them back on our schedule. It's pre-season, so you're getting everybody time, but it's against some of the top-notch competition. I hope it stays."

Strayer clearly understands that baseball teams do not win every game and he seemed to be withholding judgement on his 2008 team until they lose a couple.

"I know that things are not going to go as smoothly as these last three games," said Strayer. "I'm anxious to see our character when things don't go so well. Playing teams like Highland, Griffith and Munster help us find out what we need to work on. Where we need to fix things. This will help us for conference play. The intensity level is a little different in conference games. The Griffith game today was 3-3 in the sixth and we came out with a big win. I like that. Some people (on the CP roster) are surprising us and some are not playing as they should, and now, we can go with that."

Strayer reminds that the positions his boys played in these first three games are not necessarily permanent. But one change for Crown Point, at least right now, is that when the star left-handed pitcher (who got the win against Highland) is not pitching, he will be in right field instead of first base. The new CP first baseman, for now, is sophomore Jeff Limbaugh (6-3, 185), an imposing target who appears to be potentially an outstanding defensive player.

"He has a good approach at the plate," he said. "He doesn't get rattled. We need the sophomores to step up."

Left-handed pitcher Josh Negele, who, like Scott Donley, played on CP's 15-and-under Babe Ruth state championship team last summer, did not get to pitch in the first three non conference games, which may be a reoccurring story. Mascarello, Eric Clayton, Mike Hernandez, Jim Donley and Mike Kozlowski all got innings in the first three games and the Bulldogs are not short on hurlers.

But Negele had an RBI double against Munster and he may get a chance to play in the outfield. CP boys won't have to be patient for long. The Bulldogs had five games scheduled next week (April 7-12) including two games in South Bend on April 12.