Crown Point Post 20 comes from behind to beat Remington on the road, 10-5 in Legion Baseball

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
CROWN POINT (16-3)	0	1	4	1	0	0	2	1	1	10	15	2
Remington (11-5)	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	8	1

July 16, 2003 - at Remington Park, Remington, Ind.

WP - Jake Pierce, CG 4K, 4 walks (7 inn.)
Brandon Barr (Save) 1K, 0 walks (2 inn.)
LP - Billy Brown (R-Twin Lakes) 4K, 3 walks (5 inn.)

CROWN POINT (9 singles, 3 doubles, 3 triples)
Kyle Long (20) Double, 2 singles, RBI
Chad Pierce (20) Triple, walk, run scored
Brian Sparks (20) Double, 2 singles, RBI
Jake Pierce (20) 2 singles
Mike Schultz (20) Triple, single

Remington (8 singles)
Bo Barrett (R-Tri County)2 singles, RBI
Ryan Finn (R-Delphi) 2 singles
Matt Cooper (R-Benton Central) 2 walks

REMINGTON, IN (7-16-2003) - The second night of Post 20's road swing went a lot better than the first. After getting bombed 15-7 at Plymouth on Tuesday night (July15), Crown Point rallied Wednesday from a 5-1 deficit to win at sectional rival Remington 10-5.

"I'm pretty confident about us winning our sectional," said shortstop Chad Pierce after the nine-inning contest. "Beyond that, we might a have a little trouble."

Remington (about 50 miles south of Merrillville) was the final unknown for CP players at the sectional level, Post 20 (16-3) had already defeated Hobart and Lowell this season but the Jasper County American Legion representative, made up of players from Rensselaer, Benton Central, Twin Lakes, Frontier and host Tri-County, had been an unknown to CP most of the season.

CP, which has been short of pitching all year, could have been in trouble here in pro-sized Remington Park because they used up some pitching the night before. But Crown Point center fielder Jake Pierce, the CPHS center fielder during the high school season, pitched a strong seven innings before left-hander Brandon Barr got the save.

"He could have gone longer," said manager Tony Samano, who is trying to line up his pitchers for next week's playoffs. "I wanted to get him out of there. Barr did a nice job. They bombed him in Plymouth last night but he's got a nice little curve and he gets it over."

Rensselaer took a 5-1 lead in the second inning when two throwing errors and four walks by Pierce created five runs for the home team on a warm 75-degree night. But Pierce shut down Remington for the next five innings to give his team time to rally.

In the third inning, a triple from Chad Pierce, a walk to Lance Losinksi and and a single by Jon Koutelas cut the lead to 5-2 against Twin Lakes high school left-hander Billy Brown. Kyle Long cut the lead to 5-3 on an RBI-ground out. Brian Sparks beat out a ground ball to third base and Nick Bodinet walked before Mike Schultz slapped a two-run game-tying single.

Crown Point, which has lost only to Terre Haute, Plymouth and Bristol, took a 6-5 lead in the fourth inning on a double to left by Losinski. RBI hits from Long and Sparks upped the lead to 8-5 in the seventh inning and Sparks increased the lead to 10-5 with a run-scoring hit in the ninth inning.

All American Legion teams have lost games to the heavy rains this summer. Remington has lost nine games to the weather while CP has lost that number and more.

"It's a good thing we didn't play all those games," admits Samano. "Because we don't have the pitchers for that."

Pre-season projected starters Jeff Mills, Lance Losinki and Jason Plys are all injured and unlikely to be able to pitch any length of time in the upcoming playoffs. Kyle Long and Jake Pierce had filled in admirably as starters while Barr has contributed as a starter and a reliever. CPHS 2003 starting pitchers Brian Sparks and Mike Schultz are Post 20's most experienced starters heading into next Wednesday's playoff opener against Hobart but when the games extend to nine innings in the state tournament, who starts is not as important as who finishes. Kyle Long might be the best 'closer.'

POST NOTES: If Remington plays CP in the CP Sectional they will probably see three-sport Rensselaer star Jeremy Rodibaugh, who was not at the game Wednesday night. Rodibaugh's manager said he was at the Jasper County Fair showing a hog in a 4H competition. Rodibaugh was the top pitcher for Rensselaer this past year.

Remington Park is one of the top Legion parks in this part of the state. In a very quiet setting next to an open field on the outskirts of the tiny town, the field is large with stands for over 200. Concessions are available and plentiful (only 50 cents for popcorn) and, with the Little League season over, there is plenty of parking. The top four parks in northern Indiana are probably Teagle Field in CP, Bill Nixon Field in Plymouth, Loeb Stadium in Lafayette and Remington Park. Teagle Field is the only Legion-owned park in northern Indiana. Loeb and Remington are owned by the town.

Crown Point defeated Remington 2-0 in the CP Sectional last year when CP advanced to the state finals. Even though Bristol had a 14-game winning streak after they won the Crown Point Invitational, Post 20 still thinks that Plymouth is the team to beat.

"We should have beaten Bristol," said coach Art Samano. "We left the winning runs on base."

Plymouth (16-2) beat Lafayette Post 11 in a double-header on July 13 by scores of 7-4 and 6-5. Without a lot of home run power, CP will be better off at home for the sectional and, hopefully, at Lafayette's spacious Loeb Stadium at the regional. Plymouth's Bill Nixon field is relatively small and suited to Plymouth's power-hitting squad.

CROWN POINT Post 20 (15-3)
Manager Tony Samano

6-11-3: CP (20) 20,    Merrillville (430) 4
6-17-3: CP (20) 5,     Hammond (168) 3
6-18-3: CP (20) 7,     Whiting (80) 4
6-20-3: CP (20) 10,    Cal City (330) 3
6-23: CP (20) 14,     Highland (180) 0
6-24-3: CP (20) 6,      Muncie (19) 5
6-27-3:   CP (20)   4,     Chicago Apaches 0
6-29 (S) at Walton (Rain)
6-29 (S) at Walton (Rain)
6-30 (Sun) at New Castle (Rain)
6-30 (Sun) at New Castle (Rain)
7-3-3: CP (20) 6,          Lowell (101) 1
7-5-3 (Sat) at Lafayette (11) Rain
7-5-3: (Sat) at Lafayette (11) Rain
7-6-3 : 3-4 Terre Haute Post 346 (18-5)
7-6-3 : Terre Haute Post 346 (Rain)
7-7-3 : Mishawaka 161 (Rain)
7-8-3: Hobart 54 (Rain)
7-9-3: 9-4 at Whiting (80)
7-10-3: 16-12 Hammond (168)

7-11: 0-0 Whiting Post 80
7-11: 12-5 South Bend Post 50
7-13: 3-4 Bristol Post 143 (20-3)
7-13: 11-1 Lowell Post 101

7-15: 7-15 at Plymouth Post 27 (17-4)
7-16: 10-5 at Remington Post 280 (11-5)
7-17 (Th) at Highland Post 180 - 6 p.m.
7-18 (F) East Chicago Post 369 - 6:30 p.m.
7-19 (Sat) Jay Randolph Post 507 - 2 games - 5 p.m.
7-20 (Sun) American Legion all-star game - 7 p.m.
7-21 (M) Plymouth Post 27 - 7 p.m.

CROWN POINT SECTIONAL
7-22-3: (Tu) LOWELL vs. Remington - 7 p.m.
7-23-3 (W) CROWN POINT vs. Hobart - 7 p.m.
7-24-3 (Th) Winner's bracket final - 7 p.m.
7-25-3 (F) Loser's bracket semifinal - 7 p.m.
7-26-3 (S) Loser's bracket final game - 6:30 p.m.
7-27-3 (Sun) Championship game one - 2:30 p.m.
7-27-3 (Sun) Championshop game two (if necessary) after game one.

Lafayette Regional
double-elimination at Loeb Stadium in Lafayette
8-1 (F) 2 first round games
8-2 (Sat.) 3 second round games
8-3 (Sun) championship round

2003 State Finals in Madison, Ind.
at Madison Shawe high school in Madison
8-7 (Th) first round game
8-8 (F) 2 first round games
8-9 (Sat.) 3 second round games
8-10 (Sun) championship round

AMERICAN LEGION State Champions
2002: Evansville Post 265
2001: Evansville Post 265
2000: Madison Post 9
1999: Terre Haute Post 346
1998: Anderson Post 127
1997: Terre Haute Post 346
1996: South Bend Post 357
1995: Evansville Post 265
1994: Terre Haute Post 346
1993: Lafayette Post 11
1992: Evansville Newburgh Post 44
1991: Highland Post 180
1990: Muncie Post 11