NW Indiana HS Baseball: Crown Point 10, Valparaiso 0 (5-innings)

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Valparaiso (15-13)	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	0	5	3
CROWN POINT (21-8)	2	6	0	0	2	-	-	10	10	0

Thursday, June 1, 2006 - 68 degrees, cloudy at Valparaiso 4A Sectional Semifinal

WP - Matt Jansen (7-2) CG, 8K, 1 walk (74 pitches)
LP - Chooch Sizemore (6-5) 1K, 2 walks (1.3 inn) 6 earned runs

VALPARAISO (15-13)
Tim Handlon (1B) Single, walk
Chooch Sizemore (P-RF) 1-for-2, single
Billy Allen (LF) 1 for 2, single
Sean Funes (2B) 1 for 2, single

CROWN POINT (21-8)
Jon Sertich (CF) HR, single, 2 RBIs, 2 stolen bases
Matt Ernest (SS) Double, single 2 RBIs, walk, stolen base
Tommy Wise (DH) 2-for-3, 2 singles
Chris Saroff (3B) Single, 2 RBIs
Tim Mummery (1B) Single, walk
Nick Ullman (2B) Single, HBP (twice), RBI
Adam Kennedy (C) Single, walk, 2 runs scored

1. Highland Sectional
Game 1 – Lowell 5, Highland 0.
Game 2 – Lake Central 12, East Chicago 1 (6 innings).
Game 3 – Lake Central 5, Lowell 2.
Game 4 – Munster 13, Gary West Side 0 (5 innings).
Championship – Munster 6, Lake Central 4

2. Valparaiso Sectional
Game 1 – Chesterton 4, Hobart 3.
Game 2 – Merrillville 9, Portage 4.
Game 3 – Merrillville 6, Chesterton 2.
Game 4 – Crown Point. 10, Valparaiso 0 (5 innings).
Championship - Crown Point 5, Merrillville 2

3. South Bend Clay Sectional
Game 1 – LaPorte 9, (SB) Washington 5.
Game 2 – South Bend Clay 5, Michigan City 2.
Game 3 – LaPorte 6, (SB) Clay 2.
Game 4 – South Bend Riley 8, South Bend Adams 2.
Championship – LaPorte 11, (SB) Riley 2

4. Elkhart Memorial Sectional (6 teams)
Game 1 – Elkhart Central 5, Goshen 2.
Game 2 – Penn 13, Mishawaka 4.
Game 3 – Penn 4, Elkhart Central 2.
Game 4 – Concord 8, Elkhart Memorial 2.
Championship – Penn 11, Concord 7.

5. Carroll (Fort Wayne) Sectional
Game 1 – Columbia City 11, DeKalb 4.
Game 2 – Warsaw 3, East Noble 2.
Game 3 – Columbia City 4, (Allen Co.) Carroll 3 (8 innings).
Championship – Warsaw 1, Columbia City 0.

6. Fort Wayne Snider Sectional
Game 1 – (FW) Northrop 16, (FW) South Side 0 (5 innings).
Game 2 – Homestead 2, Huntington North 1.
Game 3 – Homestead 4, (FW) Northrop 1.
Game 4 – (FW) Snider 9, (FW) North Side 1.
Championship – (FW) Snider 3, Homestead 0.

7. Lafayette Jefferson Sectional
Game 1 – Logansport 2, Lafayette Jefferson 1.
Game 2 – Harrison (West Lafayette) 6, McCutcheon 2.
Game 3 – Harrison (West Lafayette) 11, Logansport 7.
Game 4 – Kokomo 14, Marion 4.
Championship – Harrison (West Lafayette) 8, Kokomo 7.

8. Ben Davis Sectional (6 teams)
Game 1 – Zionsville 13, Avon 2.
Game 2 – Ben Davis 17, Indianapolis Northwest 6.
Game 3 – Zionsville 7, Ben Davis 6 (9 innings).
Game 4 – Brownsburg 10, Pike 0 (6 innings).
Championship – Zionsville 6, Brownsburg 4.

Class 4A Northern Regionals
6-5 (Mon) CROWN POINT (22-8) at Munster (21-10) Mon, 7 pm CDT
6-6 (Tu) Penn (25-5) at LaPorte (26-6) 4:30 p.m..
6-6 (Tu) Fort Wayne Snider (22-6) at Warsaw (17-10) 4:30 p.m.
6-6 (Tu) Zionsville (20-8) at (West Lafayette) Harrison (13-17) TBA

Class 4A Northern Semistate
Saturday, June 10, 2006. Tickets: $6, $8 (all day)
Home Team: The second-named team in each game is the designated home team.

Lafayette Jefferson Semi-State (Loeb Stadium)
6-10 (S) Penn or LaPorte vs. CROWN POINT or Munster (11 am EST)
6-10 (S) Zionsville or Harrison vs. Snider or Warsaw (1 pm EST)
6-10 (S) Semistate Championship Game (8 pm. EST)

VALPARAISO (6-2-2006) If you beat someone twice during the regular season in football it means you will almost certainly defeat them in a third playoff meeting. If you beat some team twice in basketball it means you will probably beat them in a third post-season meeting. It's the nature of those games. If you beat a baseball team twice it means absolutely nothing for a third meeting.

Valparaiso's Vikings almost certainly knew that, but they had it demonstrated to them vividly late Thursday as they were bombed off their home field 10-0 by rival Crown Point. Valpo coach Paul Coffin, recognizing his side's two Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) wins over the Bulldogs (21-8) knew that what happened under cloudy skies Thursday was a possibility.

"That's the Crown Point team everybody was expecting to see all season," he said. "We were worried all year that they'd wake up at the wrong time. This happened two years in a row with us and Merrillville. They beat us twice during the regular season and we beat them in the sectional. They got the hits they needed. If we do something in the first inning, it might be different."

Valparaiso (15-13) got two one-out singles off CP's ace left-hander Matt Jansen (7-2) in the first inning but the Bulldog senior struck out Jamie Smith and Jimmy Myers. CP then took the lead on a two-out, two-run, 2-2 pitch first inning home run by Bulldog centerfielder Jon Sertich off Valparaiso's star lefthander Charles "Chooch" Sizemore (6-5), who pitched a three-hitter in a 2-1 Valpo win over CP on April 17. The Bulldogs were off and running toward's CP's ninth consecutive victory.

"I'm guessing that Chooch is probably hurting a little bit," said Strayer. "He was battling, but when you're not 100%... we got on a little roll and it's tough. But there's been some times when we've won and we've still been a little flat and we can't do that. Everybody has to have their heads into the game because when we don't, we're a below average team."

Strayer is working hard trying to kill any overconfidence which could be fatal at this point. But CP, which has outscored nine foes 83-23, is playing as well as they could hope to be at this point. You probably cannot win the state title by taking six or seven one-run games in a row. You have to blow some teams out to set up your pitching. Not only did Matt Jansen get the job done against Valparaiso without any help, he also tossed only 74 pitches which sets him up for a potential regional championship game on June 6, even if he is needed to pitch an inning in the sectional championship game.

The home run by Sertich was obviously a telling blow, highlighted by the fact that this was Jon Sertich's debut in the cleanup spot in the batting order. Valparaiso's home field is not symmetrical. The right field fence is 345 feel away at the foul line. The left field foul pole is only 301 feet away. Sertich's homer traveled about 340 feet to straight away left field.

"It was a cheap home run," Strayer said later. "Jon knows that. It was probably a double in a lot of other parks. But he hit the ball hard. We adjust the lineup a lot depending on who does well in batting practice. That's what we always try to do. I thought our approach was really good today. But we have to keep approaching every game like this. Outscoring someone by 10 runs doesn't help you the next day."

Crown Point broke the game open with six runs in the second inning. Adam Kennedy walked and one out later, Tommy Wise singled to left. Nick Ullman, batting ninth against the left-hander, got lucky, looping a soft single over the fist baseman's head to make it 3-0. Valpo's defense broke down after that. Valpo second baseman Sean Funes overran Tim Mummery's soft ground ball, allowing Wise to score to make it 4-0.

Matt Ernest's RBI double to left center made it 5-0 before Coffin decided to pull Sizemore, who has been pitching with a back injury. Against No. 2 starter Clint Krysa, Chris Saroff lined a two-run single to left to make it 7-0 and a double steal rundown made it 8-0.

"We've been trying to get him through the season," said Coffin of Sizemore. "He tried his best today, but he left the pitch up to Sertich and he didn't miss it."

The complete game by Jansen allowed CP to line up side-arming right-hander Chris Saroff to face the predominantly right-handed hitting lineup of Merrillville, the sectional championship foe. The games comes so quickly there's no time to celebrate a win.

"It's tough to beat a team three times (in a row). My biggest fear was to draw Chesterton because we'd beaten them twice. Because when you've won twice, you say, 'Well, we've done it twice let's just go out and get it again.' While the other team's just gearing up for you. It's tough. I think we had that in our favor tonight."

SECTIONAL NOTES: Valparaiso had defeated Crown Point twice during the regular season 2-1 and 6-3. This was coach Steve Strayer's first win at Valparaiso in his four years as CP coach. The Bulldogs (21-8) were to play Merrillville (23-7) Friday for the Valpo Sectional championship in a game that will have a 4:45 start, the game pushed back from 4:30 p.m. due to finals at Merrillville.

Strayer hinted that his odd but effective lineup against Valpo, which had Sertich batting cleanup, Tommy Wise hitting eighth and Nick Ullman batting ninth, would change against the Pirates. Wise had batted fifth or sixth most of the year while Ullman had batted leadoff or third. Ullman, in the ninth hole to some extent because of an arm injury that limits his swing, was hit by pitches twice and had an RBI single.

Third baseman Tommy Parks, who broke his hand in early May, could play against Merrillville and Adam Farag (10-1), an off-speed left-hander.

"He was released by the doctor today," Strayer reported. "So, we can use him. There were a lot of guys we didn't get into the game tonight, but we'll have him tomorrow."

Strayer liked the fact that his team displayed a basic concept against a pitcher who was not overpowering.

"We started out going the other way," he said, "and when they came in on our hands, then we turned on the ball. If we keep that up, our chances have been pretty good."

2006 CROWN POINT (22-8, 8-6 DAC)
Coach Steve Strayer (4th Year)

Varsity Assistant: Rick Florkiewicz

21-12 in 2005, 17-11 in 2004, 23-10 in 2003
DUNELAND ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (DAC) GAMES IN CAPS

4-4-6 (W) vs. Hebron (5-8) W, 12-1 (5 innings)
4-6-6 (Th) vs. Highland (8-5) W, 11-1 (5 innings)

Kankakee Valley Invitational

4-8-6 (S) semifinal vs. Knox (3-9) W, 11-1 (5 innings)
4-8-6 (S) championship vs. Kankakee Valley (8-8) W, 10-0 (6 innings)

4-11-6 (Tu) Lake Central (9-5) W, 7-6
4-13-6 (Th) at Chesterton (6-9) W, 5-2
4-15-6 (S) at Griffith (15-5) L, 0-3
4-17-6 (M) at Valparaiso (9-4) L, 1-2
4-19-6 (W) at LaPORTE (12-3) L, 4-9
4-21-6 (F) at Merrillville (12-2) L, 2-4
4-22-6 (S) at (Lafayette) Jefferson (7-5) W, 4-2 (9 innings)
4-22-6 (S) at (West Lafayette) Harrison (6-9) W, 12-2
4-24-6 (M) Rensselaer (7-5) W,11-1 (5 innings)
4-25-6 (Tu) Portage (4-11) W, 7-3
4-27-6 (Th) Michigan City (5-12) L, 2-4
4-29-6 (S) Gavit (5-13) W, 15-1 (5 innings)

5-1-6 (M) at Lake Central (12-5) L, 0-6
5-3-6 (W) Chesterton (6-9) W, 2-1
5-5-6 (F) Valparaiso (12-7) L, 3-6
5-6-6 (S) at Andrean (15-5) L, 3-7
5-9-6 (Tu) LaPORTE (15-5) W, 16-5
5-16-6 (Tu) at Portage (4-12) W, 6-1
5-18-6 (Th) at Michigan City (5-12) W, 8-0
5-19-6 (Th) Merrillville (18-2) W, 6-5

Crown Point Classic
5-20-6 (S) semifinal (vs. Riley) W, 17-1 (5 innings)
5-20-6 (S) championship Heritage Christian W, 10-5

5-23-6 (Tu) at Lowell (5-13) W, 6-5
5-26-6 (F) Elkhart Memorial (11-5) W, 4-1

Valparaiso (4A) Sectional
6-02-06 (Th) semifinals vs. Valparaiso (15-13) W, 10-0
6-3-6 (F) sectional championship vs. Merrillville (23-8) W, 5-2

Class 4A Northern Regionals
6-5 (Mon) CROWN POINT (22-8) at Munster (21-10) Mon, 7 pm CDT
6-6 (Tu) Penn (25-5) at LaPorte (26-6) 4:30 p.m..
6-6 (Tu) Fort Wayne Snider (22-6) at Warsaw (17-10) 4:30 p.m.
6-6 (Tu) Zionsville (20-8) at (West Lafayette) Harrison (13-17) TBA

Class 4A Northern Semistate
Saturday, June 10, 2006. Tickets: $6, $8 (all day)
Home Team: The second-named team in each game is the designated home team.

Lafayette Jefferson Semi-State (Loeb Stadium)
6-10 (S) Penn or LaPorte vs. CROWN POINT or Munster (11 am EST)
6-10 (S) Zionsville or Harrison vs. Snider or Warsaw (1 pm EST)
6-10 (S) Semistate Championship Game (8 pm. EST)