Bulldogs' 14-hit attack buries Highland in 11-1, 5-inning win

A USA-365.com Special Report By Dave Woodworth

4-8-2006

Thursday, 4-6-2006 - 50 degrees & windy at Crown Point

WP - Chris Saroff  (1-0)  8 Ks, 4 walks, CG
LP - Kyle Ruebel (0-1)  0Ks, 1 walks (1-inning)
J.D. Fabian  1K, 1HB, 0 walk (1-inning)
Justin Kaczmarski  1K, 0 walk (2-plus innings)
Nick Cianci  (faced one batter in 5th)   

HIGHLAND (0-2)
Matt Bugajski (3B) single
Bob Weishar (RF) single

CROWN POINT (2-0)
Jon Sertich (CF) 2 singles, 3 RBIs, stolen base
Tommy Wise (LF) 3 singles, RBI
Matt Jansen (1B) single
Tim Mummery (RF) 2 singles
Adam Kennedy (C) Triple, 2 RBIs
Chris Saroff (P) "game-winning" single, RBI
Nick Ullman (2B) single, double, 2 RBIs
Tommy Parks (3B) 2 doubles, 2 RBIs

CROWN POINT, IN (4-6-2006) -  Crown Point launched a 14-hit attack and junior right hander Chris Saroff made good use of his time on the mound en route to 8 strikeouts, as Crown Point defeated Highland 11-1 in front of a small following of shivering fans at Crown Point High School.

Under grey skies threatening of rain, and the windchill factor making itself known, Sarhoff wasted no time in mowing down six of the first seven batters he faced in the first two innings.  Meanwhile, the Bulldogs bats collected 9 hits and 8 runs over the first two innings as CP took a commanding lead.  

The Bulldogs brought nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the first inning as Tim Mummery, Nick Ulman, Jon Sertich and Tommy Wise all singled.  Tommy Parks collected the first of two doubles from his number 8 batter's position to drive in the 5th run of the first inning for CP.

The Trojans starting right handed pitcher, senior Kyle Ruebel (6-0, 180), never got on track as he gave up 5 hits and 5 runs in the first inning.  Senior J.D. Fabian came on in relief for Ruebel in the 2nd inning for Highland, but he gave up 4 more hits and 3 runs.  In fact the first batter Fabian faced (Saroff, the Bulldog lead-off man) was hit by an errant pitch.  Mummery singled Sarhoff over to third. Ulman launched a double to left-center field, driving in both Sarhoff and Mummery to give CP a 7-0 lead.  Sertich hit a single to left, which allowed Ullman to score from second base.

With his team trailing 8-0, Highland coach Dan Miller brought in senior Justin Kaczmarski (5-10, 195), and he was effective in quieting the Bulldog bats in the 3rd and 4th innings, striking out one, and forcing two ground outs in the third, and two fly-outs and a pick-off of Matt Jansen at first base, who had just singled.

Highland mounted their only true scoring threat in the top of the fourth inning.  With two outs and a runner (sophomore catcher Brian Altgilbers) on at first, Bob Weishar collected the first hit of the day for the Trojans.  A passed ball allowed runners to advance to second and third.  Designated hitter Nick Cianci drew a walk and Highland had the bases loaded.  Trojan second baseman Jimmy Dempsey lined a hard chopper toward CP third baseman Tommy Parks, who mishandled the ball and was unable to make a play.  Atlgilbers scored from third and the bases remained loaded.  But the rally attempt was thwarted when Highland's number 9 batter tapped a soft ball toward first base, where Jansen made the unassisted putout.

Highland's last offensive threat came in the top of the 5th inning as lead-off man Mike McFarland drew a walk and Matt Bugajski singled to put runner at first and second.  Number 3 batter Tim Usher flew out to center field, which allowed McFarland to tag up and advance to third base.  Clean-up man Ryan Drake grounded out to first for another Jansen unassisted putout, and Bugajski was erased from play as he was caught stealing second, with Ullman laying down the tag for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldog bats came back to life in the bottom of the 5th-inning against the previously effective Kaczmarski.  The Trojans were unable to retire any Bulldog batters in the 5th, as Wise led off with a single, and scored on Adam Kennedy's triple.  Parks collected his double, driving in Kennedy for a 10-1 Bulldog lead.  Needing just one more run for a 10-run rule win, Matt Ernest's hard-hit grounder was mishandled for an error by the shortstop and he beat the throw to first to.  The Chris Saroff hit a line drive to left field to score Parks for the 11th run of the day to end the game.

The Bulldogs have two more games Saturday, April 8 at the Kankakee Valley Invitational before they open up the Duneland Athletic Conference season next Tuesday, April 11 at home against highly regarded Lake Central. The Indians are ranked No. 2 in the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Class 4A Poll, while CP is tied for 5th.  Another DAC member, LaPorte, is ranked No. 4 in that same poll.  The Bulldogs will face the Slicers Wednesday, April 19 in LaPorte.

After the Bulldogs win at the US Steelyard 12-1 over Hebron on Tuesday, senior Matt Jansen said the team was definitely playing this season with high expectations.

"We're definitely thinking conference championship and sectional championship," Jansen said.  "And I'll take it from there.  We were definitely ready to start the season.  Stop practicing and come and play in a beautiful stadium like this."

CP NOTES:  The latest baseball schedule has CP on the road on April 22 at Class 4A No. 9 Lafayette Jefferson at 9:00 a.m. CDT (10:00 a.m., EDT) and then the Bulldogs travel to Harrison high in West Lafayette for a 1:30 p.m., CDT (2:30 p.m., EDT) game.

The May 6 Crown Point game at Andrean (2-0) certainly will feature at least one highly-rated team.  Andrean has moved to the Class 3A No. 1 ranking state wide after one week of the season.  CP plays at 3A No. 5 Griffith on April 15 and the double DAC round robin schedule means the Bulldogs will face the highly ranked Indians at LC May 1st, and the Bulldogs will host LaPorte on May 9.

USA-365 Internet Radio has announced the spring baseball and softball schedule, which can be found by clicking here.  Our next Internet Radio broadcast will be Thursday, April 13 when Crown Point hosts Chesterton in girls softball.  Our pre-game show starts at 4:15 p.m., with the first pitch scheduled for 4:30 p.m., CDT.