Crown Point, Lake Central battle three times in week before Bulldogs prevail 22-8 in windy slugfest
	A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith 4-30-2008

Friday, 4-25-2008  -  78 degrees in ST. JOHN, IN

WP - Blake Mascarello (3-0)  5K, 1 walk  ( 2.7 inn)
(SP) Jimmy Donley (CP) 1K, 0 walks (1.3 inn)
LP - Danny Manick (2-2) 0K, 0 walk, 3 ERs (0 inn.)
(SP) Brett Summers (LC) 6K, 5 walks (4 inn.)

CROWN POINT (12-0-2) starters
Eric Clayton (SS) 3-for-6, RBI, 2 runs scored
Scott Donley (2B) 1-for-4, HR, 2 walks, 3 runs scored
Nick Hladek (C) 0-for-1, 4 walks
Mike Kozlwoski (3B) 2-for-5, HR, 3 RBIs
Jeff Limbaugh (1B) 3-for-3, 2 HRs, 5 RBIs
Josh Negele (CF)  3-for-3, 3 doubles, 2 walsk 2 RBIs, 3 runs scored
Jim Donley (RF) 2-for-5, HR, double 4 RBIs
Blake Mascarello (DH-P) 2-for-5, HR, 3 RBIs
Jordan Lindemann (LF) 1-for-4, run scored

LAKE CENTRAL (10-3-2)
Kyle Kaluza (CF) 1-for-4, run scored
Anthony Olund (2B) 0-for-3
AJ Doyle (3B) 1-for-4, double, 2 RBIs
Ryan Boss (RF) 1-for-3, walk
Eric Summers (OP) 3-for-3, HR, double 3 RBIs, 2 runs scored
Steve Traficante (LF) 2-for-3, triple, double, 2 runs scored, RBI
Danny Manick (DH-P) 1-for-4, RBI
Matt Skura (1B) 0-for-3
Frank Ruvoli (C) 2-for-3

Tuesday, 4-22-2008  -  78 degrees in ST. JOHN, IN

(SP) Blake Mascarello (CP) 10K, 2 walks (5 innings)
Mike Kozlowski (P) 4K, 0 walks (3 innings)

(SP) Eric Summers (LC) 4K, 2 walks (5 innings
Danny Manick (LC) 1K, 1 walk ( 1.7 inn)
Roger Samano (LC) 0K 3 walks

CROWN POINT (10-0-1)  starters
Eric Clayton (SS) 1 for-4, RBI
Scott Donley (2B) 0-for-4
Nick Hladek (C) 1-for-2  HR, RBI, 2 walks
Mike Kozlwoski (3B) 0-for-3, walk
Blake Mascarello (P) 1-for-3, walk
Jim Donley (RF)  2-for-4
Jeff Limbaugh (1B) 1-for-4, double
Josh Negele (DH) 0-for-3
Jordan Lindeman (RF) 3-for-4, HR, double, RBI

LAKE CENTRAL (9-2-1) starters
Kyle Kaluza (CF) 0-for-4
Anthony Olund (2B) 3-for-4, 2 doubles, 2 runs scored
AJ Doyle (3B) 2-for-4, RBI, run scored
Ryan Boss (RF) HR, double, 2 RBIs
Eric Summers (P) 1-for-4,
Steve Traficante (LF) 0-for-3
Danny Manick (DH) 1-for-3
Matt Skura (1B) 2-for-3, walk, double, RBI
Frank Ruvoli (C) 0-for-3, HBP



PLYMOUTH Invitational
5-2-8 at Bill Nixon Field - Plymouth - $7 all day tickets - 1 PM (EST)
4A No. 2 Penn (11-0) vs. (Allen County) Carroll (8-3)
4A No. 1 CROWN POINT (12-0-2) vs. Plymouth (4-5)
3rd place - 6 p.m. (EST)
Championship game - 8 p.m. (EST)

Click Here for 2008 CP Baseball Schedule

ST. JOHN (4-25-2008) - When you play sports, I think you want to play in a memorable event.  Something that transcends the normal schedule.  Usually those moments are limited to league championship games and the post-season.

But years from now, almost certainly after the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) rules on suspended and postponed games have been changed, the boys who now play for Crown Point and Lake Central will long recall the unprecedented 'trilogy of darkness', the first time in recent Northwest Indiana baseball history that two teams have played consecutive games that were called by darkness with the score tied.

Crown Point's boys, however, will recall how the third game went.  Meeting for the third time in four days, top-ranked Crown Point rode a 20-30 mile-an-hour southwest wind for six home runs in a dominating 22-8 win over ninth-ranked Lake Central.  The Bulldogs, who rallied twice to force ties and the double darkness delayed deciding game late Friday, rallied again after trailing 8-5 after four innings.

Crown Point coach Steve Strayer and Lake Central's Todd Iwema were in virtually the same position.  They had two veteran pitchers they could use and then they were down to rookies.  Strayer went with his rookie, senior Jim Donley, who was making his first varsity start while Iwema brought back 6-foot-8 right-hander Eric Summers, a regular, on two days rest.  Both were ineffective and got knocked out.

But CP's Mike Hernadez got out of the fourth inning with his side down just 8-5 and LC's first relief choice, veteran Danny Manick, pitching on one day's rest, got nobody out in the Bulldogs' devastating 10-run fifth inning.  When Jeff Limbaugh's second home run of the game knocked out Summers in the fifth inning, Iwema went to Manick, who gave up a double to Josh Negele and a three-run homer by Blake Mascarello, giving the top-ranked Bulldogs a 10-8 lead.

Iwema had to go to junior varsity sophomores Billy Venturelli and Kurt Kudrecki, who needed to face 10 more Bulldogs before the fifth inning ended.  Crown Point (12-0-2) also sent 11 men to bat in the sixth inning, scoring seven more runs, including a rare brother home show by senior Jimmy Donley and his sophomore brother Scott.  Jim Donley's 360-foot, two-run homer made it 17-8 before Scott Donley 's 370-foot homer to left center made it 21-8.  It is probably the first time in CP history that two brothers have hit home runs in the same inning.

"They'll certainly remember this," said Strayer, of his still undefeated team.  "You've got to look at it as a positive.  If you look at this in a negative way, it drains you.  It's great competition against a great team.  But right now, we're a little exhausted."

Iwema was unhappy with the blowout loss, but he was even more displeased with the fact that his team lost a significant lead to CP for the third time in a week.

"Its the same thing," he said after the game.  "I didn't say anything (to his players) after the game.  Until we can step up when the game is tight, we're going to beat the teams who aren't as good as us and lose to everybody else."

"We didn't make plays behind our pitchers.  We didn't make plays when we had a chance to win.  We just didn't respond."

Lake Central (10-3-2) has led by two or more runs in all 15 games, but they lost that lead five times, including three times against CP.  In the three games against CP, Lake Central led 5-3 Tuesday and was tied, took a 10-2 lead Wednesday and allowed the eight tying runs and led 8-5 Friday and gave it up with the wind blowing out in summertime heat.

"We knew it was going to be a long game," said Strayer.  "And we didn't know exactly what was going to happen if Blake wore out.  So we went backwards today.  We wanted to see what Jimmy (Donley) could do.  He has good velocity and he usually has a good off-speed pitch but he didn't have it today.  We thought we had Mike for an inning or two and then we knew we had Blake."

"We trusted out bats today and it was good we could do that.  We batted 1-thru-9 and that wears on the pitcher.  You can't be sure you'll score every inning against a good team like Lake Central.  I thought we gave them too many breaks in the first two games, but tonight, 1-though-9, we kept pressure on them."

This three-game series should end up meaning a lot to both teams.  It's rare you can play three Top-10 teams in a week's time.  CP and LC, in effect, did that and both competed in a spirited, championship atmosphere.

"We saw the best of the best," said Iwema, who didn't totally buy into the trilogy being an eventual plus for his team.  "Maybe this will help us when we play Kokomo with their left-hander at the end of the year."

Crown Point, with sophomores Scott Donley, Jeff Limbaugh and Josh Negele collecting a combined three homers, two doubles and five walks, is starting to scare people.  The Bulldogs have outscored 14 foes 135-50, Kozlowski has five home runs, Limbaugh has four and everyone in Friday's starting lineup has at least one homer.  Great teams aren't always coming from behind to win because great teams aren't always behind.  But it's probably time to remind folks that the 2008 CP team is a rebuilt squad that graduated six starting position players off a 29-3 regional champion.

Numbers are fun and Lake Central certainly tested the Bulldogs and there is a question now of how good LC's pitching and defense is.

"We play great when there's no pressure on us," Iwema said.  "That's what separates the great teams from the good ones."

The Bulldogs are going to have to get past LaPorte Wednesday (April 30) and maybe 4A No. 2 Penn (May 2) before anybody talks about them being a great team.  You can't be a great team in April no matter how many homers you hit.

"I don't remember six home runs in a Crown Point game," said Strayer, who is in his sixth season.  "But I don't remember a wind blowing out like this one.  They (LC) are a good team, but they ran out of pitching before we did.  This isn't going to happen again.  It'll be their best against our best next time we play them and we'll see what happens then."

CP-LC NOTES:  The last time Crown Point scored 20 runs in a game was April 14, 2004 when the Bulldogs beat Hebron 20-6.  But 22 runs is not a CP record.  Not close.  Some of us had forgotten that in the 2004 season opener, CP defeated Hammond 35-0 as Matt Jansen pitched a no-hitter.  The Bulldogs defeated Gary West Side 25-1 on May 12, 2001.  Aaron Gonzales hit three home runs in a 26-8 win over Gavit on April 6, 1999.  That was the final meeting between Hammond and CP to this date.

What happened to Crown Point and Lake Central last week is unprecedented.  But there was a similar scenario five years ago, again due to the rules that only the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) follow closely in this area.

On April 17, 2003, Crown Point won at home over LaPorte by a 10-1 score.  Adam Vetter pitched a three-hitter.  On May 7, 2003, Crown Point made the trip to LaPorte for a DAC Wednesday afternoon game but the contest was rained out before the game began.  By DAC rules, the Bulldogs, who were then playing for rookie coach Steve Strayer, went back to LaPorte the next day, played an 11-inning 1-1 tie on a Thursday that was called due to darkness.  CP played and defeated Michigan City 11-3 Friday and returned to LaPorte the next Monday, May 12.  The Bulldogs again went into extra innings, scoring five times in the eighth to beat LaPorte 6-1.

Where memories may be skewed here is that CP and LaPorte met a fourth time that season.  At the South Bend Regional (the format called for a four-team regional at that time), CP faced LaPorte again and again the game went into extra innings.  Both CP's Vetter and LaPorte's Andy Weeks pitched 10 shutout innings before leaving.  Crown Point's Kevin Vandas won the game with a 12th inning RBI single off LaPorte's Jeff DeMaas.  Lake Central then beat CP for the regional title.

There is no record of anyone in Northwest Indiana in recent history playing baseball games of seven innings or more that were called by darkness on successive days.  The DAC is using a rule that is very much a dinosaur.  National high school rules call for all games that are not completed due to rain or darkness to be replayed from the start, but no one locally adheres to that rule because it defies common sense.

All NW Indiana leagues other than the DAC, have rules that say that games that are suspended due to darkness are not canceled.  The IHSAA says that Indiana prep leagues may choose to re-start baseball games that are stopped by rain or darkness at the point at which they were stopped.  The DAC adheres to the national rules, even though the IHSAA gives them that option.

Eventually, Lake Central and Crown Point could see this double replay as a benefit.  The IHSAA limits teams to 28 games, another dinosaur rule.  LC and CP are huge schools with very deep rosters and they are not in the same sectional.  They had the pitching to handle what occurred last week.  CP soph Josh Negele pitched a complete-game three-hitter in the 5-3 win over Portage Thursday.  Lake Central's Max Majchrzak pitched seven innings in Thursdays' 12-3 win over Merrillville.  Both are arguably the 'fifth starting pitcher' on each team.  Smaller schools simply would not have had extra starting pitchers available.

With the interest it generated and the competition it provided, LC and CP may begin to ask why are they driving 100 miles and paying $4 a gallon to play top teams when we have them a state-rated giant school three miles away and they can play a conference game with a big school 'equal' any day of the week.  Bottom line:  CP and LC just got two more regular season games than everybody else.

In the 10-10 tie with LC on April 23, Crown Point scored five times in the sixth inning and three more in the seventh to tie the game.  Sophomore first baseman Jeff Limbaugh had a two-run double in the sixth and an RBI double in the seventh.  Mike Hernandez' sacrifice fly ball tied the game 10-10 and Hernandez was able to hold LC scoreless in the bottom of the seventh.  Ryan Boss had a three-run homer and AJ Doyle had a three-run fifth inning double for LC, which had a 10-2 lead after five innings.

Lake Centrals Danny Manick is well aware he's playing his final baseball games.

"I always thought I'd be playing baseball," he said after the 5-5 Lake Central tie with Crown Point.  "I've played baseball since I was four or five years old."

Manick (6-4, 245) has a scholarship to play football at Ball State after two seasons as the LC football defensive end.  "I didn't start playing football until I was in seventh grade.  I thought  I'd go to college and play baseball."

2008 (4A) Crown Point Bulldogs  (12-0-2, 6-0 DAC)
Coach Steve Strayer - (112-45-1, 5 years) 29-3 in 2007
DAC games in CAPS - weekday games - 4:30 -unless otherwise indicated

Northwest Indiana Challenge
4-3 (W)  10-0 at Highland (7-7)
4-4 (W) 9-2 Munster  (11-5)
4-5 (W) 10-4 at Griffith (8-5)

4-7 (W) 5-0 Hanover Central  (7-3)
4-8 (W) 9-0 MERRILLVILLE (3-9)
4-12 (S) at (SB) Clay - rain -canceled
4-12 (S) at (SB) Washington - rain -canceled
4-14 (W) 12-2 Michigan City (2-4) in Gary
4-15 (W) 5-4 (8 innings) LaPORTE  (10-5)
4-16 (W) 19-3 VALPARAISO (5-7)
4-18 (W) 8-6 CHESTERTON  (9-3)
4-19 (W) 6-1 Huntington North (7-5)
4-22 (Tu) at LAKE CENTRAL  (10-3-2)
4-24 (Th) PORTAGE (7-7)
4-26 (S) Morton (8-6) 6:30 p.m.
4-28 (M) MERRILLVILLE (1-10)
4-30 (W) LaPORTE  (13-4)
5-2 (F) MICHIGAN CITY

Plymouth Tournament - with Penn, Carroll and CP
5-3 (S) vs (Allen County) Carroll (8-3)
5-3 (S) probably 4A No. 2 Penn (11-0) 7:30 p.m. (CST)

5-5 (M) Illiana Christian (10-4) 6:30 p.m.
5-6 (Tu) at VALPARAISO
5-8 (Th) at CHESTERTON
5-9 (F) Boone Grove  (7-2) 7:30 p.m.
5-13 (Tu) LAKE CENTRAL
5-15 (Th) PORTAGE

Crown Point Classic Tournament
with Northridge, Kankakee Valley and St. Joseph's
5-17 (S) semifinals (a.m.)
5-17 (S) finals (p.m).

5-20 (Tu) at Lowell
5-23 (F) Elkhart Memorial - 6:30 p.m.

4A Sectional 2 (at LaPorte)
with LaPorte, Michigan City, Hobart, Portage, Chesterton, Valparaiso and Merrillville
5-29 (Tu) quarterfinals (TBA)
5-31 (Th) semifinals (TBA)
6-2 (S) championship (TBA) 

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