Bulldogs give up 2 runs in 7th, lose 3-2 to Class 4A No. 1 Lake Central

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

4-20-2005

Monday, 4-18-2005  -  sunny, 80 degrees in St. John

WP – Brett Summers (3-0) CG, 8 K, 2 walks, 96 pitches
LP – Matt Jansen (2-1) CG, 10 K, 6 walks, 131 pitches

CROWN POINT (5-2, 2-1 DAC)
Matt Jansen (CP) Single, RBI
Nick Ullman (CP) Double, walk, RBI, stolen base
Adam Kennedy (CP) Single, run scored

LAKE CENTRAL (10-0, 3-0 DAC)

Matt Dodaro (LC) Double, single, RBI
Ryan Goodman (LC) Single, walk
Ryan Frost (LC) Single, RBI
Troy Russell (LC) Single, run scored

ST JOHN, IN (4-18-2005) - The difference between a dream win and a nightmare loss was the one that got away Monday afternoon for Crown Point.

The one that got away led to the game that got away, Crown Point's 3-2 loss to top-ranked Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) champion Lake Central in mid-summer heat late Monday afternoon.

When CP shortstop Matt Ernest and second baseman Nick Ullman turned a ground ball double play on LC's Brad Gerlach in the bottom of the seventh inning, the game appeared to be over.

When next batter Troy Russell swung and missed Matt Jansen's curve ball, the game indeed seemed over. But the ball got away from CP catcher Adam Kennedy and Russell reached first without a play.

The 1-0 pitch to Ryan Frost also bounced past the CP catcher, allowing Russell to reach second base. Then, on a 3-2 pitch, junior left fielder Ryan Frost pulled a game-tying single to left field.

A high Jansen fast ball tipped of the glove of Kennedy on a 1-2 pitch, allowing Frost to advance to second and LC's No. 3 hitter Matt Dodaro sliced a hard line drive hit to right field to end the game, a miraculous victory for the state's top-ranked team.

“We're tired of coming over here and losing like this,” said a visibly upset coach Steve Strayer after the last second loss that broke a three-game Bulldog win streak. “This is the third straight year that's happened here. I'm tired of it and I know they (the players) are tired of it.”

LC coach Todd Iwema was as stressed out as a 10-0 coach can be.

Excuse me while I get my heart medicine,” he said. “You never want to lose, but sometimes we needed a wake-up call. We were very positive with them (in the post-game talk). This can be a huge springboard.”

Fate found LC left fielder Ryan Frost, who made two key plays to swing the game towards the home team.

In the fifth inning, with CP leading 2-1 Matt Jansen hit a pop fly about 90 feet behind third base in foul territory. Frost, a JV player in 2004, made a running catch and fired the ball home where catcher Ryan Goodman made the catch and tag on Bulldog base runner Craig Eberhart.

“I just tried to throw the ball over the top of him,” Frost said after the game. You throw the ball right over the top of the runner's head.”

Strayer said, “Maybe I shouldn't have sent him, but he (Frost) had to make a perfect throw. The ball missed Craig's shoulder by a couple of inches. If that throw hits his shoulder, that's the game.”

But the throw was strong, just like the game. There were no errors.

A half dozen pro scouts and a crowd of about 100 saw both pitchers throw hard and get key strikeouts with runners on base. Jansen struck out three batters after he walked the bases full in the LC second inning.

Summers, the 6-5 right-hander, who retired CP's first nine hitters before Nick Ullman doubled and scored in the fourth, led off each of the final three innings with strikeouts.

LC had outscored nine previous foes 89-17 but Jansen, the 6-3 Crown Point left-handed football quarterback, threw 131 pitches in the two hour battle between long time neighbors and rivals.

Strayer had right-hander Jimmy Wilson warming up in the late going but the late double-play seemed to clear the track for a win that would erase the memory of the 2004 CP game at LC, a contest that the Bulldogs led 4-0 with two out in the seventh inning before LC rallied to win 5-4. The Bulldogs were 14-6 going into that game and they finished at 17-11. LC was 15-6 entering that contest and they went on to the sectional title before finishing at 24-7. This was the first meeting of these two schools since that day and, even if LC had not been undefeated and top-ranked, the Bulldogs would have pointed towards this game. CP played well enough to win, but once again, they didn't.

“They all pressed a little bit at times,” said Strayer, who thought that the three seventh inning pitches that got away from the catcher were a combination of Jansen and Kennedy trying too hard.

“They had never been in that situation before. They were pressing. It's kinda hard not to. We wanted to beat these guys really bad.

I thought we were pressing at the plate early on. But we'll get over it. This isn't the worst thing that's ever happened to these boys. If we want to be a championship team, we have to win games like this.”

When Russell raced home with the game-winning run it ignited a semi-mild celebration from the winning side. The Indians seemed more relieved that they had not been knocked off the DAC throne.

“We should have hit him better,” said LC coach Todd Iwema of Jansen. “He was out of the strike zone a lot. We panicked at the plate a lot. Everybody's trying to hit the ball out the park. Just take a single at a time. He threw hard but we gave him a lot of strikes. I don't know what his pitch count was (131) but he had to throw a lot of pitches. We've been hitting the ball too well to be held to just five hits.”

For Crown Point, they have to avoid taking this loss too hard.

“Last year, it was 4-0, two out and nobody on and we lost,” said Strayer. “We've just got some things to work on. We made mistakes and we've got to correct them. I may have made some mistakes, too.”

“But it seems like whatever we do, we play just hard enough to come over here and lose. You've got to give LC credit. They battled and battled and did just enough to win.”

“We've got the mental and physical ability. We just have to get over the superstition part of it.”

BULLDOG NOTES: LC coach Todd Iwema almost had to leave the field when his boys took three called third strikes with the bases loaded in the second inning.

“I couldn't believe it,” Iwema said later. “Just swing the bat. You don't have any chance unless you swing the bat.

Iwema noted that Dodaro, who got the game-winning hit, is batting third for the first time.

“He's never batted third since he's been with us,” said the coach. “He's a great hitter and I think he's starting to learn the role of the No. 3 hitter as opposed to the No. 2 hitter. At No. 2, you're supposed to bunt and hit the other way, move 'em up. At. No. 3, you're supposed to drive in runs.”

With Jansen throwing so many pitches, CP seemed certain to pitch Jimmy Wilson (1-0) Wednesday at Michigan City and senior Adam Quinn Friday night in Gary's 'Steelyard' against Portage. It would appear that Matt Ernest would pitch against Andrean Saturday morning at 11 a.m.

Visually, it appeared that CP's Matt Jansen was throwing harder than LC's Brett Summers, who is signed to attend the University of Virginia. Scouts behind home plate clocked both boys in the 85-mile-an-hour range. Summers displayed better control but Jansen, who is virtually unknown to baseball scouts because he concentrated on football last summer instead of playing baseball, is left-handed and that makes him valuable, if he wants to play baseball beyond high school.

Jansen completed 133 of 242 passes for 1,976 yards and 15 TDS in the big school Duneland Conference last year and he has always been considered more of a football prospect than a baseball hopeful. That may change.

ON DECK...

Portage vs. CROWN POINT

at The Steelyard - Friday, May 22 - 5 p.m.

GARY (4-22-2005) The boys all look forward to playing in the 6,700-seat home of Gary's South Shore Railcats Class A Northern League professional baseball team.

CP is 2-0 there and they need to leave downtown Gary late Friday night with a 3-0 record in RailCat games if they are going to contend for the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) title this season.

The Bulldogs will be coming off a week with DAC foes Lake Central and Michigan City. No matter what happens in those two contests, this is a must-win game before the Bulldogs tackle arch-rival Merrillville on April 26 and superpower LaPorte (10-1) on April 28.

It looks like Adam Quinn (1-1) will get the start in the big house against Rob Krooswyk (0-2), a right-hander who struck out nine in a 2-1 loss to Merrillville on April 14. Krooswyk also struck out nine in five innings of a 3-2 loss to Munster on April 8. He is unknown to CP and could be a problem.

The Indians' offense is led by speedy outfielder Milt Rivera (.398 last year) who will want to test the throwing arm of CP catcher Adam Kennedy. Crown Point's defense has been strong, with just two errors in the first six games. The weight on this night will be on outfielders Greg Eberhart (LF), Dave Dickerson (RF) and Jon Sertich (CF), who will have to patrol the deep outfield at the Steelyard, a park that is frankly built for pitching and defense teams like CP.

3A No. 1 ANDREAN at CROWN POINT

Saturday, May 23 - 11 a.m.

CROWN POINT (4-23-2005) This game should again develop into a significant rivalry as CP plays the Catholic school that serves the CP area.

Andrean went to the state finals last year before they lost 3-2 to New Palestine. The 59ers return ranked No.1 in Class 3A and they have added two significant transfers in catcher Greg Yersich (St. Rita of Chicago) and first baseman Joe Mack (Roncalli of Indianapolis).

The 59ers, who were 10-0 after last weekend, feature shortstop and football quarterback Tommy Finn, who batted .440 last season.

Starters Steve Augsburger and Brad King plus submarine relief pitcher Anthony Cera lead the pitching staff but you won't see Augsburger and King on this day.

With both teams slated for three weekday league games this week, some backup pitching will hit the mound. For CP, however, that could mean Matt Ernest, who struck out six in a 12-2 win over 3A No. 3 Griffith last Saturday (4-16-2005).

Andrean dropped the big one on Lowell Friday (4-15-2005), wining 18-0 in five innings. The 59ers have defeated tradition-rich Penn 5-2, and multiple time Illinois state champ Providence Catholic 7-6.

With the possible exception of LaPorte, Andrean has the best top half of the lineup in NW Indiana and they will not be shut out. Yersich and Finn both have pro potential and Mack, a junior, is an old school left-handed high average first baseman.

This is the second game in a CP stretch of four games in five days, but CP has five starting pitchers so they'll be okay. Andrean hosts undefeated Kankakee Valley the day before (4-22-2005) they travel to CP and they host LAC rival Hobart Monday, April 25. So the 59ers can't burn pitchers here. You may see a JV hurler for Andrean which could lead to a high scoring contest.

   2005  CROWN POINT (5-1, 2-0)
Coach Steve Strayer (3rd Year) 

Varsity Assistant: Rick Florkiewicz

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

3-23 (W) Lowell at Crown Point - 4:30 p.m. (scrimmage) 

4-7 (Th) Crown Point at Highland - W, 7-2 

4-9 (S) Crown Point at Kankakee Valley - L, 2-6 

4-13 (Tu) VALPARAISO at CP - W, 5-0 

4-14 (Th) CHESTERTON at CP - W, 2-0 

4-16 (S) Griffith at CP - W, 12-2 

4-18 (M) CP at LAKE CENTRAL - L, 2-3 

4-20 (W) CP at MICHIGAN CITY - 4:30 p.m. 

4-22 (F) PORTAGE vs. CROWN POINT at the Steelyard - Gary - 5 p.m. 

4-23 (S) Andrean at CP - 11 a.m. 

4-25 (M) Crown Point at Rensselaer - 5 p.m. 

4-26 (Tu) MERRILLVILLE at CP - 4:30 p.m. 

4-28 (Th) LaPORTE at CP - 4:30 p.m. 

4-30 (S) Crown Point at Gavit - 10 a.m. 

5-2 (M) CP at VALPARAISO - 4:30 p.m. 

5-4 (W) CP at CHESTERTON 4:30 p.m. 

5-6 (F) LAKE CENTRAL at CP - 7 p.m. 

5-10 (Tu) MICHIGAN CITY at CP - 4:30 p.m. 

5-12 (Th) PORTAGE at CP - 4:30 p.m. 

5-13 (F) Jefferson at CP - 7 p.m. 

5-17 (Tu) CP at MERRILLVILLE - 4:30 p.m. 

5-19 (Th) CP at LaPORTE - 4:30 p.m. 

Terre Haute North Invitational 

5-21 (S) semifinals - TBA 

5-21 (S) finals - TBA 

5-24 (Tu) Lowell at CP - 4:30 p.m. 

5-26 (Th) Clark at CP - 4:30 p.m. 

5-27 (F) CP at Elkhart Memorial - 7 p.m. 

CHESTERTON (4A) SECTIONAL 

5-31 (Tu) quarterfinals - TBA 

6-3 (F) semifinals - TBA 

6-4 (S) championship - TBA

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Revised: April 20, 2005.