Crown Point defeats SE Kentucky All Stars 3-2, advances in Babe Ruth Ohio Valley Regional (age 15 and under)

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

(7-29-2006)

Friday, July 28, 2006 - Ohio Valley Regional - Babe Ruth 15s - 93 degrees, partly cloudy - Granger, IN

WP - Derek Brandenburg (2-0) 3K, 1 walk (5 inn.)
SAVE - Jeremy Kooi #1, 2K, 0 walks (2 inn.) re
LP - Tony Gazzaroli (0-1) 1K, 1 walk (3 inn.)

SE Lexington (4-2)
Tanner Baldwin (SS) Single, RBI
Jordan Hogan (2B) Double, run scored

CROWN POINT (10-0)
Miles Atheron (2B) 2 singles, HBP
Evan Nikrin (SS) 3 singles, HBP

OHIO VALLEY BABE RUTH REGIONAL
at Harris Twp. Park - Granger, IN - July 27 - Aug. 1
7-27 - Appleton, WI 10, Grosse Pointe, MI 6
7-28 - Harris Twp., IN 13, Harrison County, WV 3 (6 inn.)
7-28 - CROWN POINT 2, SE Lexington, KY 1
7-28 - Appleton, WI 00, New Castle, Ind. 00
7-29 - Germantown, WV 00, Harris Township, IN 00
7-29 -Youngstown, OH 00, Effingham, IL 00
7-30 - CROWN POINT (10-0) 00, Appleton / New Castle 00 - 12 noon
7-31 (Mon) Winner's bracket finale - 3 p.m.
8-1 (Tu) Championship game one - 5:30 p.m.*
8-1 (Tu) Championship game two - 8 p.m.*

*Winner advances to Babe Ruth World Series in Clifton Park, New York - Aug. 18-25.

Taking a 2-1 lead in the second inning, Crown Point held South East Kentucky's all-stars scoreless over the final six innings to win the all-important opening game of the double-elimination tournament 2-1 in 93-degree heat at the remodeled Harris Township Park. Nobody says this but if you lose the first game in a large double-elimination tournament, you are out of it. The loser of Friday's opening game needed seven consecutive victories to take the Ohio Valley Regional title. With a roster of 13 players, it is almost an impossibility to find enough starting pitchers to win seven games in a row in three or four days. That's why Crown Point simply had to win Friday's rain-delayed game to have even the slightest possibility of advancing to next month's Babe Ruth World Series in Clifton, New York.

"We don't play tomorrow," said CP manager Marty Zubriggen on his was to the parking lot in the hot summer sunshine. "They have to come back and play two tomorrow."

"We don't really have any great players," said Zubriggen, who has coached a lot of these boys in age group all-star play. "We made some base-running mistakes today. We've got some things to work on. But defensively we were pretty good. (CP varsity coach Steve) Strayer and Scott Reddick the freshman coach. The difference they've made in these players is night and day."

Strayer and Reddick made the trip to Penn high school territory (Granger is in the Penn school district) to watch the CP 15s take a first inning lead on a walk by Josh Nottingham and singles by Evan Nikrin and Jeremy Kooi against Southeast Lexington starter Tony Gazzaroi, who was making his first appearance of the summer after having some arm problems.

Lexington tied the game with the first run off CP pitching in four games. Lead off man Jordan Hagen doubled to the center field wall and next hitter, Tanner Baldwin lofted a soft line drive single to center to tie the game against CP starter and Lowell native Derek Brandenberg.

In the second inning Crown Point's Luke Kulpa reached base on an error by Baldwin, SE Lexington's shortstop. Kulpa stole second and went to third on Nick Bruno's single. But an attempted double steal failed and Kulpa was tagged out in a long rundown between third and home, with Bruno advancing to third. Gazzaroli then threw a wild pitch, allowing Bruno to score to make it 2-1.

That would be the final score as both teams could not get key hits. Relief pitchers Devin Williams (4-shutout innings) and Jeremy Kooi (2-shutout innings) were not scored on. This game was scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight time, which is 8:00 a .m. Crown Point time. But a hard rain Thursday night pushed the Harris Township game against Harrison County, West Virginia from Thursday night to Friday morning, pushing CP's first game into the noon time heat. Both teams seemed sluggish, although, that's the way it always looks when you don't hit.

"I liked it," said Brandenburg, who threw 69 pitches in five innings. "I didn't want to play at 8:00 a.m. I thought I had it going pretty good after that first inning. This was really big for us. We'd have had to play seven more times."

Since CP (10-0) had been getting outstanding pitching throughout their all-star run, Zubriggen had no concrete reason for starting Brandenburg in the Ohio Valley opener.

"It was just superstition," he admitted. "When we started the other two tournaments (district and state), Derek stared the first game. He doesn't throw that hard, but he has really good control. And he changes speeds. Boys are not used to that. I knew Jeremy would give us a good job and he's one of the best pitchers we have. I originally wanted to start him next, but I needed this win. We needed the win and it was too close to put somebody else in. That team finished third in the Ohio Valley Regional (at age 14) last year."

Kooi struck out two in the seventh and overcame an error by Brandenburg at third base and a hit batter.

"Our hitting's been fine," said Zubriggen. "Our defense has been fine and our pitching has been great. But we've had base-running problems through this whole series. You tell them, but sometimes when the time comes they don't do it right."

Some of the Southeast Lexington fans thought their team should have started the game with Williams, a broad shouldered boy who struck out four and hit three batters pitching four innings, including a hitless fourth, fifth and sixth.

"We kept hitting flyballs," said Zubriggen. "Both teams did. We thought we could get the ball up to them, because it was going to be hard to hit the ball out of here."

In the Crown Point fifth inning, Williams hit three batters to fill the bases with one out. But the Lexington pitcher then struck out Kooi and catcher Matt Zubriggen. CP second baseman Miles Atherton was on base three times with two singles and a hit batter. He also made a leaping catch of a line drive by SE Lexington's Christian O'Banion to end the sixth inning.

When you get to this level in a national tournament, there's an odd feeling. A quiet uneasiness about winning. Everyone knows what happens if they lose. They go home. Go to football practice. High school and other sports. But nobody talks about what happens if they win. Nobody even knows where Clifton, New York is. If the CP 15s win three more games they are going to have to find out.

"They have been great. This has been something," said Zubriggen, who heard the phrase, three wins away from the World Series and commented, "I don't think these boys really understand where they are."

OHIO VALLEY NOTES: Harris Township, which got a bye to the Ohio Valley Regional as the host team, bombed Harrison County, West Virginia 13-3 in the morning game Friday. The Harris Township squad, the second and reportedly the stronger of two Harris age 15 Babe Ruth teams, had 16 hits and stole six bases.

"We would play Harris Township Monday," said CP manager Marty Zubriggen. "But we both have to (win once to) get there."

Many states have two state champions because of the number of Babe Ruth teams in the state. Babe Ruth baseball is much bigger in the Midwest than it is in other parts of the nation. Indiana and Kentucky both have two state champs to balance the field.

The Harris Township ballpark is big for 15-year-old ballplayers with distances of 355 feet to left and right center and 375 feet to dead center. It is a top flight facility except for one flaw that most youth parks have. No roof or cover on the grandstand. In intense heat or hard rain, the grandstand quickly empties because there is no protection for fans.

Both Crown Point and South East Lexington had to stand on the field for 15 minutes in the Ohio Valley Regional Opening Ceremonies which were delayed from Friday night. The ceremonies were brief once they began and it was truthfully the only time they could be held after Friday's rain. But the standing around may have contributed to the low-scoring sluggish game between those two teams.

The Ohio Valley Regional, like all national tournaments, confuse the teams by referring to them by the title they have won instead of the town they are from. Crown Point is referred to as 'Northern Indiana', which is fine if you are from Indiana. But if you are from West Virginia, you don't have a clue whether 'Northern Indiana' is New Castle or Crown Point. Likewise, the two Kentucky state champs are confused. Southeast Lexington is in as the Eastern Kentucky state champion. Germantown is the Western Kentucky state champ.

Tickets to Ohio Valley Regional play are $5 each and the toll way exit is Mishawaka Exit No. 83. Take Route 331 to US. 23 North. Then turn right on Brick Road and go one mile to the ballpark. If you take the Indiana Toll way, Granger is just less than two hours from Crown Point and the toll is $2 both ways. The Harris Township complex is a quality facility and it seats about 750. The field is in very good condition, even after last week's rains. Many always question the host team getting a bye in these advanced tournaments, but no one who knows anything about it doubts that Harris Township has a squad worthy of national competition.

The CP 15s were celebrated at the Crown Point court house Thursday afternoon (July 27) by mayor Dan Klein, who honored the first Crown Point Babe Ruth state championship since 1997. The team members drove to the courthouse on a city fire truck and they took pictures with parents, friends and fans.

With the age limitation changes in Little League and Babe Ruth, moving the birth date limits from August to April, many players in local playoffs had the option of staying with the team for a second year.

"We have three players like that," said Manager Marty Zubriggen. "Derek (Brandenburg), Evan (Nikrin) and Kyle May."

Brandenburg could be playing Senior Little League baseball in Lowell, where he lives.

"I just thought that Babe Ruth might be tougher," he said Thursday. "I've played with these guy for three years. I'm going back to Lowell (high school) and I'll be playing against them. "

This is the 55th year for the Babe Ruth League, which began in Trenton, New Jersey and had its first national championship in 1952. No Crown Point team has ever advanced to the Little League or Babe Ruth World Series. Harris Township has had several teams reach the national finals.

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
CROWN POINT (10-0)	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	8	1
SE Lexington, KY (4-2)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	2