Crown Point 11s fall 11-5 to Logansport, finish 3rd in Cal Ripken Baseball State Tourney
A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith  (7-17-2007)

Sunday, July 15, 2007 - Cal Ripken (age 11) state finals, Loser's bracket championship game at Optimist Park - HAMMOND, IN

WP - Clayton Frye (2-0) CG, 3K, 1 walk
LP - Jake Jatis (1-1) 0K, 4 walks (2 inn.)

LOGANSPORT (8-1)
Michael Kistler (2B) Single, 2 RBIs
Bradley Nies (CF) Single, walk, sac bunt
Travis Palmer (C) Single, walk, RBI
Dustin Clements (1B) Single, walk, 2 RBIs

CROWN POINT (7-3)
Donnie Ernest (P) 2 singles, RBI
Ben Baumeister (C) 2 singles, walk, RBI
Jake Vinovic (LF) Single, sac Fly, RBI

Wednesday, July 11, 2007 - Cal Ripken (age 11) state finals, Double elimination at Optimist Park - HAMMOND, IN

WP - Bobby Kammer (2-0) CG, 12K, 4 walks
LP - Trevor Dekker (1-1) 1K, 1 walk (4 inn.)

St. JOHN (3-3)
Rob Long (C) 2 walks, stolen base

CROWN POINT (5-2)
Donnie Ernest (P) Double, single, RBI
Ben Baumeister (C) 2 singles, 2 RBIs
Jake Vinovic (LF) Single, 2 RBIs
Jake Jenks (RF) 2 singles, Sac. Fly, RBI
Glen Hecht (CF) Double, 2 singles, RBI
Eric Haniford (3B) Double, single,  walk


Cal Ripken (11s) All-Stars
(11s) state finals double-elimination at Optimist Park - Hammond (12 teams)
7-11 (W)  St. John (Red) 6, Russiaville 5
7-11 (W) St. John (Blue) 13, Logansport (II) 2
7-11 (W) Logansport (I) 7, (Hammond) Optimist 4
7-11 (W) Liberty Recreation 6 (Kokomo) UCT 0 (forfeit)
7-12 (Th) CROWN POINT 12, St. John (Red) 1
7-12 (Th), St. John (Blue) 6,  Kokomo (South)  3
7-12 (Th) Logansport (I) 2, Schererville 1
7-12 (Th) Taylor SE 4, Liberty Recreation (Chesterton) 3
7-13 (F) St. John 10, (Hammond) Optimist (4 inn.)
7-13 (F) Kokomo South 6, (Kokomo) UCT 0 - forfeit
7-13 (F) Schererville 5, Russiaville  3
7-13 (F) Logansport 6, (Chesterton) Liberty Rec 0
7-14 (Sat) Kokomo South 4, St. John 2
7-14 (Sat) Schererville 8, Logansport 2
7-14 (Sat)  St. John (Blue) 7, CROWN POINT 4
7-14 (Sat)  Logansport 18, Taylor SE 8
7-14 (Sat) CROWN POINT 12, Schererville 1
7-14 (Sat) Kokomo South 17, Taylor SE - 10
7-15 (Sun) St. John 4, Logansport 3
7-15 (Sun) Logansport 10, CROWN POINT 5

7-16 (M) Logansport (4-1) vs. St. John (4-0) 5:30 p.m.
7-16 (M) state championship round game two - 7:30 p.m.**

Winner advances to the Ohio Valley Regional  in Vincennes beginning today.


 Cal Ripken (11s) All-Stars 
District Finals (11s) at Heartland Park (St. John)

7-5 (Th) CROWN POINT 12, Valparaiso 1
7-5 (Th) St. John 6, Gary 0 (forfeit)
7-6 (F) St. John 6,  CROWN POINT 0
7-6 (F) Valparaiso 6,  Gary 0 (forfeit)
7-7 (Sa) CROWN POINT 11, Valparaiso 0
7-7 (Sa) CROWN POINT 7, St, John 4
7-7 (Sun) CROWN POINT 8, St. John 2


Cal Ripken (12s) All-Stars
State Finals Double-elimination
at Southside Park - Kokomo (12 teams)

7-11 (W)  CROWN POINT 16, Russiaville 6
7-11 (W)  Harris Township 9, Knox 0
7-11 (W)  Kokomo Southside 2, Logansport 1
7-11 (W) Griffith 10, Oak Hill 2
7-12 (Th)  CROWN POINT 4, Morgan Township 00
7-12 (Th)  Harris 7, Lapel 6
7-12 (Th)  Kokomo South 6, Taylor Southeast 00
7-12 (TH) (Kokomo) UCT 6, Griffith 00
7-12 (F) Morgan Township 9, Logansport 0
7-12 (F) Lapel 2, Oak Hill 1
7-13 (F) Morgan Township 9, Lapel 4
7-13 (F) Griffith 10, Russiaville 4
7-14 (Sat) CROWN POINT 14, Harris Township 0
 7-14 (Sat) Kokomo UCT 9, Kokomo Southside 6
7-14 (Sat) Griffith 5, Harris Township 0
7-14 (Sat) Morgan Township 7, Kokomo Southside 6
7-15 (Sun) Kokomo UCT 6, CROWN POONT 2
7-15 (Sun) Griffith 8, Morgan Township 7   (8 innings)
7-15 (Sun) CROWN POINT 9, Griffith 0
7-16 (Mon) Kokomo vs. CROWN POINT  - 5:30 p.m.
7-16 (Mon) Kokomo vs. CROWN POINT  - 7:30 p.m.*

Winner advances to Ohio Valley Regional in Logansport beginning Thursday.


Cal Ripken (12s) All-Stars
 District finals (12s)  at Optimist Park - Hammond

7-5-2007:  Optimist-Blue (Hammond) 17, Gary 2
7-5-2007:  Schererville 16, Optimist-Gold (Hammond) 4
7-6-2007:  Griffith 1, Optimist-Blue (Hammond) 0
7-6-2007:  CROWN POINT 6, Schererville 2
7-7-2007   Schererville 6, Gary 0 forfeit
7-7-2007:  Optimist-Blue 10, Optimist- Gold 0 
7-7-2007:  CROWN POINT 10, Griffith 0
7-7-2007:  Schererville 2, Optimist-Blue (Hammond) 0
7-8-2007:  CP 14, Griffith 0 (title)

HAMMOND (7-15-2007) -  You can call it the loser's bracket.  You can call them elimination games.  You can call it the bottom half of the bracket.  But one thing is absolutely certain.  Even though they call it a double-elimination tournament, if you lose that first game relatively early, you are on your way home, you just don't know when.  When Crown Point's 11-and-under all-stars lost to Kokomo Saturday afternoon in the 12-team Cal Ripken state finals, they were faced with the prospect of winning five consecutive games in 48 hours.  No team has that kind of pitching.

"We just kinda ran out of gas," said manager Don Ernest after his boys lost 10-5 to Logansport in the loser's bracket final game Sunday night.  "Third in the state.  That's not bad."

It wasn't.  CP lost to the two teams that faced off Monday night for the state title.  In third round play, St. John's top team (you can field two teams in the 10-and-under bracket), which defeated CP in first round play last week, did it again, topping the CP 11s by a 7-4 count.  Crown Point responded with blowout wins 12-1 over Schererville and 9-1 over Kokomo Southside before losing 10-5 to Logansport to finish with a 7-3 post-season.  The CP 11s led 2-0 in the first inning, but they trailed 5-4 after three innings in the late Sunday afternoon sun.

With two out, Logansport's Michael Kistler chopped a little roller up the first base line that stopped just inches inside the chalk line for a single, scoring Clayton Frye.  Logansport then called for the double steal with Kistler stopping between first and second to draw a throw.  As the CP infield ran down Kistler, Dustin Clements scored from third base to make it 7-4.

Logansport (5-1) built a 10-4 lead on the tiring CP stars before Eric Haniford's RBI double scored a consolation CP run in the bottom of the sixth.

Even in defeat, Crown Point had 10 hits and that was the hallmark of this team.  They are not based on speed.  The CP 11s are a big, strong line-drive hitting team and it will be interesting to see if they retain that characteristic as they grow older.

"We never really stopped hitting," said Ernst.  "Even the Logansport coach said he was worried we'd come back in the last inning.  But we just got too far behind."

There's no question that this group of boys will be solid in all-star play in 2008.

"I have a traveling team that 10 of these guys play on," Ernst said.  "We've been together for two years so I think we'll stay together next year.  That's gives us a head start on everybody else because continuity is the key.  We have a nice group of parents and that makes it even better."

The question is, where will this team play as 12-year-olds?  CP fielded age-12, age-11 and age-10 teams in both Cal Ripken ball (the babe Ruth baseball organization) and the Little League.  The Little League considers Cal Ripken ball a competitor and their bylaws say you cannot play in any other post-season tournament.

"The board's going to sit down and decide what we're going to do," Ernst said about playing in the Little League and Cal Ripken playoffs.  "If we can play in both, that would be a great thing.  No doubt about it.  A lot of people have different opinions about it, but I think it's great for the kids to play in the post-season.  It's a bonus for them."

RIPKEN NOTES:  "This place is awesome," said CP manager Don Ernst of the Optimist Park in Hammond.  "I know the mayor has been getting some heat for spending a lot of money on the parks. This place is money well spent."

The best thing about Optimist Park is the space.  Most Little Leagues were constructed many years ago and they are, by design, small places tucked away in neighborhoods.  Not only are there four large fields, but there is more than enough walking space between the fields.  That is by design.

"We could have national tournaments here," said Cal Ripken state president Tom Wright.  "There is room for stands here for a couple of thousand fans.  They have done a great job here."

The Optimist Little League is the old Woodmar League and it is built on the site of an old school.  Outgoing Andrean softball coach Frank Podkul, who coaches his son on the Schererville squad, remembers Optimist Park as something else.

"In the old days," Podkul said.  "There was a school here.  Hammond Edison.  There was a lot of good ballplayers who came out of here 20-30 years ago."

The 12-team double-elimination tournament went off without so much as one rain delay in Hammond.  The only glitch was a summer lightning strike which knocked out one scoreboard.

Wright sees Cal Ripken ball growing rapidly. 

"Ten years ago, we had three teams in this district.  Now we have 15.  I think that all the rules the Little League puts on you makes it difficult to play.  The pitch count rules are hard to deal with.  We just go by innings.  Six innings every two games.  It's simple."

CP coach Fred Benich suggested that Cal Ripken baseball and Little League baseball, on the field, are the same thing.

"The kids don't know any difference," he said.  "And the parents don't know any difference.  The pitching rules in Cal Ripken are good enough.  The boys just want to play."