Crown Point rallies in bottom of 7th inning to beat Valpo 8-7 in Sectional opener
	A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith 5-29-2007

Monday, 5-28-2007  -  80 degrees & sunny, Crown Point (4A) Sectional Quarterfinal in CROWN POINT, IN

WP - Blake Mascarello (5-2) 4K, 3 walks (2 innings)
LP - Chooch Sizemore (4-6) 0K, 0 walks, 3 ERs (1 2/3 inn.)

Valparaiso (13-12-1)
Chooch Sizemore (RF-P) Double, single, 2 runs scored
Jerome Vasile (3B) 2 singles, walk, 2 RBIs
Ben Olejniczak (OF) 2 singles, 2 RBIs
Sean Funes (SS) Single, walk
Jerrod Carr (2B) Single, walk, Sac. Fly, RBI

CROWN POINT (26-2)
Tommy Parks (3B-1B) 2 HRs, single, 5 RBIs
Nick Hladek (C) HR, single, 2 RBIs
Joey Patrick (RF) 3 singles,
Jon Sertich (CF) 2 singles, RBI

CROWN POINT (5-28-2007) -  Those who will tell you that the post-season in Indiana high school baseball is a little different from the regular season are probably wrong.  It's a lot different.  You need six consecutive victories to qualify for the state finals.  Let's hope they're not all like this.

Valparaiso jumped all over top-ranked Crown Point early in the Class 4A Crown Point sectional quarterfinals Monday afternoon, and in the end, CP jumped back.  In a roller-coaster thrill ride in front of about 300 fans, CP rallied from a 6-2 deficit to beat the Vikings 8-7 and stay alive in the 41st Indiana state baseball tournament.

"We had a great game plan coming in," said Valpo rookie coach Mickey Morandini, the former major league ballplayer.  "We executed it to perfection.  We got bunts down, got runners in from third and we played excellent defense.  We played a great ball game.  But what are you gong to do?  You throw pitches and they hit them. There's not much you can do."

Crown Point, a pitching-rich team that is not a dominating force of nature on offense, hit the ball as if there was no tomorrow on a day when there wasn't.  Infielder Tommy Parks hit two two-run homers, including a 420-foot drive, but CP was still down 7-5 going to the last inning.

Crown Point (26-2) paraded batter after batter to the plate and they all came through, scoring three times against Valpo veteran left-hander Charles (Chooch) Sizemore.  The final inning began with Andrew Peretin lining a single to center.  Hard outfield singles by Joe Patrick and Jon Sertich filled the bases, before Tim Mummery hit a hard ground ball, potentially a double play ball, to third.  But Valpo's Jerry Vasile fumbled it, with Peretin scoring to make it 7-6.

After Chris Saroff hit into a bases-loaded force play at home, Parks chopped a slow bouncer to shortstop Sean Funes that was too slow for a double play or a play at the plate.  Parks, CP's football fullback, beat the play at first base while the tying run scored.  Catcher Nick Hladek, who hit a solo home run in the sixth inning, then lifted a long drive over the pulled-in Valpo outfield to score the winning run to keep the No. 1 team in Class 4A alive in the state tournament.

"I knew that if any team could do it this team could," said Crown Point's fifth year coach Steve Strayer.  "But the way they did it, with consecutive hits in that last inning... Peretin hasn't been playing a lot and he strokes a hit.  Then Patrick and Sertich.  It helped to have seniors with experience up there.  Tommy hit the ball today.  He was really feeling it.  Our principal (Ryan Pitcock) came up to him before his third at bad and told him not to hit another homer because he was afraid he might hit the school (which is about 550 feet from home plate behind the left field fence) building."

Crown Point got relief pitching after Saroff left on a warm hot day when the score could have soared and Valparaiso was making the plays, especially center fielder Alex Sarkisian, who caught seven fly balls or line drives by CP.

"We were hitting shots and they were catching them," said Saroff, who struck out four in the first two innings.  "I hit my spots and I tried to change speeds and they hit everything I threw.  The team had my back today.  Nothing was going our way.  The ball was hit to the center field and suddenly he (Sarkisian) was there.  We were hitting shots and they were catching them."

Parks, who finished with five RBIs, gave CP hope with his second homer, one of the longest ever hit at the new CPHS.  But his infield single was the stroke that actually tied the game with one out in the seventh.

"I wasn't trying for a home run," he said.  "We just needed to get the run in.  I just wanted to get the ball out of the infield.  I really didn't hit the last (single) one very well."

All the CP boys didn't want to take credit for the win, but virtually everyone who played for the Bulldogs had a hand in it.

"Eric Clayton came in and gave us two innings," said Strayer.  "Blake Mascarello gave us two more.  Our pitching saved us after Chris was out of there.  I don't know if Chris pitched great today, but he wasn't that bad.  Valpo was very ready for him.  They saw him that first time (in April) and Mickey did a great job getting them ready.  Their (Valpo's) seniors were motivated.  They didn't want to go down today.  I thought we were very well prepared, but they apparently were better prepared than we were."

Valparaiso collected six consecutive base hits off Saroff (8-0) in the third inning to replace a 2-1 CP edge.  Sophomore Ben Olejniczak followed Jerry Vasile's RBI single with a two-run hit to give the Vikings a 5-2 lead.  A walk to Vasile, a single by Olejniczak and a sacrifice flyball from Jerrod Carr upped the Viking lead to 7-5 in the seventh inning.

"You just have to think about one run at a time," said Patrick.  "You can't try to get them all back at once.  We knew Sizemore had been struggling.  We'd seen him a lot.  I hadn't seen Nate Windsor since Little League.  When we tied it up, it was awesome.  A big relief."

It was a very entertaining game played at a high level with few errors and a lot of good offense and defense.  The worry is, that with Crown Point ranked No. 1, everybody who faces them now is going to play like Valparaiso did Monday.

"It's fun, now," said Mummery, who thought the Vikings had nothing to lose and played like it.  "I was sweating a little when I was out there.  For them, to be able to compete with us, they knew they had to make every play.  For a while, they did."

PLAYOFF NOTES:  Crown Point's survival Monday probably needs context.  LaPorte barely survived a third meeting with Michigan City, winning 5-4 in eight innings in the South Bend Sectional.  Three members of the 4A Top-10 were gone by the time the sun set Monday.  Perennial power Brownsburg (23-4), rated 7th, was beaten 2-0 by Avon and 4A No. 10 Munster (24-7), the Lake Athletic Conference (LAC) champion, lost to Highland 3-2.  DeKalb beat 4A No. 3 Carroll 3-2.

Using three pitchers Monday was not in Crown Point's game plan for a three-game sectional week, so the Bulldogs' starter Wednesday against Portage in the semifinals is going to be a surprise.

"We've got to let the dust settle," said CP coach Steve Strayer.  "Then we'll try to figure out what to do."

Crown Point's Tim Mummery, a CP baseball mainstay for two seasons, has decided not to play baseball in college.

"I just want to go to school," he said.  "I want to get on with my life.  I'm going to school four years for engineering.  I want to get to it."

Crown Point's 2006 graduate Nick Ullman said the same thing his senior year but he then ended up playing at Purdue North Central in Westville.  Mummery has led Crown Point in walks, stolen bases and RBIs much of the 2007 season.

4A No. 1 CROWN POINT (26-2)
Varsity Coach Steve Strayer, 23-9 in 2006  - DAC game in CAPS

4-3 (W)  14-0 (5 innings) Hebron (9-15)

Kankakee Valley Invitational
4-7 vs. Knox (cold-cancelled)
4-7 vs. Kankakee Valley (cold-cancelled)

4-9 (W) 3-2 at (Lafayette) Jefferson (16-9)
4-10 (W) 8-1 at LAKE CENTRAL (14-11)
4-13 (W) 12-0 (5 innings) Rensselaer (7-17)
4-14 (W) 4-3 VALPARAISO (13-11-1)
4-14 (W) 10-5 Griffith (21-9)
4-16 (W) 2-1 CHESTERTON (20-5) 
4-18 (W) 9-1 MERRILLVILLE (12-5) 
4-20 (W) 9-4 LaPORTE (20-8)
4-21 (S) Harrison (cancelled)

4-24 (W) 8-1 at MICHIGAN CITY (8-20) 
4-26 (W) 4-1 at PORTAGE (13-17) .
4-28  (W) 16-2 (5 innings) at Highland (13-13)
4-28 (W) 3-2 Kankakee Valley (20-10)
4-30 (W) 10-0 (5 innings)  LAKE CENTRAL (14-11)
5-2  (W) at VALPARAISO (13-12-1)
5-4 (L) 2-3 at CHESTERTON (20-5)

Plymouth Invitational
5-5 (W) 8-2 Carroll (23-4)
5-5 (W) 11-1 Penn (18-9-1)

5-8 (W) 8-3 ( 9 innings) at MERRILLVILLE (10-12).
5-10 (W) 5-2 (9 innings) at LaPORTE (21-8) .
5-11 (L) 1-7 Boone Grove (24-5-1)

5-15 (W) 10-0 MICHIGAN CITY(5-15)
5-17 (W) 3-1 PORTAGE (8-11)

Crown Point Classic
5-19 (W) 10-2  Northridge (12-14)
5-19 (W) 14-2 (5 innings) Heritage Christian (18-8)

5-22-7 (W) 15-0 Lowell (13-15)
5-24 (W) 5-0  at Rochester  (15-11)

Crown Point (4A) Sectional
5-29 (W) 8-7  Valparaiso (13-12-1)
  5-31 (Wed) Portage (13-17)  4:30 p.m.
6-2-7 (Fri) Chesterton (20-5) 7:00 p.m.