| Team (Record) / Inning | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| CROWN POINT (19-4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 9 | 12 | 3 |
| Remington (15-9) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 2 |
CP
Sectional final game - July 29, 2003
72 degrees at Teagle Field, Crown Point, IN
WP
- Brandon Barr (4-0) 0K, 0 W (1 inning)
Mike Schultz (Save) 1K, 2 walks (2 innings)
LP - Matt Cooper (Delphi) 3k, 0 walks ( 3 runs - 0 inn.)
Jeremy Rodibaugh (Rensselaer) 5K, 3 walks (7 inn.- 114 pitches)
CROWN
POINT (8 singles, 3 doubles, HR)
Steve Georgian
(Boone) HR, double walk, 3 RBIs
Kevin Vandas (CP) Double, run scored
Kelly Fricke (CP) Double, 2 RBIs
Dave Dickerson (CP) 2 singles
Lance Losinski (CP) 2 singles, walk
Doug Ricard (CP) 2 singles, RBI
Remington
(5 singles, double, HR)
Billy
Brown (Tri-County) Double, single, walk
Ryan Finn (Delphi) HR, HBP, 2 RBIs
Bobby Susek (Twin Lakes) Single run scored
Jeremy Rodibaugh (Rensselaer) Single, walk, 2 RBIs
| Team (Record) / Inning | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Remington (15-8) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| CROWN POINT (18-4) | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | 11 | 11 | 3 |
CP
Sectional championship round - July 29, 2003 , 81 degrees- at Teagle
Field, Crown Point
LP -
Matt Cooper (Delphi) 3K, 2 walks (3 inn.)
WP - Jake Pierce (3-0) CG, 4K, 1 walk (88 pitches)
CROWN
POINT (5 singles, 4 doubles, 2 triples)
Steve
Georgian (Boone) 3 singles, double, 3 runs scored
Kevin Vandas (CP) Double, single, RBI
Kelly Fricke (CP) Triple, single 2 RBIs
Dave Dickerson (CP) Triple, RBI
Lance Losinski (CP) Double, Sac. Fly, 3 RBIs
Remington
(4 singles)
Billy Brown
(Tri-County) Single, RBI
Matt Cooper (Delphi) Single, run scored
CROWN POINT (7-29-2003) - You always assume you can come back. You always hope you can come back. But you rarely do. At least, not like Crown Point Post 20 did Tuesday night in the final battle of the rain-delayed CP American Legion Sectional.
Needing to win twice in the championship round to overcome the challenge of Remington Post 280, Crown Point romped 11-1 in the first game but as the night grew long, Remington built leads of 4-0 and 7-1 in the second game.
As the small but vocal Remington fan section cheered every move, especially by Rensselaer star pitcher Jeremy Rodibaugh, Post 280 appeared to be on the verge of a first ever sectional crown. But when all hope appeared gone and the 11th hour was near, Crown Point (19-4) came up with the inning of the year.
Twelve batters, seven hits and eight runs later, Post 20 was on their way to Friday's Lafayette Regional, winning with a miracle comeback 9-8 for Post 20's third consecutive sectional title.
"Some times you look like a genius," said manager Tony Samano, who made some unorthodox moves pay off. "You've got to give them credit," said Remington manager Craig LaBoe. "They had to win twice and they did."
The seeds of this classic game were sown two weeks earlier when Crown Point won a nonconference game 10-5 in Jasper County. In that game, Samano got it in his mind that Remington could not hit left-handers after CP's Jake Pierce and Brandon Barr contained the home team as CP rallied from a 5-1 deficit. When Post 280 faced Crown Point in the second round of the sectional, Remington won 10-0, scoring seven times against right-hander Kyle Long. Barr, in relief, allowed just three runs in almost five innings and that made Samano's mind up.
"They can't hit lefties," said the 22-year manager. "I told you that. You can see it. They couldn't hit Pierce. They couldn't hit Barr. They can't hit lefties."
No one could shake Samano off that thought. Even though 6-foot-2 right-hander
Mike Schultz (2-1), who is a fairly accomplished pitcher, had pitched a
nine inning complete game in the first round of the sectional against Hobart
five days earlier, Samano passed him over to start Jake Pierce, who is more a
center fielder than a pitcher.
In an elimination game for CP, Pierce made Samano look like a rocket scientist,
stopping Remington on four hits in a seven-inning 10-run victory. But
Remington only had to win one game to take the double-elimination playoff and
behind Rensselaer right-hander Jeremy Rodibaugh, who had pitched a complete-game
12-2 win over Lowell seven days earlier, Post 280 built a six-run lead and
appeared ready to eliminate Crown Point on the pro-sized Post 20 playing
service.
Even when Boone Grove's Steve Georgian rocked Rodibaugh for a line drive home
run over the right field fence to begin the eighth inning, CP was on the verge
of giving up.
"I kinda did," smiled Georgian, who had six hits in two games. "Even when I hit the homer, I thought 'This might not be enough.'"
But Kevin Vandas doubled to right and Doug Ricard sliced a single to left to make it 7-3. Rodibaugh was over 100 pitches at that point and when when he walked Lance Losinski on five pitches, LaBoe replaced Rodibaugh with right-hander Matt Cooper of Delphi, the starting and losing pitcher in the 11-1 game.
It was a mistake. Dave Dickerson smacked a base hit to center field and Crown Point almost ran themselves out of the inning. Pinch runner (for Ricard) Matt Long sailed around third base only to slip and fall on the wet grass. Trapped in a rundown, Long ended standing next to teammate Losinski who was being tagged out at third base.
But pinch hitter Kelly Fricke smashed a two-run double to the left center field fence to cut the lead to 7-5. When Brandon Barr singled to make it 7-6, Laboe pulled Cooper out of the game, replacing him with left-hander Billy Brown.
Brown stuck out Jake Pierce on a 2-2 pitch but he hit Chad Pierce, CP's next batter in the foot. With two on and two out, Georgian, batting for the second time in the eighth inning, sliced a long double to the left center field fence, giving CP an 8-7 lead.
"I'd never seen him before," said Georgian. "I was on vacation when we played them before. The pitch I hit was a fastball on the outside corner. I just tried to hang in against him."
The 9-7 run scored when Vandas hit a ground ball to third that got by Rodibaugh, who plays third when he's not pitching. That run was crucial.
In the ninth inning, Schultz, inserted as CP's third pitcher, walked Jess Hahn to start the inning. Mike Sheets hit a pop fly into short center field that Pierce got a glove on but cold not hold. Cooper bunted the runners to second and third before Nate Amsler hit a line drive to center. Pierce failed on a diving catch and Remington had runners at first and third with one out. Billy Brown, who hit a home run in the 10-0 win over CP, then hit a fly ball into medium deep center field. Pierce made the catch in motion this time and his throw held Sheets at third base.
On the final play of the game, Bobby Susek hit a soft but spinning line drive behind second base. Post 20 shortstop Chad Pierce went to the ground to block the ball, grabbed it and tagged second base to force Amsler and keep CP as sectional champions.
"We haven't really had a lot of pitching all summer," Samano said later. "I don't know how we have the record we have. But everybody hit at the end and we got them out. I don't know how we did it. I made a lot of moves and some of them worked out."
LaBoe thought the victory was set up by the first game rout.
"I was very disappointed in the way we came out in the first game,"
said LaBoe. "We were not ready to play at all. We could have taken them out
right there. You've got to give them (CP) credit. "
LaBoe didn't second guess not using Rodibaugh, his number one pitcher, in the
first game. "No," he said. "With the rainouts (two days) I
thought we could use Cooper. And I decided that if I was going to use him, I'd
do it right off the bat."
Rodibaugh dominated Post 20 for seven innings but he threw 101 pitches. The 5-10
right-hander, who was 7-4 at Rensselaer high last spring (he was 9-1 in 2002),
clearly tired in the eighth.
"That's one thing I don't like about the Legion," said LaBoe. "We
play seven inning games all year and then we play nine in the state
tournament."
Crown Point had other problems. With injured pitchers Jason Plys and Jeff Mills still unavailable and Brian Sparks unavailable this weekend, CP is in the hole where starting pitchers are concerned. With two days of rain pushing back the final sectional games, Pierce and Sparks couldn't pitch the regional opener on two days rest anyway. Chances of Mills and Plys, who have been out since June, pitching are very slim. The ball will probably go to Losinki, who threw 150 pitches (15 strikeouts and eight walks) in the July 25 victory over Lowell.
"I did throw a lot of pitches," Lance said. "But I think it's going to be me. I'm getting some physical therapy on the arm and I think I'll be ready."
Does Post 20 have a good chance of beating Plymouth (25-3) and winning the Lafayette Regional? Not really, no.
But Samano points out, "We didn't have much chance of winning two tonight, either, did we? This was really something."
LEGION NOTES: The biggest shocker of the sectionals was sub-.500 Highland Post 180 beating Hammond Post 168 by a 7-6 score in the East Chicago Sectional championship game. Highland faces superpower Lafayette Post 11 Friday at 4 p.m. If CP and Highland lose Friday, they would meet Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m.
Crown Point hosts the 'B'; team (age 17-and-under) state finals this weekend while the 'A' team (19 and under) is in Lafayette. Three players, Matt Cowan, Dave Dickerson and Matt Long are on both teams. While the competition level in the 'B' team state finals is not known, odds are good that Post 20 will play at least three games in Lafayette. If the 'B' squad either loses their first two or wins their first two, Dickerson, Cowan and Long would be available to drive to Lafayette to play in the 7 p.m. game Saturday night.
Plymouth beat Walton and Bristol twice to win the Plymouth regional. The 7:30 game Friday against Crown Point will be the first road game of the state tournament for either team. Bristol (26-7) made eight errors in losing Monday night's championship game to Plymouth 10-6. Five of Bristol's seven losses this season were to Plymouth Post 27 (24-3).
Defending state champion Evansville Post 265 was eliminated last weekend by Newburgh Post 44.
Post 20's Kyle Long has apparently left the Post 20 team. Long batted .279 during the regular season and was 2-1 as a pitcher during the regular season. Kelly Fricke, who hit just .286 during the regular season, was 3-for-6 in the two games against Remington Tuesday. "I got lucky," he said.
In the time-honored American Legion tradition, the fans got into the games Tuesday, heckling opposing players and umpires. Lance Losinski said, "I was not going to lose my last American Legion game to them."
Rain is predicted for the weekend and that could only help Post 20, which does not have the five starting pitchers they'll need if they fall into the loser's bracket in the double-elimination regional.
CROWN POINT
American Legion SECTIONAL
7-22-3: Remington 12, LOWELL 2
7-23-3 (W) CROWN POINT 12, Hobart 5
7-24-3 (Th) Remington 10, Hobart 0 (8 innings)
7-25-3 (F) LOWELL over Hobart forfeit (lack of players)
7-26-3 (S) CROWN POINT 12, LOWELL 1 (7 inn.)
7-27-3 (Sun) CP-Remington (Rain)
7-28-3 (Mon) Wet grounds (Rain)
7-29-3 (Tues) CROWN POINT 11, Remington 1 (7 inn.)
7-29-3 (Tues) CROWN POINT 9, Remington 8
Lafayette American
Legion Regional
double-elimination
at Loeb Stadium in Lafayette
8-1 (F) Lafayette Post 11 (25-8) vs. Highland Post 180 (9-12) 4 p.m.
8-11 (F) Crown Point Post 20 (18-4) vs. Plymouth Post 27 (25-3) 7:30 p.m.
8-2 (Sat.) 3 second round games
8-3 (Sun) championship round
2003 State Finals in
Madison, Ind.
at
Madison Shawe high school in Madison
8-7 (Th) first round game
8-8 (F) 2 first round games
8-9 (Sat.) 3 second round games
8-10 (Sun) championship round
AMERICAN LEGION
State Champions
2002: Evansville
Post 265
2001: Evansville Post 265
2000: Madison
Post 9
1999: Terre Haute Post
346
1998: Anderson Post 127
1997: Terre Haute Post
346
1996: South Bend Post
357
1995: Evansville Post 265
1994: Terre Haute Post
346
1993: Lafayette Post 11
1992: Evansville
Newburgh Post 44
1991: Highland Post 180
1990: Muncie Post 11
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reserved.
Revised: July 10, 2004.