Lady Bulldogs match 2004 win total with 1-0 shutout of Valpo, face 4A, No.1 Lake Central this Friday

A USA-365 special report by Mark Smith

5-3-2005

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Valparaiso (6-13)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1
CROWN POINT (8-7)	1	0	0	0	0	0	-	1	3	2

Monday, May 2, 2005 - 49 degrees & cloudy in Crown Point, IN

WP – Shelly Kurcz (5-3) CG, 2K, 1 walk

LP – Alicia Ellenberger (5-10) CG, 2K, 1 walk

Valparaiso (6-13, 3-5 DAC)

Angelique Alvarado (2B) Single

CROWN POINT (8-7, 3-4 DAC)

Kaitlyn Rather (DH) Single, walk, RBI

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
LaPorte (4-12)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	4
CROWN POINT (7-7)	2	0	1	3	1	1	-	8	9	2

Friday, April 29, 2005 - cloudy & 54 degrees in Crown Point, IN

WP – Shelly Kurcz (4-3) CG, 5K, 2 Ws

LP – Jessica Thompson (2-6) CG, 6K, 3 Ws

LaPORTE (5-8, 2-5)

Tara Buchanan (OF) Single, run scored

CROWN POINT (7-7, 4-3 DAC)

Anna Stephens (CF) 3 singles, run scored

Lauren Stovall (2B) 2 singles, 2 RBIs

Alicia Rock (Catcher) 2 singles

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Portage (9-5)	1	3	0	0	0	5	1	10	12	0
CROWN POINT (6-7)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	6

Wednesday, April 27, 2005 - 54 degrees and partly sunny Crown Point, IN

WP – Tracy Markwell (3-2) 5K, 0 walks (4 innings)

Olivia Leggett (Save) 1k, 0 walks (3 innings)

LP – Melissa Ferrara (3-4) 3K, 2 walks, CG

PORTAGE (9-5, 5-3 DAC)

Sammy Meints (2B) Triple, double, single, 2 RBIs

Amy Samplawski (SS) Double, single, 2 RBIs

Krystle Sanchez (RF) Single, walk, RBI

Teri Harrington (RF) 2 singles, RBI

Cara Horner (3B) Single, RBI

CROWN POINT (6-7, 3-5 DAC)

Heather Robison (LF) Triple

Lauren Stovall (2B) Single

CROWN POINT (5-2-2005) - I appreciate that an 8-7 record is not great. But, check back with me now. Last year, the Bulldogs were 8-20.

“I think it means something,” said coach Jim Inglehart. “We lost to them 4-1 the first time and we gave up all four runs in the first inning. We've outplayed them for 13 innings and we only got one win. But we'll take it.”

Monday's game was tough to watch and probably tougher to play as 45-degree temperatures and cold winds whipped the cloudy landscape on the giant back lot of Crown Point high school.

Kaitlyn Rather, CP's team leader in RBIs, sliced a first-inning base hit into right field scoring Amber Pearce, who reached on an error and moved up on Lauren Stovall's sacrifice bunt. Valparaiso had runners in scoring position in the first, fourth and seventh innings but CP junior right-hander Shelly Kurcz (5-3) stopped them all three times with the help of the infield defense. CP junior second baseman Lauren Stovall zipped into short right field to grab Carolyn Bertram's bid for a game tying single with two out in the seventh inning.

Valparaiso pitcher Alicia Ellenberger (6-10), who defeated CP 4-1 on April 12, gave up one run this time and took a very unlucky 10^th defeat.

“We have improved,” said Inglehart, with a nod to a very difficult final third of the schedule that includes ranked teams Lake Central, Chesterton and Hanover Central. “But we know we have a long way to go.”

If you wanted to attend last week's Portage-Crown Point game hoping it would be competitive, you looked at two factors. Portage used top pitcher Meghan Gutierrez the day before and would likely go with No. 2, senior Tracy Markwell.

Crown Point had every opportunity to beat Merrillville in a 2-1 loss the day before. It seemed logical the game would be relatively close.

Fast forward to the seventh inning when catcher Alicia Rock hit a foul pop up near the third base dugout. Portage senior third baseman Cara Horner took three quick steps towards the CP bench and dived head long in a failed attempt to grab the ball, tumbling and kicking up dust in front of the entire Bulldog team. The extra effort came with her team ahead 9-0 in the sixth inning of a game they had led all the way.

There's still a difference in the level of play between Crown Point and Portage.

Portage, which is clearly on the rise, beat Crown Point 10-0 in a game that, while CP may not have expected to win, they hoped it would be closer than this.

“We fell behind quickly,” said Ingelhart, “and we kinda gave up,” he admitted. “We don't really think we can beat them. If we'd have fallen behind early against another team, I think we would have come back.”

The game was 4-0 in the sixth when Portage ripped five hits in a row to ice it. Sammy Meints had three base hits and two RBIs.

The Bulldogs bounced back by rolling over LaPorte 8-1 (4-29-2005) as Kurcz allowed only four hits and two walks in seven innings.

CP NOTES: Four of CP's seven losses have been by shutout and they scored just one run in two other games. Crown Point has not defeated a team with a winning record this season.

Valparaiso is without sophomore pitcher Autumn Blankenbaker, who will miss the entire season after ACL surgery. Four-year VHS starter Ashlee Blankenbaker, Autumn's older sister, missed the entire season this year at Valparaiso University with an arm injury.

Crown Point's final 2005 game, which is not on many schedules, is a game at 2A No. 4 Hanover Central (10-3) at 11 a.m. on May 21, the final day of the regular season.

Crown Point (8-7) at No. 1 Lake Central (18-0-1)

Friday, May 6, 2005 - 4:30 p.m.

ST. JOHN (5-6-2005) The Bulldogs get a shot at the undefeated defending state champions in an ultimate David-and-Goliath matchup. Who will LC pitch? Does it matter? At the start of the week, Brittney Gard (7-0), Katie Golden (6-0) and Angie Funston (5-0) were all undefeated. The one you don't want is Golden, the hardest thrower.

But the problem will be to pitch around all-stater Katie Mitchell, who hit two home runs last weekend in LC's two-game trip to Carmel, which saw the Indians winning 11-1 over Snider and 7-3 over Carmel.

LC has just hammered everyone's pitching except for a 0-0 tie with Munster. They have scored 10 or more six times and have 18 consecutive wins against one of the state's top schedules, playing everywhere from Evansville to Indianapolis to Lafayette.

Indian hurlers have 13 shutouts, including a 6-0 win at Crown Point on April 19.

Crown Point relies on the 3-4 hitters Lauren Stovall, Lindsey Mishevich and Kaitlyn Rather (20 RBIs) to score, but runs have been hard to come by against good pitchers.

CP will probably go with junior Shelly Kurcz, who pitched complete game wins over LaPorte and Valparaiso in the last 10 days. This is a very tough assignment for the Bulldogs, who haven't beaten LC in four years. I know how this sounds, but if CP scores a run, they will have done well on Friday.