Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
LAKE CENTRAL (23-5)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
CROWN POINT (21-4)	0	0	0	0	0	2	-	2	5	0

CROWN POINT (5-19-2009) Crown Point was eventually going to beat Lake Central.  And the Bulldogs were eventually going to win the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) softball title.  But it didn't have to happen Tuesday.  And it didn't have to happen this way.

CP junior Taylor Perry allowed no runs, no walks and no hits, a perfect game, as the Lady Bulldogs defeated LC for the first time in 11 years and clinched a half share of the Duneland Athletic Conference title with a 2-0 win on a perfectly sunny May afternoon.  I would not call it a Northwest Indiana changing of the guard because these two may meet again in regional play next month.  But CP coach Brett Crutchfield, in his third season, no longer has to hear about how his team hasn't won the DAC and hasn't beaten LC.

"I wasn't completely sure it was the first ever," said Crutchfield.  "But it is.  And a perfect game to get there."

There have been some big days for Crown Point this season, but none bigger than May 19 when they played a game that had been postponed three previous times and beat a team that has defeated them for 11 seasons in a row.

"Taylor pitched a great game and Katrina (CP's catcher) did a great job too," said Crutchfield.  "They stuck to the game plan.  It's a big win.  It's a great win for the school."

"You've got to give Perry credit," said LC coach Glenn Eisfelder.  "She pitched a perfect game.  What are you going to do?  We made a couple of errors, but it doesn't matter if you don't get any hits."

There were two details to CP's two-run sixth inning that put runs on the board.  After Jessica Martinez singled to center, Crutchfield chose not to bunt with Perry (33 of 78, .420),
the next hitter.  LC right-hander Jessica Dobson, who struck out 12, jammed Perry with an inside pitch, which she looped into left center for another base hit.

"I thought about it (the bunt)," said Crutchfield.  "I told her.  I'm giving you one swing and then I'm bunting."

From behind home plate, it appeared that LC shortstop Jessica Haskins had a chance to catch Perry's ball.  But Martinez knew she couldn't and she ran full speed from first to third on a play where other base runners would have only reached second.  After an error by LC third baseman Sarah Ranieri, Dobson struck out the side.  Had Martinez not reached third base on Perry's hit, the game would have gone scoreless to the seventh inning.

"I've got to give it to her on that play," said Crutchfield.  "She's played a million innings and she knew how to play it.  She took the risk.  Before the game, I called Martinez, Klingberg and Perry over and I said, "The last time we played them, you there were 5-for-8.  I've got to have that tonight."

Perry can pitch in a lot more games the rest of her high school career, but let's tell the truth.  She won't ever throw a perfect game against Lake Central to win the DAC championship.

"It's exciting," she said.  "Especially against a good team like that."

Lake Central (23-5) will finish another outstanding season against Griffith Friday.

"I told the girls that nothing was taken away from them tonight," he said.  "They're still champs of the DAC (there are no tiebreakers).  At the start of the year we didn't know how good we'd do.  How we were going to be.  In some respects, we still don't.  The second season starts Monday."

"Its means a lot to me to be able to coach a team and put a conference championship in the trophy case," said Crutchfield, who was Frank Podkul's assistant coach at Andrean before coming to CP in 2007.

"But I owe it all to these guys (his players).  I didn't do anything today except stand here and jump around."

CP NOTES:  The last victory for CP over Lake Central was 4-1 on April 9, 1998.  Sarah and Christina Douglas were star players for CP and Mandi Boardman was the winning pitcher.

"It wasn't as long as I thought," said CP coach Brett Crutchfield.  "The streak with Chesterton (which CP broke last year) was longer.

CP righthander Jackie Beilfuss (10-2. 0.95) has walled just nine in 81 innings.  The Lady Bulldogs defeated Wheeler 1-0 Wednesday night as Beilfuss pitched a four-hit shutout.

After 25 games, CP leadoff batter Victoria (Tori) Connelly (26-70, .371) did not have an extra base hit all season.  She has 26 singles and 15 stolen bases.

CP's Taylor Perry agreed that the Lady Bulldogs might have been looking past Boone Grove Monday when they lost on the road 2-0 to the 2A No. 3 Wolves.

"Maybe," she said.  "We just had to take it out on Lake Central."

Crutchfield said it was a legitimate win for the Wolves.

"It came down to one inning," he said.  "Their girl (Roxanne Miniuk) hit a two-run homer.  And it was a legitimate homerun, too.  She hit it to right center.  They're a good team."

Crown Point drew LaPorte (17-6) in the final quarterfinal game of next week's Class 4A Merrillville Sectional.  The Bulldogs and Slicers meet on Tuesday night, May 26 at 6:00 p.m.

"The way we look at it," said Crutchfield, "we were going to play them sometime anyway.  Our half of the bracket is loaded.  We've just got to come out like we did today."

The winner of CP-LaPorte will play Valparaiso or Chesterton Thursday, May 28 at 6:00 p.m. in the semifinals.  The finals are Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m.

---

2009 Crown Point (22-4)
Coach Brett Crutchfield (3rd year) 18-11 (2008), 16-14 (2007)
Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) games in CAPS
4-3 (W) 2-1 at Penn (21-5)
4-8 (L) 6-7 LAKE CENTRAL (23-5)
4-9 (W) 16-0 (5 innings) MERRILLVILLE (4-22)
4-10 (W) 5-0  Munster (9-12)
4-15 (W) 15-2 MICHIGAN CITY (5 innings)
4-16 (W) 6-1  LaPORTE (17-6)
4-17 (W) 3-0 Lowell (17-10)
4-18 (W) 10-0 (6 innings) Hobart (8-12)
4-20 (rain) CHESTERTON (10-12)
4-22 (W) 1-0 (10 innings) VALPARAISO (8-16)
4-24 (L) 4-5 at PORTAGE (11-11)

CROWN POINT Invitational
4-25 (W) 10-0 (5 innings) St. Joseph's (16-8).
4-25 (W) 1-0 (6 innings) Hanover Central (20-3)
4-25 (W) 3-1 (6 innings) Andrean (20-5) 
4-29 (rain) CHESTERTON (8-8)
4-28 (rain) LAKE CENTRAL (23-5)
5-2 (W) 14-1 (6 innings) at MERRILLVILLE (4-22)
5-4 (W) 7-0 MICHIGAN CITY (5-16) .
5-6 (W) 4-1 at LaPORTE (17-6)
5-7 (W) 5-0 at CHESTERTON (10-12).

Twin Lakes Invitational in Monticello, In.
5-8 (W) 8-1 Pioneer (8-12)
5-9 (W) 11-0 Maconaquah  (2-16)
5-9 (L) 1-2 (8 innings) Twin Lakes (17-8)

5-12 (W) 5-0 at VALPARAISO (8-16)
5-14 (W) 4-0 PORTAGE (11-11)
5-18 (L) 0-2 at Boone Grove (20-5)
5-19 (W) 2-0 LAKE CENTRAL (23-5)
5-20 (W) 1-0 Wheeler (20-2)
5-22 (F) Highland - 4:30 p.m.

Class 4A Sectional Two at Merrillville
5-25 (Tu) vs. LaPorte (17-6) 6:00 p.m.
5-27 (W) Semifinals - 5:00 or 7:00 p.m.
5-29 (F) championship

Class 4A Merrillville Regional
6-6 (Sat) Semifinals - 11:00 a.m. or 1:00 p.m.
6-6 (Sat) Championship - 7:00 p.m.

2009 Indiana State Softball Finals
Semifinals - 6:30 p.m.
6-12 (F) 1A at Hamilton Southeastern
6-12 (F) 2A at North Central
6-12 (F) 3A at Pike
6-12 (F) 4A at Ben Davis

2009 Indiana State Softball Finals
Title games  (at Ben Davis)
6-13 (S) 1A championship 10:30 a.m. (EST)
6-13 (S) 2A championship 1:30 p.m. (EST)
6-13 (S) 3A championship 4:30 p.m. (EST)
6-13 (S) 4A championship 7:30 p.m. (EST)

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Revised: May 30, 2009.