Lady Bulldogs 'as good as it gets' in 5-0 season-opening shutout of Morton at new home softball fields

A USA-365 special report by Mark Smith

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

2004 season opener for CP - April 5, 2004, 56 degrees, sunny in CROWN POINT

WP - Shelly Kurcz (1-0) CG, 7K, 1 walk
LP - Krissy Dugan (1-1) CG, 2K, 0 walks (one earned run)

Kelly Harlow (CP) 2 singles
Shelly Kurcz (CP) Double, RBI
Heather Robison (CP) Sac Fly, RBI
Kelly Caldwell (M) 2 singles
Emily Haas (M) Double

CROWN POINT (4-5-2004) - There's a difference between good and great. I wouldn't call Monday's 5-0 season opening win over Morton in the debut game at the new Crown Poinbt high school a great day for Crown Point softball. But it was about as good as it gets.

"This is awesome," said senior Melissa Cooper, who started at third base on the smooth, all new Crown Piint softball diamond. "I'm so excited about all this."

"We got about everything we could get out of this one," said coach Jim Inglehart. "We didn't hit the ball as well as we might have and there are a couple of other things we need to work on but it was a pretty good start. Good defense. Solid pitching."

And a new field. The Lady Bulldogs, playing their first-ever game at the new Crown Point high school win front of about 100 friends of the program, looked as fresh and new as the field and the stands, winning by a decisive score in 55-degree early April sunshine.

The Bulldogs, coming off a .500 sectional title season with only three seniors on the varsity, looked solid, if not strong. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Shelly Kurcz, making her varsity debut, pitched a six-hit shutout with seven strikeouts and just one walk. Senior first baseman Kelly Harlow had two base hits and junior Lauren Mishevich reached base three times. Morton (2-2) was never out of the game but it never looked like they were going to win it either.

Kurcz, whose graduated sister Wendy was running the scoreboard in the new CPHS press box, doubled in the second inning to score Lauren Mishevich. Heather Robinson's sacrifice fly made it 2-0 in the fourth inning and the Bulldogs scored three unearned runs in the fifth.

Kurcz threw 88 pitches, allowed only two balls to be hit out of the infield and gave up just one 3-2 pitch walk, going down in CPHS history as the girl who drove in the winning run and became the winning pitcher in the first ever game played at the new high school.

"I worked a lot over the winter," said Kurcz, who was surprised to realize that she willl forever be the first winning pitcher at the new CPHS. "Coach Inglehart has been working with me since about August. He showed me some drills that made me faster. Coach (Tom) Witten came in about two or three months ago and he got me to throw inside. I never wanted to pitch inside before. They worked with me a lot and it paid off."

The hard thing to determine is exactly how much Kurcz has improved. Morton's victories were 3-2 over North Newton and 12-2 over Calumet. "We've got a coule of girls who are pretty good," said veteran Governors' coach Ted Walsh. "But we're not really that strong right now."

A better judgement of the Lady Bulldogs was to come late Tuesday against defending 4A regional champion Lake Central and Thursday against up and coming Merrillville (2-0) "We're still figuring out our batting order," said Inglehart. "I thought they (pitcher Kurcz and catcher Alicia Rock) did a good job. There were a couple of pitchers I'd like done a little differently. Lake Central will be different. We'll use all three pitchers and it will be a test by fire."

Inglehart was very pleased that with four girls starting their first ever varsity game, that CP made no mistakes. "There were some plays where I was surprised we didn't make an error. I'm pretty happy and there's a couple of kids I think will hit a lot better."

BULLDOG NOTES: The new CPHS softball field is large, over 250 feet to the fence at any point. The chain link fence is about eight feet tall. "We might have some inside the park home runs," said coach Jim Inglehart.

The news CPHS infield was in very good condition considering the fact that it didn't get finished last fall. "You should have been here the first couple of days of practice," said Melissa Cooper. "There was no dirt, no sand. No nothing. I said, 'Oh, my God.' Balls were bouncing up and hitting us in the face. Then they came in over the weekend with a truck of dirt and a truck of sand. And they put it all together."

Crown Point was 16-16 last year but the game with Morton was postponed by an April snowstorm and never rescheduled.

Kurcz was nervous about being the opening day pitcher. "The first couple of pitches I threw out there I was like, 'Oh. My God. What's going on?" said Kurcz. "Then I got more comfortable and I just did my job."

Inglehart wasn't emotional about his return to varsity coaching after four years away from the program. "I kept looking around for the Douglas sisters," he joked, referring to Sarah and Christina Douglas, who played for him in 1999. A sign near the announcer's booth said 'Welcome back Jim Inglehart,' which surprised the coach, who has been at Crown Point since the mid-90s.

"I didn't get it," he said. "At first, I just saw, 'Welcome Back' and I thought they meant 'Welcome Back Kotter' the old TV show. Then I saw it was for me. "

Inglehart's coaching staff includes former CPHS catcher Lori Leonard, former CHS pitcher Tiffany Sonntag and former CPHS head coach Tom Witten. "Lori Leonard was the best receiver I coached," said Inglehart, who was CP's coach from 1996 to 1999. "I did not coach Tiffany. She graduated the year before I got here. I wish I'd have had the chance to coach her. Tom Witten coached Crown Point back in the 80s. When I got here, he was coaching with Pete Iussig at Lowell."

Both of CP's athletic directors Jerry Caravana and Bill Dorulla, were on hand for the entire game, which took less than two hours.

Crown Point 2004 (1-0)
Coach Jim Inglehart (1st year), 16-16 (2003)
Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) games in CAPS

April 5 (W) 5-0 Morton (2-2)
April 6 (Tu) at LAKE CENTRAL (1-2)
April 7 (W) at Griffith (1-1)
April 8 (Th) MERRILLVILLE (2-0)

'Chieftain Invitational' Dowagiac, Mich.
April 10 (S) 3 games

April 13 (Tu) at PORTAGE
April 15 (Th) VALPARAISO
April 19 (M) LaPORTE
April 21 (W) CHESTERTON (4-0)
April 23 (F) at MICHIGAN CITY
April 24 (S) at Logansport (2) 11 a.m.
April 27 (Tu) LAKE CENTRAL
April 29 (Th) at MERRILLVILLE
April 30 (F) Andrean
May 1 (S) Hanover Central - 10 a.m.
May 3 (M) PORTAGE
May 5 (W) at VALPARAISO
May 7 (F) at LaPORTE
May 8 (S) at Morton - 10 a.m.
May 10 (M) Munster
May 11 (Tu) CHESTERTON
May 13 (Th) MICHIGAN CITY
May 15 (S) at Lowell (2)
May 21 (F) at Highland

MERRILLVILLE (4A) Sectional
(with Hobart, Chesterton, Valpo, Portage and Merrillville)
May 24 (M) quarterfinal
May 25 (Tu) quarterfinal
May 27 (Th) semifinals
May 29 (Sat) championship

Merrillville (4A) Regional
June 5 (S) semifinals - 10 a.m.
June 5 (S) championship - 7 p.m.