Lady Bulldogs advance to Sectional semifinals

with 8-0 win over Valparaiso

A USA-365 special report by Mark Smith

5-24-2005

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
CROWN POINT (12-13)	1	1	2	0	1	2	1	8	12	1
Valparaiso (9-18)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0

Monday, May 23, 2005 - Class 4A Crown Point Sectional Quarterfinal

WP - Shelly Kurcz (9-4) 5K, 3 walks , CG

LP – Alicia Ellenberger (7-16) 3K, 2 walks, CG

CROWN POINT (12-13)

Kaitlyn Rather (1B) Triple, single, RBI

Lauren Mishevich (SS) 2 singles, RBI

Alicia Rock (catcher) 2 singles, RBI

Amber Pierce (RF) 2 singles

Allison Adank (LF) Single, walk

Valparaiso (9-18)

Stephanie Zaharias (RF) Single

Chally Clem (2B) Single

Alicia Ellenberger (P) Single

CROWN POINT (4A) Sectional

at Crown Point high school - quarterfinals

Crown Point 8, Valparaiso 0
Chesterton 1, Portage 0

Wed, May 25 at Crown Point high school - semifinals

CP (12-13) vs. Chesterton (24-2-1) 5 p.m.
Hobart (17-11) vs. Merrillville (12-17)

Fri. May 27 at Crown Point High School

Championship game – 7 p.m.

CROWN POINT (5-23-2005) - After losing the final two games of the regular season 4-0 and 1-0 to 20-game winners Highland and Hanover Central, it was not a shock that Crown Point could beat a Valparaiso team that had been under .500 all season.

But it was a surprise that they beat Valparaiso 8-0... and with 12 base hits. This was a Crown Point team that was shutout this year by Highland, HC, Munster, Lake Central, Portage, Lowell, Chesterton well..... you get the point.

“I was really surprised,” said CP's winning pitcher Shelley Kurcz. “Well, not surprised. But it something we have been working on.”

“We all came together and played at the same time,” said senior Lauren Mishevich. “Saturday, we went against Amanda Wendlinger and she's a really good pitcher and I think it helped us.”

Second baseman Lauren Stovall suggested. “I think we saved it all up for today.”

What ever works. CP had a hit in every inning and never trailed. Freshman Amber Pierce singled on the third pitch of the game and scored on Mishevich's two-out line drive single to center field. In the second inning with a runner at first base and two out, Pierce chopped an infield single in front of the plate that Valpo pitcher Alicia Ellenberger threw past first base for a run scoring error. In the third inning, RBI singles by Alicia Rock and Jen Adank made it 4-0 and the game was out of reach.

Kurcz, who allowed only three hits in the 1-0 loss at Hanover, retired the first nine Valpo hitters in order and finished with a three-hit shutout.

“She has pitched very well for us lately,” said coach Jim Inglehart. “I don't think she worked as hard in the off season before last year as she did before this year. I don't think she was ready at the start of the year and she played her way into shape.”

“She's worked very hard and she's not the kind of person who gets upset by anything happening. She just shakes it off. It was a tough call tonight between her and our senior (Missy Ferrara) but she's gotten better. She's got a new change up and she throws a rise now. We're happy with her.”

Shelly didn't have to do much shaking Monday as the lead kept building. CP was able to pull the ball and hit to the opposite field against a pitcher they split two low-scoring games with earlier this season.

Mishevich, Pierce, sophomore catcher Alicia Rock and Kaitlyn Rather all had two base hits.

“We've had some games where we've just hit the ball right at them,” said Inglehart, who won his first playoff game since returning as CP's coach prior to the 2004 season.

“Playing games was an advantage, but we changed our schedule. We had so many games at the end last year that we were tired. This week, we had some practices and then two games at the end. I think that made a big difference.”

Crown Point needs to win the sectional to finish at the .500 mark for the season and that's a tall order. Chesterton (24-2-1) edged Portage (20-10) by a 1-0 score in the night quarterfinal Monday on an unearned seventh inning run and the Trojans will face Crown Point in the Friday night 5 p.m. semifinal.

Crown Point has lost twice to Chesterton this season.

“It'll be tough,” said Ingelhart. “Nothing against us but these (Portage and Chesterton) are the best two teams here. We've just got to get off to a good start so we think we have a chance.”

Stovall added, “You never know. Anything can happen.”

SECTIONAL NOTES: One change in Shelly Kurcz from the start of the season is an effective change-up that she can get near the plate.

“Coach Witten's been working on it with me,” she said, “and it's fun to throw it. It's easier to pitch when you get ahead. You don't have to worry if a pitch gets hit.”

Kurcz lost to Hanover, Chesterton, Hobart and Portage this season and Hobart, an 8-3 loss where she made four throwing errors, is the only one she'd like to forget about.

Asked what's changed since that 8-3 loss, Shelly, said, “For one thing, I learned how to throw to first base.”

“Shelly is a free spirit,” said coach Jim Inglehart of his junior pitcher who, for example, seems to have a different hairstyle almost every week.

“That's a little tough for me sometimes because I'm a bit of a hard nose. But she plays hard and she's been playing well. I don't want to break that spirit she has.”

The first Crown Point Softball sectional since the 1980s went well on opening night with the home team winning 8-0 and a scoreless battle between two 20-game winning teams in the nightcap. Over 200 fans watched the Portage-Chesterton game in chilly 50-degree conditions.