Crown Point wins Junior (age 17 & under) American Legion State Title, but stays home
	A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith 8-1-2006

Sunday, July 30, 2006 - 83 degrees, Junior American Legion State Championship game at Harrison High School in Evansville, IN.

WP - Jack Standley CG, 2K, 3 walks
LP - Derek Tabor  CG, 2K, 1 walk 

Crown Point (20)
Tommy Parks (3B) Double, 2 singles, 4 RBIs
Jack Standley (P) Triple, run scored
Michael Hernandez (OF) 2 singles RBI
Chris Samano (2B) 2 singles RBI

Saturday, July 29, 2006 - 83 degrees, Junior American Legion State Tournament game at Harrison High School in Evansville, IN.

WP - Eric Clayton (5-2) CG, 9K, 1 walk
LP - Clayton Knight 1K, 2 walks (4 inn.)

Crown Point (20)
Tommy Parks (3B) Triple, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs
Jack Standley (P) Double, 2 singles, 3 runs
Michael Hernandez (OF) 3 single, run scored
James Frasure (OF) 2 singles

EVANSVILLE, IN (7-30-2006)  If there was a question about whether Crown Point's 17-and-under or 'B' team would continue to exist after this year, the squad sold itself at last weekend's state tournament.  Manager Larry Samano, who admittedly had less player experience than he did on the 2005 state champions, went back down south and won again, blasting Newburg 8-2 and 12-3 Saturday and Sunday for a three-game sweep of the 2006 state championships.

But if there was a question as to whether  Post 20's 17-and-under squad would move on in national legion competition, that doubt proved well founded.  The 'B' team defeated the other American Legion competition they faced last week. But they were stopped by the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA).

After sweeping three games in Evansville to repeat as 17-and-under Legion state champs, CP (17-12) had their season ended by a new IHSAA rule.  In May, the IHSAA executive board passed a rule that stated that large numbers of varsity, junior varsity or freshman players from the same school cannot play on the same summer team.    

In baseball, the number is five.

Crown Point Post 20 has nine players on the 'B' team.  The rule went into effect with the start of the 2006-2007 high school athletic season which began Monday, July 31st.  Post 20 can continue to Danville, Illinois to play in  the eight team Midwest regional, a tournament they won last year, but any CP players would be ineligible to play at the high school next season.

''I knew about this Thursday," said 'B' team manager Larry Samano, "but there was no point in bringing it up until we won.  Plus, I thought that we'd  get some kind of waiver to complete our season.  But the people at the American Legion called Blake Rees (commissioner of the IHSAA) and told them about our situation.  He is aware of us and he still said the rule stands."

The rule is hard on Post 20 and its players, which met at the post Monday night to prepare for the next tournament.  They heard the news, expressed a lot of anger, tried to plot around it and finally left feeling their season was over.

"We could go with nine," suggested outfielder James Frasure, who wrote out a roster where CP could stay within the five-player rule and still go to the national tournament which began Wednesday night.  "I'm willing to go."

Samano said 'no' to that.  

"If it was a four team tournament," he said, "Maybe. But it's an eight team tournament and we'd have no substitutes.  We really can't go with just nine players.  You just can't do it."

This rule was voted in 16-0 by the IHSAA board in May and it was instituted on June 22.  It is apparently a rule directed at basketball which has hundreds of summer teams now on which varsity coaches insist their varsity players compete.  Some basketball summer teams play 30-40 games.  The basketball limit of players on the same team is three, so this effectively stops high school basketball summer teams.  Baseball might have been included in this latest rule just so all team sports have the same rules.

When the IHSAA went to class sports playoffs for basketball in 1997, they also went to class sports for baseball, volleyball and softball, simply to be even-handed.  But the IHSAA shows a total lack of knowledge of baseball here.  American Legion, Babe Ruth and Senior Little League teams are programs with traditions and organized championships totally separate of the high school.  There are boys who play Legion ball who do not play at the high school.

"I can't believe this rule is going to stand," said Samano, who had called the American Legion state headquarters downstate. "The lawyers for the Legion are going to fight this and I think they'll get it overturned.  It just won't be in time for us.  This rule means you really can't have 14 and 15 year old Babe Ruth and Senior Little League.  All those teams take players from the same school.  We're Crown Point Post 20.  How can we not take the players from Crown Point high school?"

Cedar Lake Post 261 manager Al Myszkowski said he wasn't so sure the rule would be overturned soon.

"The vote on this was 16-0," he noted.  "They thought about this a lot.  And there's some good reasons for this in other sports.  It will do some good things.  I don't even know if I'll be managing the post team next year.  But what would I do?  Take five players from Crown Point?  And the 'second' five after they (Post 20) had taken the ones they really want?  That's not going to happen."

The rule is not written clearly and assistant IHSAA commissioner Bobby Cox threw some new light on it late Tuesday.

"This rule is directed at baseball," he insisted, while agreeing it does apply to all 'out of season' sports. "Understand that we don't make up proposals.  We only take them from our membership schools and there are some schools that are very much against fall baseball teams.  If boys are asked to be on baseball teams in the fall, there will be less participation in IHSAA sports like soccer, cross country and football."

Cox said that the rule is not meant to stop summer baseball teams from finishing a season.  It's only meant to stop fall ball teams which would subtract boys from fall prep sports.  He felt that those who say this rule bans single school dominated teams ALL summer are wrong.  Cox said the rule is only in effect once the fall sports season begins and this is not an all-summer rule.

"We're not against any summer team having any number of boys from the same school," he said. "And anyone can coach them.  We just don't want it to extend into the fall."

Apparently the IHSAA never considered American Legion, Babe Ruth and Little League state and national tournaments, which extend through August while the fall sports season begins earlier and earlier every year...

"We just responded to the concerns of our members schools," Cox admitted.  "Now we're fielding calls of situations we did not consider.  The IHSAA board is open to make any changes in this they wish to at their regular meetings.  They can change this for next year if the member schools want to."

Many American Legion 'A' teams like Hammond Post 168, which won the Crown Point Regional with an 8-7 win over South Bend Post 50 Monday night, don't worry about the IHSAA because many of their players like Ranko Ivetic, Brett Summers, Brad Gerlach and Ryan Frost, are all high school graduates.  There lies the American Legion's boldest possible response if this rule stands.

The Legion could raise its age limit to 20 or 21 (it is now 19) and make it easy to limit the number of still-eligible high school players on 'B' teams to to the five that the IHSAA dictates.  There are not that many 'B' teams state wide.

The Crown Point Babe Ruth team of 15-year-olds which which was just eliminated Sunday in the Ohio Valley regional in Granger, Indiana, included 12 members of the CPHS freshman team.  Under this new IHSAA rule, had they played Monday and Tuesday, all 12 members of that team would be ineligible to play anywhere in Indiana in 2007.

Some parents and players wanted to defy the IHSAA and go to the regional tournament, hoping the rule will be overturned legally by next baseball season.  But that would be risky with a couple of boys who hope to be on CP's varsity in 2007 and one, Tommy Parks, who already is.

"That doesn't make sense," said Samano.  "I really think this rule will be overturned, but the boys can't risk an entire year just on the hope that's going to happen.  We won the state title for the second year in a row and that's good.  We weren't going to the tournament anyway early last week because of football (CP's football practice started Monday), but we worked that out with coach (Chip) Pettit.  Now we can't go anyway."

The ruling dimmed what should be bright days for Post 20, which traveled to southern Indiana and came back with the state crown for the second year in a row.

"We never trailed," Samano said.  "Once we beat Bristol 7-2 in the first game, we had a day off and I got to watch the other teams and I'm saying, we can beat them.  The boys came out focused after the day off and beat Newburgh and that was the crucial game of the tournament because sometimes they get down there in the hotel and don't concentrate on the game.  But I put on a curfew and they all obeyed it.  At least as far as I know."

The only returning members of the 2005 state and midwest champs were Tommy Parks, Munster-native Jack Standley and Samano's son Chris.

"I think Tommy really wanted to be on the 'A' team (the 19-and-under squad), but where would he have played?  With (Chris) Saroff and (Tim) Mummery where would he
have been?  He missed some time with football, but when he was here, he did a great job for us.  Tommy Parks, Eric Clayton, Jack Standley, Kyle Bacon, James Frasure and Chris Samano.  These were the guys who carried us.  There is some doubt that there will be a 'B' team next year, but we didn't talk about that.  I really think the 'B' team will be back.  This is a different level.  When you get here, you know you'll be playing against 17, 18 and 19 year olds. I have always told them that the goal is simply to be competitive."

After a sub-.500 regular season, CP was 6-1 in the playoffs.  They were 11-1 in playoff competition in 2005.

"We lost three games in a  row at the start of the year and I didn't think we were going to be any good by the end of the year," recalled Samano.  "They didn't have the
confidence they could compete at this level.  But they focused and they listened.  I always tell them to just listen to what we're trying to tell them.  We started with 17 players and we ended up with 12, but that's okay.  This isn't Little League and I'm going to play the best nine.  Some players left because of lack of playing time, but I've got a responsibility to win and that means that I put the best players out there.  It has been great to see this happen two years in a row.  It's great for the kids and it's great for their parents."

LEGION NOTES:  If what IHSAA assistant commissioner Bobby Cox said is the correct interpretation, the player limits on non school participation do not apply to summer AAU basketball, as long as it ends before school practice begins.  Cox said that, other than the moratorium week, where varsity coaches can have no contact with players, coaches are free to coach summer teams with any number of their players, as long as it does not extend into the first day of fall practices.  He suggested the IHSAA was somewhat unaware of how long summer baseball extends into August.

"We're not smart enough to anticipate every result of our rules," he admitted.  "We were just responding to the concerns of our membership and there were a lot of concerns."

CP Post 20 parents called both daily newspapers to spread the story about Post 20 being threatened with ineligibility if they advanced to the Midwest Legion regional.  But Cox seemed to suggest that this rule could be altered through the regular lines of IHSAA communication.  The local representative for the IHSAA executive board is Merrillville athletic director Janis Qualizza.  Any of the 17 IHSAA board members could make a proposal changing this rule.

Post 20 pitching coach Mike Schultz called the Indianapolis Star to spread the story of the Indiana state champ being forced to stay home.  Schultz wanted to go to Danville with five CP players and four others, trying to win with nine.

"It would be great for us to go and try to win with nine," he said.  "This team has more heart than any I have ever been around.  Frasure said he would go and just be a cheerleader."

Hammond (19-15-1) rallied from deficits of 4-0 and 7-3 to beat South Bend Post 50 (17-12) and take the regional title.  Hammond opens play in the 5-team American Legion "A' team state championship Thursday Aug. 3.  Post 50 (21-12) had defeated Valparaiso and Highland to reach the championship round Sunday and they appeared to benefit from heavy rains which postponed Sunday's title game.  Brett Summers' one out single in the bottom of the ninth inning gave Hammond the Monday night victory in a three-hour contest played in 90-degree temperatures under the lights.

Also through to the finals was Bristol (36-6), which won the Anderson regional after the host team defeated Lafayette Post 11 (29-3) twice. 

CITY OF CROWN POINT TO HONOR CP LEGION POST 20 STATE CHAMPIONS:  Members of the Crown Point Junior American Legion team will be honored in a city-sponsored victory parade Wednesday, August 9th.  The age 17 & under American Legion State Champions will step-off at 2:00 p.m. from Post 20 Legion Hall at 1401 North Main Street and march south down North Main Street to the end of the downtown square.  Crown Point Mayor Dan Klein is then expected to make a proclamation from the east side of the Old Lake County Courthouse honoring the city's baseball heroes.

CROWN POINT POST 20-B (17-11 overall, 6-1 post-season record)
Manager: Larry Samano - 4th year

2006 JR. "B" LEGION REGIONAL TOURNAMENT (age 17 & under) at Crown Point Teagle Field

(1B) Tue, 7-18  Crown Point #20B - 9, South Bend #50B - 6
(2B) Wed, 7-19  Hammond #168B - 7, South Bend #50B - 4 
(Thur, 7-20  Both B and A games cancelled due to rain
(3B) Fri, 7-21  Crown Point #20B - 11, Hammond #168B - 5 
(4B) Sat, 7-22  Hammond #168B - 7, Crown Point #20B - 3  
(5B) Sun, 7-23  Crown Point #20B - 13, Hammond #168B - 3, title

Crown Point Post 20-B advances to state tournament

2006 JR. "B" AMERICAN LEGION STATE TOURNAMENT (age 17 & under) at Harrison High School, Evansville

Thu, 7-27  Crown Point #20B - 7, Bristol #143B - 3

Sat, 7-29  Crown Point #20B - 8, Newburgh - 2

Sun, 7-30  Crown Point #20B - 12, Newburgh - 3, state title
Crown Point Post 20-B qualified, but did not advance to the Midwest Regional Tournament