Cedar Lake wins first Little League (ages 11-12) test 4-3 over Robertsdale

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
CEDAR LAKE	2	1	1	0	0	0	4	8	1
Robertsdale	1	0	5	2	0	0	3	6	5

Little League (age 11-12) state tournament opener, 80 degrees, hazy in Cedar Lake
WP-Frank Eaglebarger 1-0
CG, 7Ks, 4 walks
LP - Micah Rooke (0-1)
3Ks, 2 walks. 3 WPs

CEDAR LAKE
6 singles, 2 doubles
Mike Zurbriggen (CL)
Double, 2 singles
Frank Eaglebarger (CL)
Single, 2 RBIs
Dana Plant (CL)
Single, walk

Robertsdale
Triple, double 3 singles
Micah Rooke
Triploe, walk, run scored
Donnie Holifield
Single, RBI

CEDAR LAKE (6-29-2003) - Used to be the report on the state tournament hopes of the Cedar Lake Little League was short story. The league has only advanced to the District finals once in the 11-12 year-old age bracket.

There may be more to say this year. The Cedar Lake all-stars rolled up a 4-0 lead and held on Sunday night for a 4-3 victory over Robertsdale, a must for any team with hopes of competing for the district title.

Frank Eaglebarger survived a three-run rally in the fifth inning and Matt Zurbriggen was 3-for-4 as the host team led all the way. The Cedar Lake 12s were scheduled to play Highland National League all-stars on Monday night but they needed only one win in their next two games to advance to the District II finals in Griffith the week of July 8-14.

"Our pitcher didn't walk many people and our defense didn't give up any runs," said manager Frank Zurbriggen. "That was the big thing. I just told our guys. Communication. I knew we could play with them. That's the biggest thing. Back up there. Talk to each other. Kids get in a game they shut up. They don't talk to each other."

The Cedar Lake stars let their bats do the talking early in the dinnertime matchup in front of a crowd of almost 200 people sitting in the setting sun at the Cedar Lake Little League complex.
Zurbriggen, the son of the manager, bounced a ground rule double over the right field fence with one out in the first against hard-throwing Robertsdale right-hander Micah Rooke. Dana Plant then bounced a single to center field and stole second base. Eaglebarger, who bats clean-up, smacked an RBI ground ball to second base to make it 1-0. Plant alertly scored on a wild pitch by Rooke and Cedar Lake led 2-0 after one inning.

Robertsdale, the District II champion three years ago, gave Cedar Lake a run in the second inning after two out. Cody Howarth walked, stole second and went to third base when catcher Donnie Holifield's throw sailed into center field. Ryan Longoria's ground ball hopped got past Robertsdale shortstop Justin Holmes for an error to make it 3-0.

In the fourth inning, a single by Zurbriggen and two wild pitches set up Eaglebarger who smacked an RBI single to left field for a four-run lead.

Robertsdale, from the far north end of Hammond, rallied in the fifth inning when Rooke sliced a triple down the right field line. Holmes singled to left to make it 4-1 and Enrique Villa lined a single to center field. As the Hammond fans got louder and louder, Eaglebarger got Justin Polak on an RBI ground out to second base and struck out Matt Hornyak. Holifield lined a base hit to left field to make it 4-3 but Ryan Donovan popped out to end the inning.

In the sixth inning, after one out, Erik Martinez singled and went to second base a Eaglebarger made a good stop on Rooke's hard ground ball back to the mound. Then, with both sides looking for victory on every pitch, Eaglebarger struck out Holmes on a 2-2 pitch to end the game.

"He's an 11-year-old pitcher," said manager Zurbriggen. "We have three 11-year-olds on the team. Our 2-3 hitters (Matt Zurbriggen and Justin Plant) hit the ball very well. I teach them how to swing the bat but I don't really tell them what to do when they're up there. I don't want then to get nervous. The only time I'll tell the whether to swing or not is when it's 3-0. Robertsdale was pretty good fielding team. Our biggest problem tonight was base-running. We really weren't watching the coaches. If we'd taken care of our baserunning, we'd have scored a couple more."

Cedar Lake's 10-and-under (minors) squad almost shocked Munster earlier in the day, leading 3-2 going to the final half inning but losing 4-3. A Munster runner scored from third base when the Cedar Lake players assumed time had been called, scoring the tying run with two out in the bottom of the sixth.

"It was a heart-breaker," said coach Frank Bacon. "Kind of take the blame for that. We didn't have a lot of time to prepare. We played Munster tough. We had 'em. We got 'em pumped up going out for that last inning. It was just a heartbreaker. We play Griffith now (Tuesday). We've just got to be ready."

LITTLE NOTES: Cedar Lake's 12-and-under Little League all-stars advanced to the district finals four years ago and that is probably the only time in history they've gotten to that level. The 10-year-old all-stars with Eaglebarger, Aaron Jackson and Billy McQuade, reached the district finals last season and that is thought to be the only time Cedar Lake has advanced at that level.

Manager Frank Zurbriggen was put in the awkward position of talking about his son's chances on the mound. Matt Zurbriggen is the No.2 pitcher for the Cedar Lake all-stars.

"He doesn't throw as hard as Frank (Eaglebarger). He's got to mix it up more. He's got a curve ball. He's got to pitch smart. He's not a big kid and he moves the ball around. Frank's more of a hard thrower. The thing about Frank is that, if he sees you swing at a high pitch, he'll keep it up there. He struck out that guy in the fifth inning that way."

Highland National beat Hobart Township 28-0 in Sunday other game, a contest that can only be described as unfortunate.

The Little League playoffs were forced to move the state tournament up a week reportedly because the state finals fell on the same week as the Brickyard 500 auto race this month. To avoid a severe shortage of hotel space for state finals' teams, the Little League moved the tournament up.

Because Cedar Lake only has one Little League field suitable for the state tournament, they were forced into an all-day Sunday marathon with two 10-and-under games beginning at one p.m. and two 12-and-under games starting at 6 p.m. Some league parents and officials had a 10-hour day.

Bacon said that playing at home was a big advantage to the Cedar Lake boys.

"Our whole side was filled (with parents and fans) up," he said. "They were really into it. They thought we were going to win right up to the end. It would have been something for both teams to win today. That really would have been great for a little town like ours."

MAJORS (ages 11-12)
At CEDAR LAKE - Sunday, June 29
CEDAR LAKE 4, Robertsdale 3
Highland National 28, Hobart Township 0

At CEDAR LAKE - Monday, June 30
CEDAR LAKE vs. Highland National - 6 p.m.
(winner advances to District II final in GRIFFITH on July 5 undefeated)
Robertsdale vs. Hobart Township at 8 p.m.

At CEDAR LAKE - Wednesday, July 2
Monday's 8 p.m. winner vs. Sunday's 6 p.m. loser
(winner advances to District II finals in GRIFFITH on July 6 with one loss)

MINORS (ages 9-10)
At CEDAR LAKE - Sunday, June 29
Munster National 4, CEDAR LAKE 3
Griffith (1) 19, Roselawn 5

At CEDAR LAKE - Tuesday, July 1
Munster National vs. Griffith - 6 p.m.
(winner advances to District II final in DYER on July 7 undefeated)
Roselawn vs. CEDAR LAKE - 8 p.m.

At CEDAR LAKE - Wednesday, July 2
Tuesday's 8 p.m. winner vs. Tuesday's 6 p.m. loser
(winner advances to District II finals in DYER on July 8 with one loss)

District 2 Little League (age 11-12) Champions
2002 - Munster American
2001 - CROWN POINT
2000 - Robertsdale
1999 - DYER
1998 - DYER
1997 - DYER (state champion)
1996 - DYER
1995 - CROWN POINT (state champion)
1994 - Highland National
1993 - DYER (state champion)
1992 - CROWN POINT National
1991 - DYER
1990 - DYER
1989 - DYER
1988 - CROWN POINT
1987 - CROWN POINT
1986 - CROWN POINT
1985 - Highland American
1984 - Whiting
1983 - Robertsdale
1982 - Griffith (state champion)
1981 - East Chicago Ki-Yowga
1980 - CROWN POINT
1979 - CROWN POINT
1978 - Hammond Edison
1977 - Hammond Hessville
1976 - Whiting
1975 - Highland American (state champion)
1974 - Griffith American
1973 - Hammond Edison
1972 - Hammond Edison (state champion)
1971 - State Park (Chesterton)
1970 - Highland South (state champion)
1969 - Hammond Hessville
1968 - CROWN POINT
1967 - Hammond Maywood