Class 4A Baseball Regional Preview: 6-11-2003

	Class 4A Baseball Preview: 37th IHSAA State Baseball Tournament
	A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

South Bend (4A) Regional
Saturday, June 13, 2003 11 a.m. - semifinals at Covaleski Stadium, South Bend
8 p.m. finals - at Frank Eck Stadium, Notre Dame University
CROWN POINT (22-9-1) vs. LaPorte (22-9-1)
LAKE CENTRAL (21-5-1) vs. Penn (28-5)

SOUTH BEND: Four 20-game winners go head-to-head here for a berth in the 2003 state finals and everybody's coming from somewhere else.

LaPorte, the 8-time state (and 31-time sectional) champion, has a very young team with no seniors on the playoff roster. They draw a Crown Point squad that's in the regional for the first time in 11 years and will be making a debut appearance at Covaleski Stadium. LaPorte will rely on left-handed pitcher Andy Weeks, who has pitched two complete games against CP already this year. Trouble is, he hasn't won any of them.

The Bulldogs beat Robby Dhoore 10-1 on April 17 in Crown Point, a game that was not in doubt after a four-run CP third inning. The rematch on May 8 at LaPorte lasted 10 innings and ended in a 1-1 tie. The Bulldogs got only one base hit as Weeks struck out seven with four walks in 10 innings.

Since DAC league rules require tie games to be replayed, CP went back to LaPorte on May 12 and CP scored five times in the eighth, breaking a 1-1 tie for a 6-1 victory. Weeks allowed just seven hits in that game, one being Jake Pierce's bases loaded triple in the eighth.

CP will probably go with Chad Pruzin (5-2), who struck out 15 Slicers in the 1-1 tie. Adam Vetter (9-1) , who was the winning pitcher in the other two games, could also start but, in a perfect world, you might want the hard-throwing Vetter pitching in the night game against either Penn or LC. You must plan for two games here.

LaPorte had one test in the sectional, beating Adams 2-1 behind a complete game from Weeks. In the other two games, the Slicers beat Clay 4-0 and Washington 15-5. Joel Matheny (.391 - regular season) was 3-for-4 against Washington in the title game. Leadoff batter Jared Mrozinske (.370) is a key player as is freshman second baseman Nick Overmeyer.

The Slicers will probably go with another sophomore left-hander, Jeff DeMaas (4-0) in the tile game, hoping to get through enough innings so Weeks can finish the game. Pitchers get 10 innings in any two consecutive games in the state tournament. If Weeks has to go into extra innings again in the regional, LaPorte will run out of pitching.

Crown Point needs good infield defense to advance here. LaPorte has scored only three runs in 25 innings against Pruzin and Vetter. Truthfully, CP has to give LaPorte this game with bad defense. The Slicers are not a strong hitting team. But the Bulldogs made eight errors in the Merrillville sectional, barely winning three one-run games. CP is led by leadoff man, center fielder Jake Pierce and shortstop and third place hitter Chad Pierce. The brothers are the key to the offense and defense. Clean up hitter Kevin Vandas drove in two runs against Valparaiso but CP is a relatively light-hitting team as well.

Lake Central has been very strong against an independent schedule that includes sectional champions Warsaw, Snider, CP, Clark, Penn and Benton Central.

LC has a speed based attack led by Jose Mendez (.368) and Gary Ruvoli (.469) who both had 28 stolen base during the regular season. LC, unofficially, had 18 errors in 27 games, an almost unbelievable total at the high school level. The Indians have made more than two errors in a game only once all year. LC will start 6-7 sophomore Brett Summers (6-1), who struck out 58 in 53 innings during the regular season. Coach Todd Iwema always closes with Brett's senior brother Adam Summers, who was the winner in LC's 9-6 sectional victory over Munster. Adam Summers has appeared in 14 games, only two of them starts. He has six saves and 41 strikeouts against seven walks.

LC had only nine homers all season but they batted .363 as a team. Andrew Allilovich (.465) drove in 21 runs and Adam Summers (.365) drove in 28.

LC beat Penn 5-3 on April 14, scoring two in the seventh. Brett Summers pitched a complete-game that day and Allilovich and Ruvoli backed him up with two hits each. LC beat power pitcher Billy Grace (6-1) a Division I left-hander who threw 138 pitches and struck out 19 in Penn's 3-2 sectional quarterfinal win over Elkhart Memorial (20-10).

Penn closed out the sectional by wasting Concord 9-0 and Goshen 10-0. Jon Seabaugh (9-2) pitched a five-inning one hit shutout against Goshen.

Penn was 26-7 last year, losing 4-3 to Munster in the regional championship game. The Kingsmen have beaten LaPorte 6-3 this year. Penn has never met Crown Point.

WHO WILL WIN? I would think that Crown Point will beat LaPorte. Very little in the earlier three meetings indicates that the Slicers can score three or four times in seven innings against CP pitching. The Bulldogs erased a major hurdle last week winning the sectional and they may be more relaxed this week against a familiar foe.

I like LC's Billy Grace to overcome LC's speed and high-average hitters. The team that lost earlier often has the advantage in a matchup of two powerful squads. Plus, Penn was in the regional title game last year and has to be hungry to get back.

In the finals, CP's Adam Vetter will be a big problem for Penn, who has never seen him. I expect the Bulldogs to stay in the game against the Kingsmen, but it's too much to ask that CP beat a more experienced team with a better offense. PENN is almost at home at Notre Dame. They will have a huge fan following and that will help them win the regional title.

4A State Regional Baseball Playoffs
      Saturday, June 14, 2003
Times:     11 a.m., 1 p.m., 8 p.m. (where possible)
Tickets:    Session: $5    Season: $7

at Kokomo
McCutcheon (26-5) vs. Warsaw (25-4)
Fort Wayne Snider (23-7) vs. Richmond (24-7)

at Noblesville
Center Grove (28-4) vs. Lawrence North (17-11)
Brownsburg (27-2) vs. Hamilton Southeastern (23-7)

at Evansville Bosse
Bloomington South (19-9) vs. Evansville Harrison (16-13)
Martinsville (18-11) vs. Jeffersonville (21-6)

BASEBALL NOTES: The winner at South Bend faces the winner at Noblesville (probably Brownsburg) in the state semifinals on June 20.

McCutcheon's 3-0 victory over Jefferson in the Lafayette Sectional championship drew 1,851 fans to Loeb Stadium in Lafayette. McCutcheon left-hander Clayton Richard (9-0), the All-America quarterback going to Michigan University, has not allowed an earned run all season. McCutcheon batters have been hit by pitches an incredible 46 times in 31 games.

The South Bend semifinals will be played at Covaleski Stadium, the 5,000-seat home of the Arizona Diamondbacks Class A farm club, the South Bend Silver Hawks. Covaleski is in downtown South Bend, just west of the center of town at 501 West South Street. Because the Silver Hawks have a game Saturday night (June 14), the South Bend Regional title game will be played at the University of Notre Dame's Frank Eck Stadium, north of the downtown South Bend area. That seats 2,500. If Penn is playing, you need to arrive early for the title game because Penn is less than 20 minutes from Notre Dame and could bring 2,000 fans.

Class 4A Baseball Preview: 37th IHSAA State Baseball Tournament

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith