Lady Wildcats rack up 20th win of season, 1-0 over Boone to capture PCC Tournament

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

5-16-2005

Friday, May 13, 2005 - 61 degrees, cloudy, PCC Quarterfinals at Morgan Township

WP – Amanda Wendlinger (9-3) CG #18, 14K, 1 walk

LP – Nicole Jessen (9-6) CG, 2Ks, 2 walks

HANOVER CENTRAL (18-3-3)

Kelly Lapota (1B) Single, RBIs

Rachel Williams (CF) 2 singles

Andria Trock (SS) Single, 2 RBIs

Saturday, May 14, 2005 - 55 degrees, cloudy, PCC Semifinal in LaCrosse

WP – Amanda Wendlinger (10-3) CG #19, 11K, 0 walks

LP – Chantal Gross (8-7) CG, 5K, 0 walks

HANOVER CENTRAL (19-3-3)

Kelly Lapota (1B) 2 singles, RBI

Rachel Williams (CF) 2 singles, run scored

Heather Rebenack (RF) 2 singles

SOUTH CENTRAL (12-9)

Amy Bolakowski 1B) Singles

Stella Myers (2B) Singles

Beth Harrold (Catcher) Single

Saturday, May 14, 2005 - 60 degrees, sunny, PCC Semifinal in LaCrosse

WP – Lauren Denhert (6-10) CG, 16Ks, 0 walks

LP – Maggie Riggs (16-7) CG, 8K, 1 walk

BOONE GROVE (9-15)

Lauren Doelling (2B) Double, run scored

Lauren Denhert (P) Single, HBP, RBI

HEBRON (16-7)

Katie Hren (DP) Singles

Heidi Freund (RF) Single

Saturday, May 14, 2005 - 61 degrees, cloudy, PCC Championship in LaCrosse

WP – Amanda Wendlinger (11-3) CG #20, 11K, 1 walk

LP – Lauren Denhert (6-11) CG, 5K, 2 walks

HANOVER CENTRAL (20-3-3)

Kelly Lapota (1B) Single, walk

Amanda Wendlinger (P) 2 singles, run scored

BOONE GROVE (9-16)

Kara Kessler (Catcher) Single, walk

LaCROSSE (5-14-2005) You could feel the passing of time, as chilly as the 20-mile-an-hour winds roaring through the wide open acres that create the LaCrosse softball landscape.

There was never a time during Saturday's semifinals and finals of the 15^th Porter County Conference (PCC) softball tournament when you thought that the contenders couldn't rally. But there was also never a moment when you thought that four-time defending champion Hanover Central couldn't and wouldn't make it five in a row.

No one was truly surprised. Nobody expected to beat Hanover Saturday, because no one in the PCC has since the year 2000. Hanover Central has dominated PCC softball throughout this decade and there was no reason to believe it would end on this day.

Hanover four seniors - winning pitcher Amanda Wendlinger, Rachel Williams, Kelly Lapota and injured Christie Wick were all smiles as they headed for home after completing four year careers as undefeated PCC champions. With graduation and the state tournament looming, the excitement for them, was not to be found on this day.

“We did think about this,” said Hanover catcher Jill Sjoerdsma, who played in her first PCC title game, even though she was on the team in 2004. “But we've been thinking more about sectionals. We were a young team coming into this season. We had to adjust to the new people. The middle of our infield was something we worried about.

But sitting in the open field where the PCC finals have been held the past three years, alone with late May thoughts in the chilly sunshine, you could feel that things were unavoidably about to change.

Three separate futures seemed possible for the teams in the brightly colored uniforms.

First, Hanover Central, which won the fifth consecutive PCC title with 1-0 wins over rivals South Central and Boone Grove, appears to be capable of becoming the first team in state history to win back-to-back state titles. A month ago, they did not look capable of hitting the ball out of the infield. No team has scored more than three runs off Hanover all year and HC is about to to add three-year varsity player Christie Wick to a batting order that has won 20 games without her.

Second, either Hebron and South Central will represent NW Indiana in the state finals next month in Class 1A. The two teams that lost in the PCC semifinals both have top pitchers and left the LaCrosse softball complex with something to prove. South Central played a spectacular defensive game against Hanover, saving at least five runs with top defensive plays.

Third, after five consecutive championships and 50 PCC wins in a row, there will be a new champion of the Porter County Conference in 2006. Hanover has not pitched anyone except seniors Wendlinger (11-3) and Lapota (9-0) this season. Meanwhile, Hebron and Boone Grove both return pitchers with all-state potential. Unless someone transfers in to the rapidly growing Hanover school system (remember, that's how Boone got Denhert) HC will be a very athletic, experienced team without a pitcher in 2006.

Neither of those things may occur but that's what was in the wind.

Despite the scores, Wendlinger was never worried that her side would not win.

“No,” she said. “They all (South Central and Boone Grove), played well. but once we got ahead, I knew we had them.”

Sjoerdsma said her biggest worry was letting her teammates down after 49 PCC wins in a row, 39 by this senior class.

“When you said 40 wins in a row for the seniors,” she smiled. “I said 'Oh, My God. Because I play such a big part in things. If I screw up and we lose, we'd all have been really disappointed and they'd have been very unhappy.”

Hanover Central (20-3-3) scored a third inning run on a play Boone Grove did not see coming. With Wendlinger at third base and one out, Williams struck out on a 1-2 pitch but Boone catcher Kara Kessler dropped the ball. Kessler picked it up and threw to her sister, freshman Kristyn Kessler, the first baseman. Wendlinger broke for home plate when the throw was made and beat the relay home for what would be the only run of the game.

In a game you know is probably going to end up 1-0 or 2-0, you don't make that throw. The correct play would have been to fake the throw to first and try to pick Wendlinger off third base. If that failed, it would still have allowed pitcher Lauren Denhert, who was having her best day of the year, a chance to pitch out of the inning,

But Boone (9-16) should have scored in the bottom of the second inning after Kara Kessler walked. Pinch runner Kim Robertson moved up on a wild pitch and advanced to third on Kristyn Kessler's bunt. With one out, Denhert slapped a ground ball to the left of HC third baseman Danielle Hill. Hill stepped to her left, grabbed the ball, and threw to first while Robertson held third. As Wendlinger did an inning later, you've got to try to score on that play.

“She didn't get a good jump,” said Boone coach Glenn Eisfelder. “I want the kids to use their own judgment on baserunning decisions. She didn't get a good jump and I always tell them, if you don't get a good jump, don't go.”

The next batter, junior Allison Green, tried to bunt and was thrown out by Wendlinger. Boone, with three freshman and two juniors in the starting lineup, tried to bunt repeatedly against Wendlinger, who averages almost two strikeouts per inning.

Wendlinger (11-3), the little 5-foot-5 right-hander who is the three-time MVP of the PCC, pitched 21 consecutive scoreless innings for the third year in a row in the PCC tournament. The 63 consecutive scoreless innings (she broke older sister Beth Wendlinger's record of 39 consecutive scoreless innings last year) in PCC tournament play is a record that may not be broken in the lifetime of any of the players on the field Saturday.

“Against a pitcher like that, you know you're not going to get many chances,” said Eisfelder, whose team played its best ball of the season in the league tournament. “You have to take advantage of whatever you get. But nobody thought we'd get to the finals. This was a great weekend for us.'

Denhert, who had had mixed success in her first year in NW Indiana after moving in from California, struck out 16 in a 2-0 semifinal victory over favored Hebron (16-7). The Wolves beat Hawk junior right-hander Maggie Riggs (16-7), who had dominated them in a 10-0 win at Hebron just three days earlier.

“That was the day after prom weekend,” Eisfelder said with a smile. “And we were at the Twin Lakes tournament the weekend before. Prom isn't a one day affair anymore. There's a hangover.”

Boone won on Emily Odisoff's RBI bunt single in the second inning and Denhert's line drive single in the sixth inning. Denhert struck out the side in the second, fourth and seventh.

Boone has lost more than one player during the season (some have quit) and Kara Kessler was playing one of her first games as catcher.

“She did a great job,” said Eisfelder. “She was never a catcher before this year. We have two freshmen out there on the field.

On the surface, Hanover didn't hit very well, but good defense by Boone Grove and great defense by South Central made both games 1-0. South Central's centerfielder Angela Ward took two-run doubles away from both HC's Sjoerdsma and Samantha Plant. SC shortstop Chelsea Wakeman also made two top shelf defensive plays that saved runs.

The semifinals were not a disappointment because no one played poorly. If this was the league's showcase event, this is clearly a league on the rise, even if Hanover Central's run in the sun is about to set.

But the thought that this will be a cutthroat league full of vicious killer superpowers seemed unlikely to happen soon if ever.

“Can we invite Hanover to come to Dairy Queen in Kouts with us?,” Becky Keller asked coach Eisfelder after the game. The Boone coach just shook his head. When McMillen heard about the invitation, he said, “That can only happen in the PCC.”

PCC NOTES: Hanover Central coach Larry McMillen appreciates the fact that HC's run of six 20-win seasons and five PCC title since 1998 has been based on pitchers Beth (1999-2002) and Amanda Wendlinger (2002-2005). But he was just happy to take advantage of his good fortune.

“When other schools had their big studs out there,” McMillen said. “I was envious as everybody else was. But God bless them. That was their time. Now I've got two top quality pitchers in the lineup. Kelly Lapota is just as good as anybody who pitched today. Except maybe Amanda. She (Lapota) is 9-0 and she's only allowed four runs all year. ”

McMillen says that his first problem concerning next week's Bishop Noll Sectional is to get from Cedar Lake to the north end of Hammond in time to get ready for a 4:30 p.m. game. If HC reaches the Thursday finals, they will take three after-school trips almost 20 miles north in rush hour traffic. “We'll probably go up Cline Ave. and take Chicago Ave. straight over,” said McMillen, who wasn't happy with the draw. “We wont go down (Route) 41.”

Hanover will try not to look ahead to a matchup with Bishop Noll (15-9) in the 2A Bishop Noll Sectional championship game on Thursday May 26. HC has to beat Bone for a fourth time this season and then eliminate Lake Station (2-20).

“I think we'll hit her (Boone's Denhert) better the next time we see her.” said McMillen. “We faced slow pitchers all week and then we came in here. Next week, we have Lowell, Whiting and Crown Point. We'll see some good pitching. We'll do better next time.”

Catcher Jill Sjoerdsma agreed, “It was good to see her because we know that's who we'll see in the sectionals. That helps us.”

Eisfelder originally did not want Denhert to face Hanover until the playoffs but he didn't anticipate his team reaching the finals and facing the Lady Cats in the PCC finals.

“That was the original plan,” the Boone coach said. “But I thought we'd go with her and try to win the league title. I think it worked but we didn't score. When you don't score a run, you can't say you should have won.”

Wendlinger sounds like she wants to play Bishop Noll, which must advance past Wheeler in a May 25 semifinal.

“The last time we played Noll, none of us played well,” said the senior, who didn't t want to use the excuse that Heather Rebenack and senior Christie Wick did not play in that 1-0, eight inning loss to Noll in early April.

“We didn't hit that day and we didn't field,” she said. “We just didn't play well at all.”

Christie Wick, who tore an ACL in a basketball tournament in the final week of December, returns to the Hanover lineup next week.

“I've got clearance from the doctor,” Wick said. “I'll get to play six games. That's not much but it's not bad. I don't know how well I'll be able to run, but I should be able to hit.”  Wick batted .297 with 17 RBIs for HC in 32 games last season and it was her two out double that kept Hanover Central alive in an 8-7, 12-inning win over Rochester in the Class 2A LaVille Regional championship game.

Hanover pitching has 16 shutouts including 12 by Wendlinger and four by Lapota.

The structure of the state playoffs will help Wendlinger, who also runs track and was part of the 4-by-100 meter PCC championship team. Had a game been scheduled on Tuesday, May 24, Wendlinger would have had to choose between track and softball.

Wendlinger struck out 36 strikeouts in 21 tournament innings.

Denhert who has as much velocity as Wendlinger but not as much as Hebron's Riggs, struck out 28 batters in 20 innings. Riggs did not allow a ball hit out of the infield until the sixth inning.

Kelly Lapota was 3-for-5 with a walk in the final two PCC games against top pitcher Chantal Gross and Lauren Denhert. Lapota also had a two-run single off Morgan Township's Nicole Jessen in a Friday quarterfinal win at Morgan. Lapota's bat has picked up from early in the season.

“I don't know,” she said of why. “I just had to start hitting better. My teammates stay on me if I'm not swinging correctly. This (South Central ) was the team we were worried about.”

The 20^th win marked the fifth consecutive year that Hanover has won 20 games. The Lady Cats are 124-26-3 in that time, second only to Lake Central since 2000.

“To win 20 games is a big deal in this area,” said McMillen. “We play some good teams.” The maximum games HC could have played this season was 31, had they gone to the finals of the Twin Lakes Invitational. Barring rainouts, Andrean (27-2) will play 31 times.

For the record, Hanover's Kelly Lapota is the only HC senior who has played in every PCC game the last four years. She is 40-0 in league games. Amanda Wendlinger did not play against LaCrosse this season and is 39-0 in games in which she has played. Wendlinger is 32-0 as a pitcher in PCC games. She was 3-0 in league games as a freshman. when her older sister Beth was 7-0. Amanda Wendlinger did not pitch in the PCC tournament as a freshman.

Hanover Central (1999, 2001-2005) and Morgan Township (1997,1998, 2000) are the only schools to ever win the PCC tournament in its nine years of existence.

Preview...

HANOVER CENTRAL (20-3-3) at LOWELL (18-6)

Thursday, May 19, 2005 - 4:30 p.m. at Lowell

LOWELL (5-19-2005) This is a significant game for Hanover Central because this is the one team they can't seem to beat. Lowell defeated Hanover 4-1 last year and 2-1 in 2003. The Red Devils won 5-0 in 10 innings in 2002. Lowell has won five of the last seven meetings between these two neighbor schools.

Lowell comes off losses 3-1 loss to Munster and 2-0 to Bishop Noll last week but they have played a premier schedule.

Soph SS Kelly Johnson has a school record five home runs and freshman Rachel Nida has moved in as a quality leadoff batter in front of junior Carrie Shelhart.

The Devils have also lost 3-0 to Andrean, 8-3 to West Lafayette and 3-1 to Class 2A No. 1 Eastern.

There's no one reason why the Devils keep rejecting HC, but Lowell's attack is based on bunting and slapping to defeat good pitchers. Hanover has relied on good pitchers to dominate. Lowell just seems very well-suited to play the Lady Cats. The focus here will be whether the Hanover infielders can handle the speedy Lowell attack. Hanover won't win a high scoring game.

HC will return senior Christie Wick for this game putting them at full strength for the first time all season.

Hanover last beat Lowell 2-0 on April 19, 2001 and 1-0 on April 17, 1998 but it's unlikely they will shut out Lowell on this day.

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Revised: May 16, 2005.