Hanover rolls in 13-8 Sectional Championship win over Wheeler

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

6-02-2011

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
WHEELER (18-9)	2	0	0	3	3	0	0	8	10	3
HANOVER CENTRAL (19-5)	5	0	3	3	0	2	-	13	14	5

Monday, May 30, 2011 - HC Sectional Championship Game, 91-degrees at CEDAR LAKE, IN

WP - Nic Sampognaro (7-0) CG, 5K 1 walk (5 inn.)
LP - Sam O'Shea (8-1) 5K, 2 walks

WHEELER (18-9)
David Bella (2B) 3-for-5, HR, double 2 RBIs
Sam O'Shea (P) 2-for-4
Zach Snider (LF) 0-for-4
Josh Holmes (C) 0-for-2, 2 walks
Nick Napinski (1B) 2-for-4, triple
Erin Hagen (3B) 0-for-3, HBP
Erik Shaffer (RF) 1-for-4, double
Casey Nader (SS) 1-for-4
Jesse Kellar (CF) 1-for-4, double

HANOVER (19-5)
Zac Maciejewski (C) 1-for-3, walk
Nic Samppoognaro (P) 2-for-4, 2 runs scored
Nick Bollenbacher (2B) 2-for-3, HR, 2 RBIs, HBP
Danny Stum (SS-P) 1-for-4
Mike Balich (DH) 2-for-4, HR, RBI
Tyler Trepton (1B) 2-for-4, 2 doubles, RBI
Nick Laing (LF) 2-for-3
Nick Spangler (RF) 1-for-3, 2 RBIs
Nick Myszkowski (CF) 0-for-1, sac bunt, walk

HANOVER CENTRAL (2A) SECTIONAL
Quarterfinals
Bishop Noll 13, River Forest 4
Semifinals
Wheeler 6, Lake Station 1
HANOVER CENTRAL 6, Bishop Noll 3
Championship
HANOVER 13, Wheeler 8 (title)

JIMTOWN (2A)Regional
@ Jimtown High school - 6-4-11
BOONE GROVE/HEBRON vs. Eastside/Garrett - 11 a.m. EST
HANOVER (19-5) vs Westview (13-15) - 1 p.m. - EST
2A Sectional Championship - 8 p.m. EST

CEDAR LAKE, IN (5-30-2011) It might be time to get on the bandwagon. The Hanover Central baseball bandwagon. The Porter County Conference (PCC) champions became sectional champions last Monday afternoon when they topped Bishop Noll 6-3 and Wheeler 13-8 on the same 90-degree afternoon to win the Class 2A Sectional 33 playoffs.

Hanover Central (19-5) heads for Elkhart County Saturday to take on Westview in the second semifinal game of the Class 2A Jimtown Regional Saturday with what seems like an excellent chance to continue a championship season.

"They don't know enough to be nervous," said coach Doug Nelson, who welcomed his first sectional baseball championship after coaching HC's girls basketball team to three sectional title 2007-2009. "We haven't been here before so we don't know how to react."

And they don't seem to know that almost everybody eventually loses in the state tournament. Why would they. The Wildcats still have two pitchers who have not lost. Senior Andy Wellwerts (9-0) struck out 12 to give HC a 6-3 semifinal win over Bishop Noll before senior Nic Sampognaro (7-0) settled down after a homer from Wheeler leadoff man David Bella and nursed a lead through five linings on a day when the wind was blowing out over the center field fence at 20 miles an hour.

"It's a big deal," Sampognaro said. "Especially being a senior. After the first inning, I had my head down but when I got a hit and we'd scored five, I felt a lot better. We all wanted this. We all knew we were a good team. But it's hard to win two games in one day. Especially in this heat."

The accomplishment of winning the sectional title after nearly four decades of trying was almost too big for words. Especially for tired teenage ballplayers.

"The sectional is the biggest thing," said Bollenbacher, during a celebration that was muted somewhat by fatigue after six hours of baseball. "That was definitely one of my goals. To leave a little piece of me here at Hanover. And now we all did."

I don't know if Hanover was ever in danger of losing on this day, which turned into an endurance test more than a baseball tournament. But junior Zac Maciejewski, HC's catcher in both games, was the backbone of the team. His diving catch of a spinning foul tip in the first inning ended Wheeler's two-run rally and started HC's comeback.

"He's a warrior," said Nelson of Maciejewski. "He really is. He's a fighter. His play in the first was a game changer."

"I thought it was going to be a long game," said Maciejewski after the first two runs were scored by Wheeler. "O'Shea hadn't lost a game all year. He held us to two runs early in the year (7-2 in April) and they beat us."

Maciejewski says that he'd be surprised if all his teammates didn't dream of walking out onto Victory Field in downtown Indianapolis. Especially with Wellwerts, who pitched the complete game victory over Noll and then pitched the final scoreless inning against Wheeler.

"Three games away," he said. "Nobody's hit Andy (Wellwerts) and nobody we're going to see is going to. They had a couple of hits and we made stupid plays behind him. He threw 80-100 pitches in the first game and they Wheeler had to have it in the back of their minds that he was coming in against them, too. I do think they gave up. Everybody does."

The community seems to have caught on. Volunteers came up to the school early Monday to help dry the field after Sunday rains. Without everyone who helped, the Wildcats might not have been able to play Monday.

"When Andy gets on the hill," agrees Nelson. "The other dugout deflates. You can see it. These boys will fight. And they are naive to all of this. This is history here."

SECTIONAL NOTES: This is only the 11th winning season of Hanover Central baseball since the program began with a 7-7 record in 1969. They were 20-8 under Jim Nohos in 2009 and that's the school record for wins. HC's 19-5 record is the best varsity baseball won-loss record in the history of the school.

Before the Hanover bandwagon leaves for Elkhart this weekend, perspective is probably required.

Indiana has had the state high school baseball tournament for 45 years now and this is the first time that Hanover Central has won the sectional. Hanover never won a sectional in the old, one class tournament in 29 tries. Ron Szayni, now an assistant to coach Doug Nelson, was Hanover's coach from 1998-2004. He took over a program that was 5-17 where the field flooded after sprinkles and his team practiced in the school parking lot regularly.

Szayni had the won-loss record up to 17-11 in 2003 when HC lost its home varsity field (the outfield was on the ground where the new HC gym now sits) in the school renovation process and had to play games in St. John for two years. As he watched the Wildcats pound out 14 hits to take down Wheeler he obviously thought about the past.

"All these guys did well at the junior high level," said Szayni. "It's great for the program to see things moving in a positive direction. They had a good year last year and a great year this year. Kids have bought into a program. Putting in the work. In the weight room and hitting. Things we'd been trying to do. Things have just jelled under Doug and I'm happy to be a part of it."

"It has to be eight years ago that we had no field for two years. We had to say 'please move your cars before we practice and break your windows."

"It means a lot to me. To see the program doing well. No field. No facilities. We had to beg to get baseballs. We really didn't have a lot of baseballs for some games. It's just really nice. We can build on things for the future."

Szayni is pretty positive about next week.

"As long as we can throw Andy (Wellwerts) in the first game we have a pretty good chance," he said. "If you get an umpire who gives him a little on each side of the plate, he'll work the heck out of that."