Hanover advances with 6-5 win over Wheeler in Sectional Quarterfinal

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

5-29-2010

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

Tyler Trepton catches a first inning pop up as catcher Zac Maciejewski holds off the other infielders. (All photos by Mark Smith)

Tyler Trepton, a sophomore left-hander, allowed just two earned runs in the first five innings.

HC coach Doug Nelson has advice for batter Tyler Trepton before an at bat in the sixth.

Hanover's Josh Yaverski leads off third base in the top of the fifth inning as Wheeler third baseman Sam O'Shea watches the pitch. (All photos by Mark Smith)

Hanover third basemen Anthony Fekete tries to hold off the Bearcats as the scoreboard show them trailing 5-2 in the fifth inning of Thursdays 2A playoff game.

Thursday, 5-27-2010 - 67 degrees - Wheeler Sectional Quarterfinal at UNION TOWNSHIP, IN

WP - Nic Sampognaro (5-2) 2K, 1 walks (2 innings)
(starter) Tyler Trepton (HC) 5K 2 walks (5 innings)

LP - Sammy O'Shea (3-1) 2K, 1 walk (2 innings)
(starter) Jordan Wodetzki (W) 2K, 2 walks

HANOVER CENTRAL (13-9-1)
Zac Maciejewski (C) 0-for-4
Nic Sampognaro (2B) 1-for-3, walk
Danny Stum (SS) 2-for-4, RBI
Nick Bollenbacher (DH) 1-for-3, walk
Nick Liang (LF) 2-for-4, RBI
Josh Yaverski (1B) 0-for-2, walk
Brandon Keaton (RF) 0-for-3
Nick Spangkler (CF) 1-for-2
Tyler Trepton (P) 0-for-2

WHEELER (18-6)
Jared Havens (2B) 1-for-4
Sam O'Shea (3B-P) 1-for-4, triple, RBI, stolen base
Josh Holmes (C) 1-for-2, double, 2 walks
Danny Wall (1B) 0-for-3, walk
Eric Hegan (DH) 1-for-3, RBI, 2 stolen bases
Zach Snider (RF) 0-for-3
Ryan Schneider (LF) 1-for-3
Jesse Kellar (CF) 2-for-3,
Eric Wise (SS) 0-for-3

UNION TOWNSHIP, IN (5-27-2010) The great thing about high school baseball is that you can fall far behind and rally. Hanover Central has made a life style of that this season, repeatedly mounting late game rallies in games they seemed out of. That kind of thing usually ends when the state tournament begins.

Not last Thursday. Trailing 5-2 heading into the sixth inning on the road, Hanover mounted an improbable rally to upset the host team 6-5 in the first Northwest Indiana surprise of the baseball state tournament.

Freshman Danny Stum's two-out base hit to right field scored Tim Evers, who had been hit in the helmet with a pitch moments earlier, breaking a 5-5 tie. HC's upset win advanced the Wildcats (12-10-1) to a Class 2A Wheeler Sectional semifinal with 10th-ranked Bishop Noll (20-5).

"When things are going well," said Coach Doug Nelson, "we're staying back and going to right field. We're still learning. We have a freshman shortstop. Sophomore pitcher. Freshman catcher. We're still learning. But we keep coming back. We've been coming back all year."

HC's comeback on this day was remarkable. Wheeler right-hander Jordan Wodetzki retired the first 10 Hanover batters. HC's first base hit, a single by Nick Sampognaro, started a two-run rally that cut Wheeler's lead to 3-2.

The Bearcats (18-6) immediately expanded the lead with Sam O'Shea's triple to the right field wall. O'Shea scored when the relay from the outfield got loose and Wheeler led 5-2 with just six outs left for the visitors. But HC rallied. Sampognaro, Stum, Nick Bollenbacher and Nick Laing all had base hits to begin the sixth inning. The tying run scored on a double steal and it was 5-5 after 5 1/2 innings.

In the seventh, Evers was hit in the head by relief pitcher Sam O'Shea with one out. Zac Maciejewski struck out, but Wheeler third baseman Eric Hegan fumbled Sampognaro's ground ball for an error. Stum, in his first state tournament game, sliced a single into right center field on the first pitch that scored the go-ahead run.

"We want everybody to be aggressive in the zone," said Nelson, who admitted that there's two schools of thought in swinging at the first pitch.

"It was an outside fastball," Stum said, who swung at the first pitch in a sixth-inning single as well. "I was just trying to go with it. Coach is not really about going for the first pitch. Me personally, I'm a better first pitch hitter because I can almost guarantee it'll be a fastball."

Sampognaro pitched two hitless innings to win the game, allowing only a two-out seventh inning walk to Josh Holmes. Laing, HC's left-fielder, made a sliding game-ending catch of Danny Wall's line drive to end Wheeler's highly-successful season. Wheeler coach Jack Schimanski had to console his side after losing leads of 2-0 and 5-2.

"We had a great season," he said. "Once they got their momentum going, we couldn't stop it. We had high expectations. What a great season we had. And when things were going wrong today, none of us were blaming each other."

SECTIONAL NOTES: "This whole thing is a little bittersweet," admitted Hanover coach Doug Nelson. "I coached a lot of those kids when they were 12. It's fun to see O'Shea and Wall and Hagen. They were on our summer team. "

Nelson was able to set up Hanover's pitching for the game two days later with Noll.

"Nic (Sampognaro) didn't throw many pitches," said the coach, who brought in the junior right-hander in relief. "And Tyler has some if we need him. He threw 99 pitches."

2010 HANOVER CENTRAL (13-9-1)
Coach Doug Nelson (1st season) 6-20 in 2009 - PCC games in CAPS
4-1-10 (L) 5-9 at Lake Central (20-5).
4-2-10 (Tie) 11-11 Lowell (12-12-1)
4-5-10 (Rain) South Newton
4-7-10 (Rain) at Calumet
4-8-10 (Rain) Wheeler (18-6)
4-13-10 (W) 11-0 Covenant Christian (10-16)
4-15-10 (L) 9-14 at Whiting (21-7)
4-17-10 (W) 11-3 vs. Hebron (12-10) at Railcats Stadium
4-19-10 (L) 1-4 at BOONE GROVE (16-12).
4-23-10 (W) 22-3 (5 innings) at LaCROSSE
4-24-10 (W) 11-1 at Beecher, Ill (13-5)
4-24-10 (L) 5-6 at Beecher, Ill (13-5)
4-26-10 (W) 16-1 (5 innings) KOUTS (11-14-1)
4-29-10 (W) 3-2 at River Forest (6-18)
4-30-10 (W) 6-1 at SOUTH CENTRAL (10-14)
5-3-10 (W) 13-11 WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP (13-10)
5-4-10 (L) 6-10 Highland (19-10)
5-8-10 (L) 7-9 Hobart (10-11)
5-10-10 (W) 5-2 Merrillville (8-12)
5-13-10 (W) 0-0 at Morton (8-10)
5-15-10 (L) 3-6 at MORGAN TOWNSHIP (13-7)
5-17-10 (rain) Clark

Porter County Conference (PCC) Tournament (at South Central)
5-19-10 (W) 12-4 at Washington Twp. (13-10)
5-20-10 (rain) Portage (17-10)
5-22-10 (W) 14-4 vs. Hebron (10-9-1)
5-24-10 (L) 2-10 Boone Grove (16-12)
5-25-10 (L) 11-13 Clark (17-8)

Wheeler (2A) Sectional 33
5-27-10 (W) 6-5 Wheeler (18-6)
5-29-10 (Sat) Bishop Noll (20-5) 12:30 p.m.
5-31-10 (Mon) sectional championship - 5 p.m.

North Judson (2A) Regional
6-5-10 (S) semifinals (a.m.)
6-5-10 (S) championship (p.m.)