Hanover Central Wildcats
Baseball Varsity Preview 2012

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

3-26-2012

2012 HANOVER CENTRAL Baseball
Coach Doug Nelson (3rd season) 22-6 in 2011
All games begin at 4:30 PM unless otherwise indicated

3/28/12 (Wed) Lowell
4/2/12 (Mon) Crown Point
4/3/12 (Tues) at Valparaiso
4/5/12 (Thurs) Lake Central
4/6/12 (Fri.) Portage
4/9/12 (Mon) WHEELER
4/12/12 (Thu) at WHITING 4:45 PM
4/13/12 (Fri.) at Hebron
4/14/12 (S) SOUTH CENTRAL - The US Steelyard-Gary 1:00 PM
4/16/12 (Mon) at BOONE GROVE
4/18/12 (Wed) at Calumet
4/20/12 (Fri) at LA CROSSE 4:45 PM
4/21/12 (Sat) at BEECHER (2 games) 11:00 AM
4/23/12 (Mon) Kouts
4/26/12 (Thu) at RIVER FOREST 5:00 PM
4/28/12 (Sat) at Munster 11:00 AM
4/30/12 (Tues) Washington Township 4:45 PM
5/1/12 (Tues) Highland
5/4/12 (Fri.) at Morgan Township
5/5/12 (Sat) Hobart 11:00 AM
5/7/12 (Mon) Merrillville 5:00 PM
5/10/12 (Thurs.) at Morton
5/14/12 (Mon) at Clark 4:45 PM

PORTER COUNTY CONFERENCE (PCC) Tournament
(at Washington Township)
5/16/12 (Wed) PCC quarterfinal
5/17/12 (Thurs.) at Kankakee Valley 4:45 PM
5/19/12 (Sat) PCC semifinal (a.m.)
5/21/12 (Mon) PCC championship (p.m.)

5/22/12 (Tues.) North Newton

KANKAKEE VALLEY (3A) Sectional
(with Knox, Rensselaer, Winamac, Calumet & Kankakee Valley)
5/24/12 (Thurs.) sectional quarterfinal
5/25/12 (Fri.) sectional quarterfinal
5/26/12 (Sat) sectional semifinal
5/28/12 (Mon) sectional championship

CEDAR LAKE (3-26-2012) If you watch high school sports, you may know that Hanover Central has gone up in enrollment and they will play in the Class 3A playoffs for the first time in May.That means they'll see a three-time state champion in Andrean and other schools larger schools than what they used to see in the 2A playoffs.

But the Wildcats, who were 22-6 last season, won't see anything in the postseason that they won't see in the first week of April as HC takes a swing at the toughest schedule the school has ever faced.

Hanover Central coach Doug Nelson signed up for the Northwest Indiana Challenge, a one-week showcase that matches up teams in the fairly big school Northwest Crossroads Conference (NCC) with teams in the very big school Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC). Hanover Central, a school of about 650, is playing in a slot reserved for one of the NCC teams, which means they will play four DAC teams all with enrollments of 2000 or more.

And they aren't just any four. Hanover will take on Valparaiso, Portage and two heavyweights, 4A No. 8 Crown Point and 4A No. 1 Lake Central.

"We were sitting at the IHSBCA (Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association) meeting and they asked if anyone would like to get into it (The Challenge)," recalled HC coach Doug Netson. "We're not going to back down from anybody. Maybe playing them with wooden bats gives us a better to chance to beat them."

Hanover will score runs with catcher Zac Maciejewski (33 of 78, .423), Danny Stum (31 of 75, .413) and Nick Bollenbacher (27 of 66, .409, 4 HRs, 24 RBIs). Defensively, they should be solid. But with the graduation of 2011 starters Andy Wellwerts (9-1) and Nic Sampognaro (7-0), the question is the pitching and Nelson is optimistic there.

The leader may be senior left hander Tyler Trepton (4-2, 2.69 ERA), who will probably start the season as the No. 1 starter. Right-hander Danny Stum will get some innings early in the year as will soph Tyler Scott, who got into five games as a freshman last year.

The 2011 season was a record-breaker for HC with 22 wins, the school's first sectional, regional and semistate titles and a level of notice the boys from Cedar Lake had never imagined. There hasn't been much of a hangover. According to Nelson, most of his boys did not know that nearby Lake Central was ranked first or that Crown Point is eighth.

"Obliviously," said Nelson of his boys appreciation of the upgraded stature of HC baseball. "I told them that South Spencer (the team that defeated HC in the 2A state title game last June) was ranked second and we aren't ranked at all. They didn't know that South Spencer was ranked and that we weren't. I would say they're oblivious to it."

"But we did win a lot of playoff games last season and everybody had their hand in it. When you return this many people in the middle of the infield, you should do well."

The coach just wants them to play hard, believing the wins will come if they do.

"It's not about looking pretty or being fancy," said Nelson. "It's about getting something done. Nobody cares how you look. I like this group. They're gritty. And there will be a couple of freshmen you'll see right away."

Nelson isn't shying away from the fact that to win the sectional in 2012 and the immediate future, his Wildcats must defeat Andrean, which was 28-5 last year and is 144-25 in the last five seasons.

If Crown Point and Lake Central are not considered the top baseball programs in Lake County, it's because Andrean is.

"I know Andrean's good, but we've got to learn right away," Nelson said. "We hung with a couple of big schools last year. We lost to Highland 3-2. We beat Clark. There's nothing wrong with taking some lumps early, but we'll be okay."

CAT NOTES: Hanover will have four freshmen on the varsity plus sophomore pitcher Tyler Scott.

"For pitchers, there's Tyler (Trepton), Danny Stum, Evan Garthus and Tyler Scott," said coach Doug Nelson. "Scott can throw hard. Aaron Furman pitched last year. He's back."

"We have a couple of freshmen transfers. Riley Welch.. Nice left-handed pitcher. He played varsity basketball. Gabe Hererra. Stocky kid. Pitcher-infielder. Looks like a third baseman. Quick release."

"We've got a lot of stuff. We're headed in the right direction."

Nine 80-degree March days in a row have made the pre-season sweet for all teams. The weather won't be as good this week but the practice outdoors is invaluable to baseball teams in the northern half of the state.

"Every time you can get outside it's great," said Nelson of the early weather. We've been doing fly balls. We'll be ready to go. We've hit against live pitching."

Hanover Central Wildcats Baseball Varsity Preview 2012

Hanover Central Wildcats
Baseball Varsity Preview 2012