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

Third baseman Jessica Toth holds Wheeler's Kylie Plank on third base in the third inning of HC's win over Wheeler. (All photos by Mark Smith)

Wheeler's Kylie Plank watches a pitch head for home as Wheeler built a 4-0 lead in the first three innings.

Jessica Toth comes on to pitch in relief after Hanover rallies to go ahead.

Wheeler second baseman Whitney Maas throws out an HC runner.

Hanover Tiffany Gibson gets the pound-on-your-helmet treatment at home plate from Gabby Roggerro (glasses) and Kelsey Jankowski after Gibson's first home run of the year clinched HC's 9-4 win over Wheeler.  (All photos by Mark Smith)

CEDAR LAKE (04-27-2010) There are more ways to look at Hanover Central's 9-4 win over undefeated and top-ranked Wheeler Tuesday than there is time and space to detail them.

Wheeler did not pitch undefeated right-hander Lanay Parks (9-0), who no-hit Hanover Central in the Class 2A Sectional title game last year.  But Wheeler did mount a 4-0 lead against Hanover right-hander Kelsey Jankowski in the first two innings before Hanover mounted their biggest comeback of the season.

Hanover (8-4), a team that has gotten little production out of the last five positions in the batting order, had fifth place batter Katie Klopp single, steal a base, move up on a wild pitch and score the go-ahead run on a hard hit ground ball by sixth place hitter Gabby Roggero.  The game changes if Tiffany Gibson's running catch of Park's potential two-run single in the second inning is ruled a base hit, as it appeared to be.  Wheeler already led by 4-0 and could (should?) have gone up 6-0 on that play.

But Hanover's 'Big 4' of Gibson, Jankowski, Morgan Austgen and Jessica Toth, facing a fourth consecutive loss to the Bearcats, responded collectively with seven hits and eight RBIs in HC's last four innings, leading to what may be Hanover's first ever win over an undefeated, top-ranked (in Class 2A) team.

Wheeler coach Marc Bruner didn't say his team would have won had they pitched Parks, who has allowed one earned run all year.  But Hanover knew they'd hear that.

"It's not just the pitching," said Tiffany Gibson, who had an RBI single in the third and a two-run homer in the sixth.  "It's defense and offense.  They can't just say that it was because they didn't pitch their best pitcher.  Our bottom of the lineup has been stepping it up."

Gibson was in the middle of the game's most controversial play.  With just two umpires on duty and two runners on base, Parks two-out line drive to center had to be judged by the home plate umpire.  Most people behind home plate thought Gibson scooped up the liner on one very short hop.  The home ump ruled it a catch and the inning was over.

"I saw an awful lot of ball out there," admitted HC coach Larry McMillen.

Gibson said, "I don't know.  I just tried to catch it.  My dad told me I didn't catch it.  But I really don't know.  The umpire is always right."

Bruner was diplomatic.

"No coach is happy with all the calls," he began.  "A 6-0 lead is a lot different than 4-0.  But who's to say they don't come back from 6-0 behind?

On a sunny cold early spring afternoon Wheeler scored three times in the first inning after Kylie Plank's leadoff double.  Mackenzie Ness lined a two-run double to right center and Emily Bisch slapped an RBI ground out.

After Gibson's catch left the score at 4-0 after two innings, Hanover showed what they are capable of on offense.

Singles by Austgen, Toth and Gibson and a couple of chain-reaction throwing errors by the Wheeler infield cut the lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the third.

In the fourth inning, with two on and two out, Ness (3-1), Wheeler's No. 2 pitcher, hit Austgen with a pitch to fill the bases.

Up came Jankowski, who had not had a good day pitching with four walks in four innings.  Given a chance to make up for the sub-par pitching, the Hanover senior lined a two-run single to center to tie the game 4-4.

"I get really mad at myself," Kelsey admitted later.  "But then I got up to hit and I say, 'Whatever.  Just put the ball in play.'  My back has been giving me some problems and the cold is not helping."

"This was really good for all of us," said Toth, who quieted Wheeler's attack over the final three innings with five strikeouts.  "We were down 4-0 and we came back from there.  We were dead in the first couple of innings.  It was good for us to show we can do it."

And it's good that these teams meet again in sectional play?  Not so much for them but for those of us watching.

"Being undefeated meant nothing to us," Bruner said.  "It meant nothing to me.  We want to win the conference and the sectional.  Our schedule gets progressively together as the season goes on.  I didn't have a whole lot of stock in being undefeated.  They may have, but I didn't."

McMillen still shakes his head at the inconsistency of his girls.  The Lady Cats have lost to Highland (10-3), Beacher, Illinois (14-5), Griffith (8-7) and Boone Grove (7-3) but have defeated Chesterton (10-5), Wheeler (14-1), Bishop Nol (10-5) ad Lowell (10-5) and none of those six games were one-run games.  It's really difficult to make sense out of all that.

"At least we didn't lay down tonight," said McMillen.  "We keep telling Kelsey: Don't let what happens in one part of your game carry over to the other parts."

CAT NOTES:  Hanover did defeat Wheeler 2-1 in eight innings in April of 2008.  Wheeler stopped HC twice last year.

Hanover lost games with Crown Point and Andrean when the CP Invitational was rained out on April 24.  The Lady Cats were surprised by the cancellation.

"We played a JV game here that day," said coach Larry McMillen.  "A lot of teams played that day.  I don't see any reason to make up the Andrean game."

Hanover already faces Andrean (8-2) at the Twin Lakes Invitational and they may see Crown Point there as well.

There was an interference call on base runner Caitin Herzog inn the second inning.  With a runner at second and one out, Wheeler's Whitney Mars hit a ground ball to shortstop Morgan Austgen.  Herzog hesitated in front of Austgen and she missed the ball.  The umpires ruled that Herzog had interfered, even though she may not have intended to.  The batter Mars got a single and the runner Herzog was ruled out.  Both sides agreed it was the correct call.

Truthfully, no one thought Tiffany Gibson caught Lanay Parks two-out second-inning line drive that would have made the score 6-0 for Wheeler.  But it's hard to say that the Bearcats would have held the lead.  Errors gave Hanover a leadoff runner in the fourth and sixth innings.  The cold conditions had both infields fumbling the ball much of the game.

Hanover's go-ahead rally in the fifth inning wasn't totally by design.  Sophomore catcher Katie Klopp singled with one out in the fifth, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Gabby Roggero's ground ball.

Nobody told Klopp to steal second.

"She said she thought the ball got away from the catcher," said McMillen.

MacKenzie Ness pitched a shutout over Boone Grove 13-0 earlier this month.  Only four of Hanover's runs were earned runs.

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2010 Hanover Central (8-4)
Coach Larry McMillen
22-5 in 2009, 20-10 in 2008, 20-10 in 2006
4-1 (W) 11-0 River Forest (1-11)
4-2 (W) 8-3 at Chesterton (12-5)
4-3 (Rain) Munster (10-7)
4-6 (L) 2-6 at Highland (10-2)
4-9 (W) 15-5 (6 innings) at North Newton (5-7)
4-14 (L) 0-2 Griffith (8-7).
4-15 (W) 3-2 at Bishop Noll (8-4)
4-17 (W) 4-3 HEBRON (5-6)
4-19 (L) 2-6 at BOONE GROVE (8-3) .
4-21 (W) 5-2 Lowell (10-5)
4-22 (L) 4-5 (9 innings) at Beecher, Ill. (14-5)

CROWN POINT Invitational
4-24 (wet grounds) Andrean (8-2)
4-24 (wet grounds) Crown Point (10-1)
4-24 (wet grounds) St. Joseph's (9-0)
.
4-26 (W) 8-1 KOUTS (4-9)
4-27 (W) 9-4 Wheeler (14-1)
4-28 (W) at LaCrosse (4-7) 5 p.m.
4-30 (F) at SOUTH CENTRAL - 4:30 p.m.

5-3 (M) WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP - 4:30 p.m.
5-4 (Tu) Rensselaer -5 p.m.
5-5 (W) at Griffith - 4:30 p.m.

Twin Lakes Invitational (in Monticello)
all times Lake County time
5-7 (F) vs. Andrean (8-2) 5:30 p.m.
5-8 (S) vs. Lewis Cass (8-3) 9:30 a.m
5-8 (S) vs. (Lafayette) Jefferson (2-11) 12:30 p.m.

5-11 (Tu) @ MORGAN TOWNSHIP - 4:30 p.m.

PCC Tournament (in LaCrosse)
5-14 (F) quarterfinal game (home sites)
5-21 (F) at Whiting - 5 p.m.

2A Sectional 34 at Bishop Noll
5-24 (M) quarterfinals (TBA)
5-26 (W) semifinals (TBA)
5-28 (F) championship (TBA)

Regional Championship at LaVille
6-1 (Tu) one game

Semistate Championship
6-5 (S) semifinals
6-5 (S) championship

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Revised: May 22, 2010.