Bishop Noll edges Wildcats in baseball season opener, 5-4 in 8-innings

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

4-2-2007

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

WP - Brandon Martin (1-0) 2K, 1 walk one ER (3 innings)
Starter (Noll) Tony Balcazar (5 innings) 2K, 1 walk, one ER, 64 pitches

LP - Dale Sjoerdsma (0-1) 2K, 1 walks, ( 2 innings)
Starter (HC) Joe Angone (5 1/3 inn.) 2K, 2 walks, one ER, 79 pitches.

HANOVER CENTRAL (0-1)
Adam Warn (LF) 2 singles
Jake Huppenthal (DH) HR, RBI
Cody Howarth (SS) 2 singles, run scored

Bishop Noll (1-0)
Ben Jones (CF) 2 singles, RBI
Josh Pelletier (C) Double, run scored, RBI
Jake Pelletier (3B) Walk, RBI
Bobby Spohr (1B) Double, single 2 RBIs
Andrew Ramker (2B) Single, run scored

HAMMOND (3-31-2007) When the season-opening Bishop Noll-Hanover Central baseball game went into extra innings last Saturday, I actually hoped it would start to rain. Here's a game that needed to end in a tie.

Bishop Noll coach Paul Wirtz and Hanover Central coach Jim Nohos, both coaching a varsity game for the first time, longtime friends and co-coaches with the Hammond Chiefs and Seminoles summer teams, watched their debut drift into the eighth inning under dark, chilly skies down the street from the Noll school building. Jon Gaisor's one out squeeze bunt put Hanover ahead 4-3 in the top of the eighth before Bobby Spohr's two-run, bases-loaded single gave Noll a 5-4 victory.

Neither side really considered this a defeat. Noll, the defending 2A semistate champion, graduated 12 seniors last year and had to replace retiring coach Dave Griffin. The Warriors showed they have fine young talent and a couple of anchors in brothers Josh and Jake Pelletier. Hanover, which has never won a baseball sectional, played through some mental errors, showcased a dugout full of capable players and nearly pulled off a significant upset.

The Wildcats led 1-0, 3-2, and 4-3 and they could have won in seven innings had pinch runner Neal Kallay tagged up and scored on a seventh-inning line drive to the outfield by Jake Huppenthal. Kallay broke off third on the hard hit ball, had to retreat to third base when Noll's Eric Escamilla caught the ball, and was thrown out at home on a relay by second baseman Andrew Ranker.

Bishop Noll had committed an almost identical mistake in the third inning. Leading 2-1, Noll's Sammy Krucek jumped off the base on a line drive by Josh Pelletier and had to retreat to the base when the ball was caught.

HC catcher Brian Jager committed a couple of throwing errors early, but he blocked a half dozen pitches in the dirt that would have allowed Noll runners to move up a base. Oddly, Noll catcher Josh Pelletier also committed the Warriors' two errors on throws.

"We have a lot to work on," admitted Jim Nohos, coaching his first Hanover game after coming over from Andrean this summer. "We need to work on base running. We need to back up bases better. But we can do that. Everything is correctable."

But the fact that Hanover took Bishop Noll, a school that has reached two of the last three 2A state championship games, into overtime, was a shining light in defeat. The Wildcats, playing without all Porter County Conference (PCC) shortstop Andrew DeYoung, were very aggressive on the bases, trying to bunt and steal in almost every inning. The HC defense clearly needs more practice, but the Hanover offense is something that HC foes this season will have to work on.

"I just cant say enough about him," said Wirtz of Nohos. "They are going to be much better. You are not going to find a better coach in this area. I don't care who you say. There are others who are just as good. (Andrean's Dave) Pishkur, (Lake Central's Todd) Iwema, (Griffith's Brian) Jennings. But I'll take him (Nohos) with any of them."

Hanover led 1-0 when designated hitter Jake Huppenthal hit a line drive over the short right center field fence off Noll sophomore right-hander Tony Balcazar. Noll scored twice in the bottom of the third when Ben Jones singled to center and went to second when a pickoff throw from Jager sailed into right field. The Warriors' Mike Sandoval laid down a bunt and HC starting pitcher Joe Angone tried to make the play at third base. Jones beat the tag and Noll runners were at first and third. A wild pitch on a hit-and-run scored Jones and when Jager threw to Angone covering home plate, the ball got away and Sandoval went to third base. After Noll's base running miscue on Josh Pelletier's line drive, Jake Pelletier eventually made it 2-1 on an RBI ground ball.

Jordan Rizo's RBI single made it 2-2 in the top of the fourth, but an infield hit by Jones made it 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth.

Hanover tied the game in the seventh on a wild pitch by Noll relief pitcher Brandon Martin, and they went ahead in the eighth. Sophomore Cody Howarth, filling in for DeYoung, got his second hit of the game and Matt Kozlowski bunted him to second base. Adam Warn laid down a bunt single to put runners at first and third and Gaisor laid down a 'suicide' squeeze bunt with Howarth, on the go with the pitch, scoring the 4-3 run. Hanover's Jesse Hernandez then launched a hard drive to deep left field, but Noll's Sandoval pulled it down to end the inning.

In the bottom of the eighth, Andrew Ramker led off with a single against HC relief pitcher Dale Sjoerdsma, who had pitched two scoreless innings. Josh Pelletier hit a deep, but catchable drive near the short right field fence that Gaisor could not grab. With runners at second and third and nobody out, HC intentionally walked Jake Pelletier to Bobby Spohr, a slow but powerful right-handed batter. With the count of 2-0, Spohr hit a hard line drive into right center field that scored the tying and winning runs.

"We got some hits in the last inning," said Wirtz. "But we made a lot of mistakes. They did too. I know what he (Nohos) is trying to do because we do a lot of the same things. They didn't do a lot of things right but they will."

One thing Hanover cannot improve on is their first game bunting performance. In a display of 'small ball' skill rarely seen this side of girls softball or the Dyer Little League, Hanover attempted nine bunts, collecting four successful sacrifices and three bunt singles. And while the subject of bunt defense will come up at Noll baseball practice this week, the bunts were effective because they were well placed. I'm not a big fan of the sacrifice bunt. I'd trade them for hit-and-runs, but HC lost four runners on the bases. But it was amazing to see seven successful (single or sacrifice) bunts in a baseball game. And it was no accident.

"We try to put pressure on the defense," said Nohos. "We spend as much time bunting as we do swinging. We work a lot on it."

Wirtz said, "I promise you. They (HC) are doing it every day. I've coached with him for seven years. I know what to expect. We didn't bunt as much as I wanted to, but we're going to do all the same things."

What was also impressive about Hanover was their bench. With DeYoung unavailable (ACT test), Nohos plugged in Howarth, a sophomore, who played errorless defense and had two hits.

"I thought he was great today," said Nohos. And that's what you want. Players who can step in and do the job. Then, the other guys know they have to get better all the time because somebody's there who can take their place. Third base, second base, every position is open except for catcher. I thought Brian did a great job today."

Noll will struggle in the Lake Athletic Conference due to inexperience, but they should be ready for the post-season. Wirtz knows that Noll expects to win in baseball.

"We have expectations," said Wirtz. "We're not gong to have the record we had when we went to the finals. But I have expectations. I expect to win the sectional and I think we can do it."

Since Noll has only one field, the junior varsity game was played prior to the varsity game, pushing the 11:30 start of the varsity game back about 90 minutes. It was a long opening game in chilly, damp conditions. But it was a landmark. The only way it could have been more memorable would be if both rookie managers had walked to the mound after seven innings, shook hands and called their head coaching debut a draw.

"No," laughed Wirtz. "The tie didn't come into my mind. We talked after every inning and we just thought that we were trying to give each other our first win."

"No, we're too competitive for that," he said. "We were deciding what we're going to eat tonight. We eat steak because I lost."

CAT NOTES: About 10 minutes after Noll and Hanover took almost five errors to play a junior varsity and varsity game, a brief but heavy rainstorm chased everyone off the field and onto the road home. New HC coach Jim Nohos knows someone from almost every Lake County school through his summer coaching job with the Hammond Chiefs Senior Babe Ruth baseball organization.

"He played for me when he was 16 in the Seminoles program," said Nohos of Wirtz, who graduated from Crown Point high school. "Actually I started him in coaching. I'm proud of him and I'm happy. I might hear a lot about it this summer. But I'm happy it was him."

"We were together coaching for two years," Wirtz said. "Those were my first two years of coaching and he was there already. He's the reason I got started coaching. He was my coach when I was 16. My first year coaching at Lake Central... he was the one who got me in there and he got me in coaching with the Chiefs. So, we've been coaching together for seven years."

Wirtz, who played for coach Ed Sherry at Crown Point in the late 90s, kept trying to get his players not to jump out of the way of inside pitches. He kept telling his boys to just turn your body and let it hit you.

"We're trying to get that through to them," he said. "Boys naturally don't want to get hit with the ball. But if you do it right, you won't get hit too hard and it's actually a good thing. And getting hit by a pitch is a good thing. It's a good thing for the team."

The IHSAA realignment of sectionals for next year appears to help Hanover Central because the present five-team 2A sectional 33 (HC, Noll, Wheeler, Lake Station and Boone Grove) loses Boone Grove to sectional 34 and picks up new 2A school River Forest in 2008. But Nohos said that's only if you aren't thinking about winning the regional. He is.

"They (Boone) are going to win that new sectional (Boone, North Newton, North Judson, Winamac and Culver ) pretty much every year and you're going to have to play them in a one team regional. When they were in the sectional, if you got a good draw, you might not see Boone. Now, you'll see them in the regional every year."

13-15 in 2006 - PCC game in CAPS
3-31-7 (L) 4-5 (8 innings) at Bishop Noll (1-0)
4-3-7 (Tu) at North Newton - 4:30 p.m.
4-4-7 (W) Calumet - 4:30 p.m.
4-6-7 (F) Gary Roosevelt - 4:30 p.m.
4-7-7 (S) vs. Lowell at US Steelyard - Gary - 1:45 p.m.
4-10-7 (Tu) at Clark - 4:30 p.m.
4-12-7 (Th) Whiting- 4:30 p.m.
4-16-7 (M) WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP - 4:30 p.m.
4-19-7 (W) MORGAN TOWNSHIP - 4:30 p.m.
4-21-7 (S) Beecher, Ill. (2 games) 11 a.m.
4-23-7 (M) at BOONE GROVE - 4:30 p.m.
4-26-7 (Th) Gary West Side - 5 p.m.
4-27-7 (F) Gavit - 4:30 p.m.
4-30-7 (M) at South Newton - 4:30 p.m.
5-1-7 (Tu) East Chicago - 4:30 p.m.
5-4-7 (F) KOUTS - 4:30 p.m.
5-7-7 (M) at HEBRON - 4:30 p.m.
5-9-7 (W) at LaCROSSE - 4:30 p.m.
5-10-7 (Th) at Morton - 4:30 p.m.
5-12-7 (S) at SOUTH CENTRAL - 11 a.m.
5-15-7 (Tu) at Lew Wallace - 4:30 p.m.
5-18-7 (F) River Forest - 4:30 p.m.

Porter County Conference (PCC) Tournament
5-19-7 (S) quarterfinals (TBA)
5-21-7 (M) semifinals - 4:30 p.m.
5-23-7 (W) PCC championship - 4:30 p.m.

5-24-7 (Th) at Lake Station - 4:30 p.m.
5-25-7 (F) Hammond - 4:30 p.m.

BOONE GROVE (2A) Sectional
5-29-7 (M) quarterfinals
6-2-7 (F) semifinals
6-3-7 (S) championship