Lake Central takes advantage of strong pitching & Lady Wildcats' miscues for 3-0 win

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Lake Central (23-2-1)	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	3	7	0
HANOVER CENTRAL (18-6)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3

5-19-2003 73 degrees, sunny, in Cedar Lake
LP - Amanda Wendlinger (16-5) CG No. 20, 4K, 1 walk
WP - Brooke Baker (14-3), 17 CGs, 9th shutout, 18Ks, 0 walks

LAKE CENTRAL (6 singles, triple, 3 stolen bases)
Brandi Shields (LC) Triple, 2 RBIs, stolen base
Katie Mitchell (LC) 2 singles, RBI
Stacy Adamski (LC) 2 singles
Angie Funston (LC) Single, stolen base
Yvette Tovar (LC) walk, stolen base

HANOVER CENTRAL (single)
Christie Wick (HC) single

CEDAR LAKE (5-19-2003) - The truth is that Hanover Central and selected all-stars from the eight-team Porter County Conference (PCC) could not beat Lake Central unless they played several times.

All-state right-handed pitcher Brooke Baker dominated the three-time PCC champions Monday afternoon, striking out 18 Lady Cats including 13 in a row at one point. The two teams could have played 14 innings on this sunny, warm day and Hanover still would not have scored.

The reason to watch Monday in Cedar Lake was to see whether Amanda Wendlinger and the Hanover defense could control the potent hitting lineup of the defending Class 3A state champions. The theory was that if they could hang with LC, they could stay with LC's Catholic cousins (and HC's top 2A sectional rival) Andrean.

In that respect, both sides walked away from this final matchup of big school-little school neighbors with a little something to smile about.

"We had nothing to lose," said Wendlinger. "To them, we're just another game on the schedule. To know, they didn't score until the seventh inning except for that ball four that should have been strike three, that's pretty good."

The ball four was to ninth place hitter Yvette Tovar with two out in the second inning. The next batter, senior Brandi Shields hit a high fly ball to deep left field. Hanover outfielder Kelly Lapota, who has played first base half the season, misplayed the ball which carried over her head as it fell down, giving Shields a somewhat fortunate two-run triple.

That two run lead was more than enough to bring this 90-minute contest to an end even though Wendlinger pitched her 20th complete game, allowing seven official hits and the one walk and leaving eight LC runners on base.

"We got a lot of out this," said LC coach Keith Hauber. "Amanda Wendlinger is one of the rising stars in this region. She's a very good pitcher. We play a pretty good schedule. She ranks up there in the top four or five of people we've seen. We don't play any weak sisters. We want kids to be psychologically ready for every game we play and our schedule does that for us."

Lake Central, running their winning streak to nine straight, bounced back from an off game, a 3-2 win last Friday (May 16) at Griffith.

"We didn't hit one ball hard last Friday," Hauber. "I don't know what was wrong. I thought we came back strong tonight. I thought coming into the game if we could keep the strikeouts to three or four and get eight hits, we'd have done well."

Hanover junior shortstop Bess Copak, who was 0-for-2 with two strikeouts, said that the jump between the LaCrosse pitchers Hanover faced Saturday and Baker, a two-time first team all-stater, was wider than Lake Michigan. After batting against a LaCrosse girl who was barely getting the ball over the plate to going against Baker, the difference was so big I didn't now what hit me. There's a little bit of a difference. About 45 miles an hour."

Wendlinger agreed. "In the summer we see good pitchers like her all the time. Our last game was against LaCrosse."

But to get out of the sectional, Hanover is going to have to beat an elite pitcher in Andrean's Katie Sheaks. Sheaks doesn't throw quite as hard as Baker but she is also a first-team all-stater and the 59er star will be ready to lay down some softball justice after losing 2-0 to Hanover last season in the sectional title game.

"I don't want to start thinking that far ahead yet," said Copak. "We really need to play one game at a time."

If Hanover defeats Wheeler and Gavit, they will head into the post-season at 20-6, a good season for a team with only three seniors. But they have to grasp that one bad play can cost them a game against a top foe. And somehow, they have to score.

"I thought we could've put the bat on the ball," said McMillen, who wasn't as understanding about the loss. "When you stand there and take two strikes it limits your opportunity to hit the ball. If I'm up there, I'm thinking first pitch fast ball. "

CAT NOTES: To analyze the loss, Hanover played fairly well defensively even though defensive mistakes cost them all three runs. The right side of the infield, Christie Wick and second baseman Jaclyn Kienzle, made at least four fairly difficult defensive plays. Kienzle went down on her knees to knock down two LC grounders.

"That's why she's in there," said McMillen. "She played a great game. Don't make a token wave. If you stretch out and knock it down, you have a chance to make the play first."

"I thought we played pretty well," said Jaclyn Kienzle. "Obviously, we didn't hit very well." Kienzle reports that her dad, longtime HC assistant coach Jerry Kienzle was happy with his head coaching debut (McMillen was away at a wedding), the 7-0 PCC championship victory over LaCrosse last Saturday.

"Actually he was." said daughter Jaclyn. "On the bus, he said, "I'm 1-0 now. I can retire."

For the record, last year, Hanover lost 2-0 at Lake Central. The Lady Cats went to the 2A Twin Lakes regional championship game and LC won the 3A state title. Brooke Baker has 14 wins and two saves. Shields, Funston, Adamski and Mitchell all got two base hits each but only Mitchell got two solid hits to the outfield. "I was impressed with the way we hit the ball," said Hauber."

As far as anyone can tell, this was the first Lake Central visit to Cedar Lake.

"I played here when I was little," Mitchell said of the CP town-owned softball fields.

Because of the enrollment difference and LC's status as a superpower, the two schools had not played before last year's game at Lake Central. Hauber noted that this will be the final regularly scheduled meeting.

"We have to drop nine opponents off of this year's schedule because we're joining the Duneland Conference," he said. "We have to play 14 league games. It's too bad because they (Hanover) are good right now but this is a game which really only helps them. It helps us when they have good pitching like they do now but there will be a time when they aren't as good as they are now."

ANDREAN (2A) Sectional

Monday, May 26, 2003
Boone Grove (5-18) vs. No. 1 Andrean (22-1-1) 10 a.m.
Wheeler (12-8) vs. No. 12 Hanover Central (18-6) 12 noon
North Newton (10-8) vs. Rensselaer (3-20) 2 p.m.

Tuesday, May 27, 2003
Calumet vs. Andrean (or Boone) - 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday, May 28, 2003
Wheeler or Hanover Central vs. North Newton or Rensselaer - 4:30 p.m.

Thursday, May 29, 2003
Sectional championship game - 4:30 p.m.**

**The winner meets the Griffith Sectional champion in the Twin Lakes
Regional semifinals in Monticello on May 31 at 11 a.m.

HANOVER CENTRAL (18-6, 6-0 PCC)
Head coach Larry McMillen (11th year)
2002: 24-5 2001: 28-3 2000: 16-9-1 1999: 23-2

4-3:    11-0 (6) at River Forest (7-14)
4-10    1-2 Chesterton (20-3-1)
4-12: 8-3 Bishop Noll (14-12)
4-12: 2-7 Bishop Noll (14-12)
4-15: 11-0 at North Newton (12-6)
4-16: 11-0 MORGAN TOWNSHIP (6-10)
4-18: 11-0 Clark (0-16)
4-19: 20-1 at HEBRON (9-9)
4-21 (Rain) at WHEELER (12-8)
4-23: 1-2 at Lowell (12-11)
4-24: 1-4 Beecher, Ill (21-4)
4-26: 9-0 LaCROSSE (6-14)
4-28: 5-0 Whiting (11-8)
4-30: (Rain) Morton
5-1:   10-4 at South Newton (6-9)
5-2: 12-0 at KOUTS (3-6)
5-3: 2-4 Crown Point (12-12)
5-5: 12-1 at Renssealer (3-15)
5-8: (6 innings) 11-0 at BOONE GROVE (5-18)

Twin Lakes Invitational (16 teams)
5-9: 5-0 North White (10-6)
5-10 (Rain) Jefferson (19-7)
5-10 (Rain) Pioneer (18-3)
5-13: 14-0 (5 innings) at WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP (9-9)
5-15: 5-1 Morton (10-9)

Porter County Conference (PCC) championship (at LaCrosse)
5-16: 2-0 Wheeler (12-8) quarterfinals
5-17: 8-0 Boone Grove (5-18) semifinals
5-17: 7-0 LaCrosse (6-14) championship
5-19: 0-3 Lake Central (23-2-1)

5-20 (Tu) at Wheeler (12-8) 4:30 p.m.
5-22 (Th) Gavit (9-14) 4:30 p.m.

ANDREAN (2A) sectional
5-26: vs. Wheeler (12-8) quarterfinals
5-27: semifinals - 4:30 p.m.
5-29: championship - 4:30 p.m.

Twin Lakes (2A) sectional
6-7: vs. Griffith Sectional Champion - 11 a.m.
6-7 (S) Twin Lakes Regional championship game - 7 p.m.