Lady Wildcats defeat Eastside 3-1 to capture 'Queen of Diamonds' Softball title at LaVille
A USA-365 special report by Mark Smith

4-23-2007

Saturday, April 21, 2007 - 73 degrees, Championship Game at LaVille High School in Lakeville, IN

WP -  Kelsey Jankowski (2-2) 3K, 0 walks (5 innings)
Jessica Toth (SAVE #2) 4K, 0 walks (2 innngs)
LP - Stephanie Whitman (3-4) CG, 6K, 5 walks, 2 earned runs

2A No. 7 HANOVER CENTRAL (6-5)
Jessica Toth (P-3B) Single, walk, run scored
Morgan Austgen (RF) Walk, run scored
Lindsey Thompson (2B) Double
Kelsey Jankowski (P-3B) Double, 2 RBIs

Eastside (6-5)
Brandi Curry (C) Triple, RBI
Stephanie Whitman (P) Double, single
Kayla Muncy (DH) Single, walk

Saturday, April 21, 2007 - 73 degrees, 'Pool Play' at LaVille High School in Lakeville, IN

WP -  Jessica Toth (3-3)  4K, 0 walks (5 innings)
   Kelsey Jankowski (HC) 1K, 2 walks (1 2/3 innings)
    Jessica Toth (SAVE) 0K, 0 walk (1/3 inning)*
LP - Whitlee Scott (4-1) CG, 3k, 5 walks

* Toth, who was the starting pitcher, returned from third base to pitch with the bases loaded and two out in the seventh.

2A No. 7 HANOVER CENTRAL (5-5)
Jessica Toth (P-3B) Triple, Sac. Fly, RBI
Anna Plassman (CF) Single, 2 walks
Morgan Austgen (RF) 2 singles, run scored
Alisha Janes (LF) Walk, squeeze bunt, 2 RBIs
Molly Fairhurst (1B) Walk, RBI
Lindsey Thompson (2B) Single, RBI
Kelsey Jankowski (P-3B) Single, 2 sac. bunts

2A No. 10 WINAMAC (10-2)
Kristen Alexander (SS) Single, walk, RBI
Whitlee Scott (P) Single, stolen base
Rachel Mendiola (1B) Sac. Fly, RBI
Cortney Brandt (C) Single, walk

    'Queen of Diamonds' Tournament
  Saturday, 4-21-2007 at LaVille (Lakeville, IN) pool play
LaVille 7, Winamac 6
HANOVER CENTRAL 7, Eastside 3
HANVER CENTRAL 6, Winamac   3
Eastside 16, LaVille 6  (6 innings)
HANOVER CENTRAL 3,  Eastside 1 (championship)

LAKEVILLE, IN (4-21-2007) -  You really knew very little about Hanover Central until Saturday.  Before the rescheduled four-team 'Queen of Diamonds' tournament at LaVille, the Lady Cats had defeated Hebron, River Forest and North Newton.  No big deal.

They'd lost to 4As Lowell (9-3), Munster (9-1) and Chesterton, along with Illinois small school, superpower Beecher (10-2) and surprising 2A Wheeler (7-1).  So what did that make Hanover?  In truth, it didn't say much for sure.

But Saturday, facing three 2A schools they could see if they get beyond the sectional level, Hanover Central signaled that they will be competitive in the post-season next month by defeated 2A No. 10 Winamac soundly and beating perennial 2A power Eastside twice to win the tournament title at LaVille high school.

"I wanted to play this tournament," said HC coach Larry McMillen, after his team had defeated Eastside 3-1 in the championship game.  "These are all good 2A teams.  Eastside was in the state finals the year we were (2004).  We wanted to play three times here.  We had planned on playing three games."

To be guaranteed to play three games, HC knew they had to win the first two.  HC turned back Eastern and the opening game matched Hanover Central against Winamac, which came to LaVille with a 10-0 record.  After host LaVille upset Winamac 7-6 in an early morning game, Hanover took the field and stopped Eastside 7-3, breaking a three-game losing streak.

The Lady Cats (6-5) then fell behind Winamac 1-0 in what would be the pivotal game of the day.  Hanover tied the game in the second inning on a walk and three errors before taking the lead against undefeated junior right-hander Whitlee Scott (4-1) in the third inning.  Freshman Morgan Austgen slapped an infield hit to third base and fellow freshman Kelsey Jankowski bunted her to second base.  After a wild pitch, HC's third varsity freshman Jessica Toth lifted a flyball to relatively deep left field.  Winamac's Kayla Parish dropped the ball, which would have been a sacrifice fly anyway.  The errors seemed to bother Scott, who walked four consecutive batters with two out to force in two runs and create a 4-1 Hanover lead.

Toth, who came on in relief to win the opener against Eastside, pitched the first five innings against Winamac.  Jankowski pitched the sixth and seventh but ran into trouble after an error and a dropped third strike set up Kristen Alexander's RBI single, cutting the lead to 6-3.  When Jankowski walked Cortney Brandt to fill the bases, McMillen called Toth back to the mound to pitch to Winamac clean-up batter Rachel Mendiola.  Toth got the Winamac junior to hit a soft line drive back to the pitcher to end the game.

In the championship game, Jankowski shut out Eastside, which fielded a lineup (including the designated hitter) of 10 underclassmen through four innings while HC built a 3-0 lead. Jankowksi worked the other side of the plate as well with a two run double in the third inning.  Eastside's Brandi Curry lined a 3-2 pitch to the right field fence to cut the lead to 3-1 with two out in the fifth.  But Toth pitched the final two innings, striking out four.  Eastside did get two singles in the seventh inning, bringing Curry to the plate again.

The Eastside leadoff man hit a sharp ground ball back to Toth, who threw the ball wide of first base.  But Hanover first baseman Molly Fairhurst jumped off the bag, caught the ball and stepped back to first base to record the final out.

"We're a very young team," said Eastside coach Aaron Willard.  "We did beat (Class 4A) DeKalb this week.  We played very well.  I was glad we were able to stay with a good team today.  One that was ranked in the top-10."

"I thought we hit the ball better than we had," said McMillen, as he headed for the bus.  "I think (Jessica) likes coming in at the end of games."

Hanover's three game losing streak (Wheeler, Lowell and Beecher) turned into a three game winning streak in one day.  With Morton, South Newton, Kouts and Rensselaer in the immediate future, there's a chance to make the record look a little better.

LaVILLE NOTES:  Hanover's next tournament adventure takes them to the 16-team Twin Lakes Invitational on May 4-5.  Pairings have not been announced, but included in the field are Lowell (9-3), 4A No. 7 Munster (11-1), 4A No. 9 McCutcheon (6-1), 3A No. 3 Andean (9-1), 3A No. 10 Benton Central (8-1) and 2A No. 4 Eastern (5-1).

Saturday's tournament originally had eight teams and was scheduled for April 7.  But the early April cold wave wiped that plan out and only four teams could clear their schedule to return Saturday.  The tournament, originally scheduled to be played at the giant Newton Park in Lakeville, was held at LaVille high school's softball field.  Newton Park was booked for a boys baseball tournament Saturday.

HC coach Larry McMillen said that sophomore first baseman Victoria Wigsmoen, who broke her wrist against Munster on March 31, may return this season.

"The doctors said four to six week," said McMillen. "I think she'll be back."

The surprise of the day was that Winamac had lost twice and was headed home early in the day after winning 10 games in a row.

"We really hadn't played any really good teams yet," admitted coach Jen Belcher.  "We've just played the teams in our area so far."

Winamac junior pitcher Whitlee Scott (4-1), who has an exaggerated windup where she almost kneels on the ground before throwing, gave up six runs against Hanover, although just two were earned.

Hanover's starting lineup for the championship game had three freshmen, four sophomores, junior catcher Danielle Sampognaro and seniors Brittney Ribicki and Molly Fairhurst.

(2A) HANOVER CENTRAL (6-5, 1-0 PCC)
Varsity Coach Larry McMillem, PCC games in CAPS
3-29 (W) 22-1 at River Forest (0-9) 5 innings
3-30 (L) 0-7 Chesterton (13-0)
3-31 (L)  1-2 at Munster (11-1)
4-10 (W) 2-0 at North Newton  (5-5)
4-11 - MORGAN TOWNSHIP (cold) to be rescheduled
4-13 - at Bishop Noll  (cold)
4-14 (W) 2-0 at HEBRON (4-5)
4-17 (L) 0-2 at Wheeler  (6-1)
4-18 (L) 1-6 at Lowell (9-3)
4-19 (L) 1-5 Beecher, Ill. (11-2)
4-21 vs. LaCrosse (0-7)  to be rescheduled

LaVille Invitational  (4 teams)
4-21 (W) 7-3 Eastside (6-5)
4-21 (W) 6-3 Winamac (10-2)
4-21 (W) 3-1 Eastside (6-5)

4-25 (W) Morton  - 4:30 p.m.
4-27 (F) at KOUTS - 4:30 p.m.
4-30 (M) at Rensselaer  - 5 p.m.

5-1  (Tu) at SOUTH CENTRAL  - 5 p.m.
5-3  (Th) at BOONE GROVE  - 4:30 p.m.

Twin Lakes Invitational  (3-5 games)
5-4 (F) pool play - 5 p.m. or 6:30 p.m.
5-5 (S) pool play - morning
5-5 (S) pool play - afternoon

5-8 (F) at WASHINGTION TOWNSHIP - 4:30 p.m.

Porter County Conference (PCC) Finals 
5-11 (F) quarterfinals - 5 p.m.
5-12 (S) semifinals and finals (10 a.m. - 12 noon - 3 p.m.)

5-18 (F) Whiting (11-1) 5 p.m.
5-19 (S) Crown Point (8-6) 11 a.m.

2A Sectional (HC, Noll, Wheeler, Boone & Lake Station)
5-21 (M) quarterfinals  - (TBA)
5-23 (W) semifinals - (TBA)
5-25 (F) championship - (TBA)

2A Regional (at LaVille)
6-2 (S) semifinals - (TBA)
6-2 (S) championship - (TBA)

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Revised: April 23, 2007.