Wendlinger shuts out Indianapolis Scecina in 1-0 state semifinal, Lady Wildcats advance to 2A state championship game

A USA-365 special report by Mark Smith

6-12-2004

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
HANOVER CENTRAL (26-7)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	0
Indianapolis Scecina (25-7)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1

June 11, 2004, 78 degrees, 2A State semifinal at North Central High School - Indianapolis

WP - Amanda Wendlinger (20-4) CG #19, 13th shutout, 5K, HBP (71 pitches)
LP - Emily Wethington (14-7) CG #18, 10K, 0 walks (98 pitches)

Sarah Rumley (S) Single
Stephanie Thompson (S) Single
Cassie Byrd (S) Single
Trisha Sheehy (HC) Double
Rachel Williams (HC) walk
Kelly Lapota (HC) Single, run scored
Shannon Phillips (HC) Single, RBI

INDIANAPOLIS (6-11-2004) - There were several 1-0 softball games at the state finals in Indianapolis Friday and Hanover Central was fortunate to be on the right end of one. But there was nothing lucky about the way they scored.

Kelly Lapota opened the second inning with an 0-2 pitch single to center field and she moved up on Christie Wick's sacrifice bunt. One out later, senior right fielder Shannon Phillips lined a clean base hit to center field off Crusader right-handed freshman Emily Wethington (14-7), scoring Lapota without a play giving Hanover a 1-0 victory and a chance to win the state championship 16 hours down the line.

"I didn't win the game," Shannon smiled. "We didn't do anything differently today. That ball just happened to go through. It could have been any of us."

There's a lot of truth to that. I think you earn your way to the state finals, and once you're there, you have to be blessed with good fortune. And have the experienced people not to give it away. That's as close as I can come to an explanation as to why the two-time regional champion with five seniors and three juniors beat the first time state finalist with only two seniors on the roster.

"People hit with runners on base before," she said. "Why couldn't I do it? I looked at Mr. Kienzle (assistant coach Jerry Kienzle) and he said, don't pull it (the bat) forward. She's too fast. You don't have that much time. Just swing. I did and it just happened to go through a hole. They (Scecina) are a very good team. They've got a lot to look forward to."

Hanover (26-7) had one more game and some history to look forward to. In the 35-year history of the Cedar Lake High School, no varsity team had ever reached any state championship game. Saturday's scheduled 2A title game (1:30 p.m.) against Clarksville (20-8) and 6-2 right-hander Candace Bain (13-6) at Carmel presented a chance for athletic immortality for Hanover's girls, something that was not lost on them.

"The bus ride here was long," Phillips said. "Everybody was nervous. We wanted to get out here and play and we saw the rain clouds. I think that (a Friday night semifinal rainout) screwed us up last year. No one expected us to make it this year and take it another step further."

The Lady Cats had hoped for this situation. One game to play for the big trophy with pitcher Amanda Wendlinger (20-6) rested and ready to go. Wendlinger threw just 71 pitches in beating No. 3 Scecina (25-7), which attacked her early in the count, putting the first pitch into play seven times. The only batter who got a first pitch single was Scecina catcher Stephanie Thompson (.382), who singled down the third base line but was doubled off first base by HC's Andria Trock on a pop fly bunt in the second inning.

"She was the one I was worried about," said Wendlinger, who pitched her 13th shutout of the season. "I knew from her swing that if she hit it, it would go a long way."

Scecina never got a runner beyond second base. They put two runners on base with singles and two out in the third inning, but Wendlinger struck out Wethington on a 1-2 pitch. The Hanover 20-game winner did not allow a hit in the final four innings on a humid central Indiana night with temperatures in the mid 70s.

"Did you see how we were so relaxed today?" asked Wendlinger, who won two regional games by one run. "We're not a team that scores first so when we did, it was relaxing. Of course, I got nervous when people were on base but we did have the lead."

Hanover and Scecina combined for some sixth inning drama where an error, a fielder's choice and a Crusader error loaded the bases with nobody out. But Bess Copak popped up and Wethington found some more velocity and struck out Lapota and Christie Wick to end the inning. But Scecina, a small private school on Indianapolis' west side, could not create any momentum from that.

"I thought we might," said Crusader coach Tom Moorman. "But we didn't. I told the girls that they just got beat. Emily did all she could. This girl (Wendlinger) strikes out a couple of batters an inning and we struck out five times. We just got beat. When you have pitchers like that, the games end that way. If you're going to lose, you might as well lose the way we beat people. When you get a runner on, you've got to get her to second base and get her in. That's what they did. You've got to get a timely hit and we didn't do that."

The game went quickly because of Scecina's strategy.

"We were sitting on the first pitch," Moorman concurred. "We wanted the first pitch. And we made contact. We just didn't make good contact."

Shortstop Bess Copak and second baseman Jaclyn Kienzle both fielded three ground balls and the errorless game was gratifying to see from a Hanover stand point.

"We've had a lot of experience," said Phillips. "Aren't we the only team that was here last year in our class (Clarksville reached the finals in 2002)? We were ready to play."

It came down to somebody getting an RBI single, and after Megan Myers' hit beat Bremen 1-0 at the regional and Christie' Wick's hit beat Rochester at the regional, it was time for somebody else to have their 'moment.'

"This was mine," smiled Shannon Phillips. "Finally."

LADY CAT NOTES: Scecina coach Tom Moorman thought his freshman pitcher did very well. "She struck out 10, that's all we could ask for."

Whiting lost the Class 1A state semifinal 1-0 to top-ranked Indianapolis Lutheran. Lutheran's only loss was to Scecina (26-6). Lake Central defeated DeKalb 1-0, scoring the game's only run in the first inning. In 20 years of the state playoffs, there has never been a season where two Lake County teams won softball state titles.

The crowd of Hanover followers (maybe 200) was smaller than the crowd (300-400) for nearby Scecina. The game began 45 minutes late but lasted less than 90 minutes.

Most of Hanover's other coaches including Basketball coaches Chris York and Dave Uran plus baseball coach Ronb Szayni were at the semifinal game as was Amanda Wendlinger's older sister and HC graduate Beth Wendlinger (1999-2002), who will be a junior this fall at the University of Indianapolis.

Cell phones kept the HC people in constant communication with the Lake Central DeKalb game. Wendlinger, Hebron's Maggie Riggs and several LC players play on the same summer team.

2004 HANOVER CENTRAL (26-7)
Larry McMillen 25-8 in 2003, 24-5 in 2002, 116-27-1 (last 5 years)

4-1-4 (W) 13-3 (5 innings) River Forest (10-14)
4-2-4 (L) 5-6 at Chesterton (20-6)
4-3-4 (L) 0-5 Munster (23-2-1)
4-10 (L) 1-3 at Bishop Noll (17-14)
4-14 (W) 10-0 at MORGAN TOWNSHIP (12-12)
4-13 (W) 13-0 (5) North Newton (4-16)
4-17 (W) 9-0 HEBRON (15-10)
4-19 (W) 2-1 (8 inn.) Wheeler (15-15)
4-21 (L) 1-4 Lowell (20-8)
4-22 (L) 1-5 at (Ill.) Beecher, Ill. (35-3)
4-24 (W) 11-0 (5)at LaCROSSE (6-17)
4-26 (W) 7-4 at Clark (2-15-2)
4-28 (W) 6-0 at Morton (15-8)
4-29 (W) 4-0 South Newton (8-16)
4-30 (W) 3-0 KOUTS (4-10)
5-3 (W) 15-3 (5) Rensselaer (4-12)
5-4 (W) 1-0 SOUTH CENTRAL (22-7)
5-5 (W) 10-0 Griffith (15-15)
5-6 (W) 8-0 BOONE GROVE (7-22)

Twin Lakes Invitational (in Monticello)
5-7-4 (W) 4-0 Pioneer (17-13)
5-8-4 (W) 4-1 Lewis Cass (17-7)
5-8-4 (L) 3-4 McCutcheon (28-6)

5-11-4 (W) 11-1 (6) WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP (6-18)

Porter County Conference (PCC) Tournament
Saturday games at LaCrosse
5-15 (W) 1-0 at Boone Grove (7-18)
5-15 (W) 2-0 LaCrosse (6-17)
5-17 (M) 2-0 South Central (22-7) title

5-19-4 (W) 7-3 at Gavit (4-20)
5-21-4 (L) 0-1 (9 inn.) at Whiting (26-5)

Wheeler (2A) Sectional
5-25-4 (W) 5-3 Boone Grove (7-22)
5-29-4 (W) 4-0 Bishop Noll (17-14)

LaVille (2A) Regional
6-5-4 (W) 1-0 vs. No. 6 Bremen (24-6)
6-5-4 (W) 8-7 (12 inn.) vs. No. 7 Rochester (22-6)

2A State Finals
6-11-4 (W) 1-0 (Indianapolis) Scecina (25-7)
6-12-4 (S) Clarksville (20-8) 1: 30 p.m.