Lowell 10s beat Wheatfield 7-5, prepare for Little League District II playoffs
	A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith 7-14-2009

LITTLE LEAGUE (10s) pool play - Thursday, July 9
LOWELL 5, CEDAR LAKE 0
Wheatfield 6, Hessville 2

LITTLE LEAGUE (10s) pool play - Friday, July 10
CEDAR LAKE 15, Wheatfield  4
LOWELL 8, Hessville 5

LITTLE LEAGUE (10s) pool play - Saturday, July 11
CEDAR LAKE 4,  Hessville  3 (8 innings)
LOWELL 7, Wheatfield 5

LITTLE LEAGUE (10s) district quarterfinals - Tues., July 14
CEDAR LAKE (2-1) vs. TBA 6:00 p.m.
Semifinal - 8 p.m. (at Whiting)

LITTLE LEAGUE (10s) district semifinals - Wed., July 15
LOWELL (3-0) vs. TBA - 6:00 p.m.  
Semifinal - 8:00 p.m. (at Whiting)

LITTLE LEAGUE (10s) district finals - Thurs. July 16
Semifinals - 6:00 p.m..  (at Whiting)
Semifinals - 8:00 p.m. (at Whiting

LITTLE LEAGUE (10s) district finals - Fri. July 17
championship game - 6:00 p.m.  (at Whiting)

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
LOWELL (3-0)	0	1	3	1	2	0	7	11	1
WHEATFIELD (1-2)	2	0	0	0	3	0	5	2	0

Saturday, July 11, 2009 - Little League District II 10s All Stars  - 78 degrees at CEDAR LAKE, IN

WP - Kevin Browne (1-0) CG, 7K, 2 walks (4 innings)
Bailey Laumeyer (Save) 0K 1 walk (2 innings)
LP - Jake Jones (0-1)  4K, 3 walks (4 innings)

LOWELL (3-0)
Bailey Laumeyer (SS) 0-for-4
Kole Karras (CF) 2-for-3, HBP, double
Noah Hofman (1B) 0-for-2, 2 walks
Jake Slager (3B) 1-for-2
Alex Dobrzenicki (PH) 2-for-2, double, RBI
John Cory (C) 0-for-3
Alex Howard (PH) 0-for-0, walk
Ryan Missal (LF) 1-for-2, triple, walk
Kevin Browne (P) 2-for-2, walk, 2 RBIs
Taylor Zea (2B) 3-for-3, 2 doubles, 3 RBIs
Nate Buss (RF) 0-for-1,
Dayton Hornickel (RF) 0-for-2

WHEATFIELD (1-2)
Kyle Kaminga (SS) 0-for-2, walk
Jake James (P) 0-for-3, RBI
Mac Shane Howard (1B) 1-for-3, RBI
Mickey Krol Can (C) 1-for-3
Ryker Porter (CF) 0-for-1, walk
Cameron Sullivan (PH) 0-for-1
Joe Lay (3B) 0-for-3
Noah Witkowski (LF) 0-for-1
Jacob Shevock (LF) 0-for-2
Jordan Scully (2B) 0-for-2
Steve Voyak (PH) 0-for-1
Arnell Washington (RF) 0-for-1
Tyler Whitehead (PH) 0-for-0, HBP

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CEDAR LAKE (7-11-2009) When you put together an all-star team in the Little League every summer, you do not know what you have.  You just think you know.  With the pool play rules, you play night after night after night one week.  And when the dust clears, you're either moving on or going home.  It happens very quickly.  Lowell was moving on in 10-and-under Little League play this week after consecutive wins 5-0, 8-5 and 7-5 at the Cedar Lake Little League.

The Lowell 10s (3-0) trailed 2-0 after one inning Saturday night and they left runners at second and third in the second inning trailing 2-1.  But Lowell had two base runners in every inning and tied the game on Jake Slager's RBI third inning single.  Winning pitcher Kevin Browne's run-scoring single and Taylor Zea's RBI double gave Lowell a 4-2 lead.

Down 7-2, Wheatfield scored three times in the fifth inning, but Lowell relief pitcher Bailey Laumeyer retired the side in order in the bottom of the sixth to clinch the third win in three nights, clinching a preferred spot (they face a runner-up from another first round site instead of another champ) in the District II finals.

"This is how we win," said manager Paul Hofman.  "We don't kill anybody.  We just chip away.  There was a little bit of drama."

This was another clue that the Lowell Little League is making gradual improvement.  Not so much that they reached the District II finals in 10-year-old all-star baseball, but that they expected to and were the favorite.

Tiny center fielder Kole Karras was on base three times and made all the plays in center field while second baseman Taylor Zea collected three base hits.  The 10s made just one error in the field.

"Travel ball," said Hofman, about his team's consistent, if not spectacular play.  "We've played a lot of games so the boys are used to just showing up and playing.  This is no different."

At the District level, the Dyers and Munsters are big favorites from larger leagues.  But when you start out, the goal is just to win your pool play games and see what happens.  That mission was accomplished.

"That's exactly right," Hofman said after his boys posed for pictures in the Cedar Lake Little League outfield.  "You want to win all the pool games.  That makes it a success."

LITTLE NOTES:  There was little contact between the four 10-and-under sites (DeMotte, Robertsdale, Whiting and Cedar Lake) in District II so Lowell and Cedar Lake had no idea who they wee playing in the District Finals.  This marks the first time that Cedar Lake has advanced to the district finals in both 10 and 12-year-old Little League play.  Some of the success of CP and Lowell is the departure of Crown Point from Little League to Cal Ripken ball, but Cedar Lake has been improving as a league.  The 10s and 12s both finished in second place in their pool and advanced to the single-elimination district playoffs.

The Cedar Lake 10s pushed across an eighth-inning run to defeat Hessville 4-3 and advance to the eight team district finals.  Lowell stopped Cedar Lake 5-0 on opening night.  All six games were played in warm, dry weather as the Little League had an unusually good weather week for the first round of playoffs.

The Cedar Lake Little League will also host the 16-and-under Senior Little League playoffs beginning on Sunday, July 19.