Lowell Junior Little League (age 13-14) wins District II Championship with 11-0 shutout win over DeMotte

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

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

7-15-2003   - 84 degrees, sunny at Creek Side Little League - Lowell
WP -    Aaron Corns (2-0) 2Ks, 0 walks (5 innings)
LP -   John Van Schepel (1-1) 2K, 6 walks (2.3 inn.)

DeMotte (4 singles, double)
Kevin O'Neal (D) Double

LOWELL (5 singles, double, HR, 3 stolen bases)
Jon Cap (L) Single, walk
Josh Kuiper (L) single, walk, stolen base
Nate Korth (L) HR, double, walk, 5 RBIs, steal
Matt Kay (L) Single, walk, 2 RBIs

LOWELL (7-15-2003) - I almost wanted Lowell to lose so they could play a few more games in the friendly confines of the Creek Side Little League.

Almost.

Lowell's junior Little League all-stars romped past DeMotte 11-0 Tuesday to complete a four-game sweep of the host league's junior and senior all-star district tournaments. The Senior all-star team ran over DeMotte 17-2 Monday night to sweep the age 15-16 bracket, also in four games.
As fireworks boomed over the sunken playing surface in the early evening sun, manager Paul Hoffman smiled over four strong performances but looked ahead to the big task.

"Just four runs allowed in four games," Hoffman said, after his boys outscored the opposition 48-4. "That's pretty good. Lots of practice. That's all it was. Keeping them in line and directed towards their goal. They knew what they had to do and they did it."

Three who knew what they had to do were pitcher Aaron Corns, home run hitter Nathan Korth and center fielder Matt Kay. Corns allowed five hits and no walks in his second win. Korth hit his fourth home run in four games and collected five RBIs. Kay walked and scored in Lowell's seven run second inning and singled in two runs in the fourth that invoked the 10-run rule. But that wasn't where he excelled.

Reportedly a converted infielder, Kay changed positions as many all-stars have to do.

Playing in centerfield, the young player showed he may have hidden talent. Kay raced into right center to make a tumbling catch of Alex Byers line drive in the third inning before he swooped down a Nick DeVries apparent single, stealing a hit with another diving play in the fifth.

Kay really wasn't an outfielder this year?

"No," said Hoffman, "but he is now. That was a challenge for us. All-stars are infielders generally. We had to make some of the outfielders in three weeks. Nate (Korth) at short, Zach (Hoffman) and first and Josh (Kuiper) catching. Other than that, everybody else is playing a position they didn't play during the season."

DeMotte didn't play nearly as well as they had in a 3-2 loss to Lowell on July 12. Van Schepel, a 6-foot-1 left-hander, threw 37 pitches in the seven-run second inning. The key play was a double error against DeMotte shortstop Alex Byers. With runners at first and second Byers fumbled Kyle O'Keefe's ground ball and then threw it past second base, allowing a run to score. Corns, the younger brother of Lowell high baseball and basketball regular Jason Corns, lined a hard single to center to make the score 3-0. Jon Cap singled over the left fielder's head and Korth whacked a high pitch beyond the left field fence to create a 6-0 advantage.

Lowell is perennially the favorite in District II junior and senior Little League play but to see them win by these margins gives hope for state glory. That hope is tempered by the feeling that, without a sectional playoff series, the Lowell 14s will enter the 'pool play' state finals a very cold, untested squad.

"We're going to give them two full days off," said Hoffman. "I hope we don't practice ourselves out.

We're going to play the senior team if we can. They (the 16s) are playing this weekend."

LITTLE LEAGUE NOTES: Late word is that because of rescheduled games for the RailCats pro teams, the junior Little League will NOT be able to hold the 2003 Indiana state finals in the Steelyard, the 6,200-seat ballpark in downtown Gary. The eight-team double-elimination playoffs reverts to the Merrillville Little League, which is located at the far southern tip of Merrillville just east of Mississippi Ave about a half mile south of Route 30.

Though disappointing, this may be a break for the Lowell all-stars, whose home base is less than 15 minutes from the finals' site. Going from district competition to state competition will be tough enough without jumping from Lowell's cute little Creek Side stadium to the giant (for 14-year-olds), multimillion dollar Railcats Stadium in downtown Gary. As of Tuesday, Lowell had no idea who they would play in the July 24 opener or when the game would begin.

Another schedule change has the Senior Little League playoff series being held Saturday and Sunday, instead of starting Thursday as had previously been said. The assumption is the change was made because the South Haven site, located about a quarter mile southeast of Portage high school, does not have lights. Usually the Little League schedule is set early on but, as of Tuesday, the Lowell 16s did not know when Saturday's sectional game one was scheduled to start.

The final game at the Creek Side Little league drew about 150 fans to watch the Lowell-DeMotte game in mid-80s heat. Lowell improved the Creek Side field this season with tables for eating and more concessions. The variety of food available was vastly improved and it didn't cost $4 for a burger like it does at the Steelyard. Despite almost daily rains and puddle-filled, muddy parking areas, the playing surface was in good condition.

JUNIORS (ages 13-14)
District II double-elimination at Lowell's Creek Side Little League

At LOWELL   - Saturday, July 5
CEDAR LAKE   11, Wheatfield 7
LOWELL 16, HEBRON   1 (5 innings)
Whiting   25, Roselawn 00

At LOWELL   - Sunday, July 6
DeMotte 12, CEDAR LAKE 5
LOWELL 18,   Whiting 1

At LOWELL   - Monday, July 7
Hebron 10, Roselawn 00

At LOWELL   - July 8-9
(Rained out)

At LOWELL - July 10
Wheatfield 14, Whiting 13

At LOWELL - July 10
Hebron 00, Wheatfield 00

At LOWELL   - July 12
LOWELL 3, DeMotte 2
CEDAR LAKE 8, Hebron 7

At LOWELL   - Monday, July 14
DeMotte 9, CEDAR LAKE 7

At LOWELL   - Tuesday, July 15
LOWELL 11, DeMotte 0 (5 innings)

July 15-16 winner goes directly to the eight-team double-elimination, 2003 state junior Little League finals, hosted by the District I champion at the Merrillville Little League, beginning Wednesday, July 24. The state finals are an eight-team pool play format, which means that the Lowell 14s will play at least three games.   If they win all three (certainly) or two out of three (probably), they will advance to the single-elimination semifinals. A semifinal win puts them in the championship game. No Lowell baseball team has won a state title at any level.