Lowell Junior Little League (age 13-14) moves up with 3-2 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 (2-1)	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	9	0
LOWELL (3-0)	2	0	1	0	0	0	-	3	7	2

7-12-2003   - 76 degrees, sunny at Creek Side Little League - Lowell
WP -    Jon Cap (2-0) 6Ks, 4 walks (5 innings)
LP -   Chris Milbourn (1-1) CG, 4K, 2 walks

DeMotte (7 singles walk, one stolen base)
Wes Clifton (D) 3 singles, HBP
Chris Milbourn (D) Single, RBI

LOWELL (2 HRs, double, 4 singles)
Jon Cap (L) Single, run scored
Nathan Korth (L) 2 HRs, 3 RBIs
Josh Kuiper (L) 2 singles, walk

LOWELL (7-12-2003) - When you win your first two games by a combined score of 34-2, you really don't need five days off. But when an all-star team wins two games in five innings, they aren't getting to play very much and that's not good either.

"Those first two games didn't really help us," said Lowell Junior Little League manager Paul Hoffman. "This game helped us."

Saturday, DeMotte came to play but Lowell still sent them away, holding on for a 3-2 victory in the winner's bracket final game of the 2003 District II Junior Little League tournament Lowell's at the Creek Side Little League.

The win puts Lowell in a dominant position to win the District Tournament for the second consecutive season. The 14s were to play late Tuesday night, needing only to win one game in two tries to go to the state finals. A win Tuesday gave Lowell eight days off before the Junior Little League state finals because District I gets an automatic bid to the finals as the host district. District I normally plays District II at the sectional level. So, with District I getting an automatic finals bid, District II does as well because they have no sectional opponent.

Saturday's game felt like a playoff game. Leading 3-2 in the final inning, Lowell pitcher Jon Cap watched DeMotte rally on one-out base hits by Wes Clifton and Kevin O'Neal . DeMotte's Don Tilley laid down a bunt that Cap fielded easily. Instead of an easy out at first, Cap chose to throw to third for a force play and his toss was high, filling the bases.

Cap then struck out pinch hitter Mitch Sytsma on three pitches for the second out. Then, on a 2-1 pitch, losing pitcher Chris Milbourn hit a line drive to the right of second baseman Tyler Overdorf.

Overdorf, the younger brother of Lowell high school varsity cleanup hitter Ed Overdorf, dived to his right and made a backhanded catch to clinch the victory for his team

"I just saw it and dived," Tyler said later. "I don't remember a lot about it."

Overdorf appears to play shallow all the time but his all-star manager says that's where he feel comfortable playing.

"That's the game there," said Hoffman. "If that ball goes through, it's two runs for sure."
The winning runs on a sunny, 70-degree day came off the bat of Nate Korth who pulled two 350-foot homers to left field in the first three innings.

DeMotte, which played errorless ball, scored two in the second inning and got a leadoff single from Alex Byers in the third before Hoffman changed pitchers, bringing on right-hander Jon Cap to replace right-hander Jon Harker.

"Harker sometimes runs into trouble and then he comes back very strong," said the manager. "But we couldn't wait right there and Cap came in and did a good job. It was a well-played game. Their pitcher (Milbourn), he was tough on us. We didn't hit as well as we'd hoped but we had so much time off, it's hard to stay sharp."

After five days off in front of the third all-star game, Lowell got two more days off before the final round and then, potentially nine days off before the state finals.

"That's too much," Hoffman said. "We're not allowed to play other teams but we can play our (Lowell's) seniors and that's what we'll do."

LITTLE LEAGUE NOTES: The news has changed about the junior Little League state finals being held in the RailCats Stadium in Gary beginning Thursday, July 24. Apparently, that was promised to the District I officials if the RailCats did not need the dates for make-up games. The Gary pro team lost three games to rain and they have made up two of them. If they can get rid of the other postponement, the 8-team junior finals will be held in the big 6,200-seat stadium.

Nate Korth hit home runs his first two times at bat Saturday and barely missed a third HR, pulling the ball foul over the left field fence at the Creek Side Little League. Korth has three home runs in three all-star games.

In the Little League, you are required to get every player on the roster into the game and DeMotte had not played Mitch Sytsma when they loaded the bases with one out in the top of the seventh inning. Sytsma then batted and struck out on three pitches.

If you win a game and have not played everyone, your opposition can appeal the game and you forfeit the victory.

JUNIORS (ages 13-14)
District II double-elimination (7 teams) 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 00, Roselawn 00

At LOWELL   - July 8
(Rained out)

At LOWELL   - July 9
(Rained out)

At LOWELL - July 10
Wheatfield 14, Whiting 13

At LOWELL   - July 12
LOWELL 3, DeMotte 2

At LOWELL   - Monday, July 14
DeMotte vs. CEDAR LAKE, Wheatfield or Hebron

At LOWELL   - Tuesday, July 15
Championship round game one: 5:30 p..

At LOWELL   - Wednesday, July 16
Championship round game two:   5:30 p.m.

The July 15-16 winner goes directly to the eight-team double-elimination, 2003 state junior Little League finals, hosted by the District I champion tentatively at the RailCats Stadium in Gary (Merrillville is the host) beginning July 24.