Lowell and Crown Point advance in Little League (ages 11-12) tournament openers

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
Highland American	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
CROWN POINT	1	0	0	2	4	-	7	7	1

Little League (age 11-12) state tournament opener, 6-30-2003
81 degrees, hazy in Crown Point
WP-Jeremy Kooi (1-0) CG, 7Ks, 0 walks
LP - Troy Smith (0-1) CG, 8Ks, 4 walks

CROWN POINT
5 singles, double, HR
Miles Atherton (CP) Single, walk
Josh Wright (CP) 2 singles
Nick Bruno (CP) HR, single, 3 RBIs
Kyle Qualizza (CP) Sac. Fly, RBI

Highland American
Single
Sammy Dykstra (H) Single, HBP

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

Little League (age 11-12) state tournament opener,
6-30-2003 - 84 degrees, sunny at Hessville Little League - Hammond
WP-Keith Greer (1-0) CG, 6Ks, 4 walks, WP
LP - Chris Moynihan (0-1) CG, 7Ks, 3 walks, 2 WPs

LOWELL
5 singles, double, triple, 2 stolen bases
Brandon Grubbe (L) 2 singles, 3 RBIs
Joe Bell (L) Triple, HBP, RBI
Josh Manis (L) Single, stolen base

Whiting
4 singles
Joey Murzyn (W) Single, walk

CROWN POINT (6-30-2003) - Most times, first round games in the Little League state tournament are not close. Even when they're supposed to be.

Lowell figured to have a difficult time with Whiting in first round play at Hessville and Crown Point seemed sure to have problems, even on their home field, with hard throwing Highland right-hander Troy Smith.

None of the above applied as Lowell shut out Whiting 6-0 and Crown Point pulled away to blank Highland American 7-0.

Things went well early for the Lowell all-stars in Hammond as Joe Bell's RBI triple scored Craig Austgen after three batters in the first inning. Bell scored on a wild pitch by Whiting's Chris Moynihan and that turned out to be enough as right-hander Keith Greer pitched a four-hit shutout and the Lowell defense was almost perfect.

"We had no other thought than we would come here and win," said Manager Don Grubbe after the 90-minute contests in midsummer heat. "The boys played about as wel as we could ask."

Lowell scored three times in the fifth inning to ice the game. Jake Belt doubled to right center field and scored on an error by Whiting third baseman Joey Murzyn. With two out, Brandon Grubbe smacked a two-run single to left field to make it 5-0. Grubbe, the manager's son, added an RBI single in the sixth inning.

Whiting's top threat ended when Lowell shortstop Joey Belt made a leaping grab on a two-out, bases-loaded line drive to end the fourth inning.

"He was our savior tonight," said Manager Grubbe. "'Not game saving but close to it. If that ball goes through, the whole game changes."

After the win, Lowell needed just one win in two games to reach next week's (July 6-11) district finals in Griffith. "Our primary concern," said Grubbe, "is to win two (Monday and Tuesday) and be home watching TV Wednesday night. Get our rest and build up our confidence. I think we have four strong pitchers. We could have used two pitchers tonight if we needed to."

Crown Point and Highland American weren't going to use two pitchers Monday night because the match-up of left-hander Jeremy Kooi and Troy Smith probably featured the top two pitchers in those leagues.

Smith, a 6-foot, 12-year-old threw especially hard at times but the CP stars scored in the first inning with a walk, a wild pitch, a passed ball and a sacrifice fly by Kyle Qualizza. CP virtually stole that run as the flyball barely made it onto the outfield grass behind the second base position. Miles Atherton tagged up and beat the throw home.

In the fourth inning, CP squeaked home two more runs. John Dykstra singled and Nate Svhilik was hit by a pitch. After a double steal with two out, Josh Wright's spinning line at was knocked down between first and second. Dykstra scored from third and Svhilik kept coming, beating a high throw from deep second base to give CP a 3-0 edge.

Kooi, a consistent left-hander with a good breaking pitch, held Highland to just one base hit.
CP manager Eli Kvachkoff could not have been more pleased.

"He's lost one game in two years in the league," the manager explained. "He was the all-star pitcher last year (when he was 11). He's a great kid. We're pretty confident with him out there. The big thing was... No walks. Our catcher (Svhilik) had not caught before. This was his first game. I was shocked. He looked great. He had a great night."

The game was still in doubt in the bottom of the fifth when CP's Nick Bruno hit a three-run homer off Smith, who threw 94 pitches in five innings. Bruno did not start the game but he was substituted and reentered twice to take advantage of his big bat."

"It's not that he's a bad fielder," said coach Dave Hanaway, who managed the CP stars to the state championship game in 2001. "It's just that we have better fielders. But he led our league with nine home runs. He can hit the ball."

"We got the machine out," said Kvachkoff. "We knew he (Smith) was coming. I thought we handled him. We pulled him, too. Bruno is just a solid hitter. With the re-entry rules, we can enter and re-enter him. He can hit people."

The decisive victory over an ace pitcher makes CP one of the district favorites but Kvachkoff says, hold on. "Munster was not at this site before. Rensselaer was here but they couldn't field a team and Munster American was the alternate. They're a pretty good team. They've got some 11-year-olds who were on their 10-year-old district championship team last year."

The Little League format has been accelerated this year so the first round winner opens district play on Saturday evening. By this time next week, there will be only two (of the original 16) teams will be left in running for the District II title.

"I really haven't looked beyond this game," laughed Kvachkoff. "I don't know exactly how it breaks down. They just tell me where to go and I go there."

LITTLE NOTES: There is a very large advantage to reaching the district finals undefeated. An undefeated team needed only three consecutive wins to take the district championship. A team with one loss needed six consecutive wins. There was some grumbling at more than one site about the district finals being held in Griffith where the fences are less than 200 feet from the plate.

Crown Point and Munster probably have the largest Little League fields. Many predicted a home run parade in the district finals, which begin Saturday.

The question keeps coming up. Why does Munster and Highland have two little leagues while Crown Point, Dyer and Lowell have just one. Highland high school is half the size of CP and about the same size as Lowell.

"It's not the number of boys in the league," explained one Highland parent. "It's not the number of boys in the Little League, it's total population. These other towns have more young people. Highland is a much older community than Crown Point or Dyer. But Crown Point is growing. After the next census, they may have to have two Little Leagues, too."

Since he clearly will be taller than 6-feet tall, Highland Troy Smith appears to be a big time baseball prospect but his coach says don't bet everything on that.

"He's a great basketball player," said manager Jeff Schurlow, "He already scrimmages against the varsity. His mom is 6-feet tall so he will get bigger."

Lowell had about 75 fans and friends follow the team to Hammond. Crown Point and Highland drew about 200 to the CP Little League. Little League crowds are being cut down because all the age group tournaments but one (the new 11-year-old bracket) have been crunched into the same two week time period. On Wednesday night, there were 12-and under, 10-and under, Tournament of champions ages (10-12) and Babe Ruth all-stars games in the 13, 14 and 15-year-old age bracket going on at exactly the same time.

MAJORS (ages 11-12)
At CROWN POINT - Monday, June 30
Munster American 15, DeMotte 0
CROWN POINT 7, Highland American 0

At CROWN POINT - Tuesday, July 1
Munster American at CROWN POINT - 6 p.m.
(winner advances undefeated to the District II finals in Griffith on July 5)
DeMotte vs. Highland American - 8 p.m.

At CROWN POINT - Wednesday, July 2
Tuesday's 6 p.m. loser vs. Tuesday's 8 p.m. winner
(winner carries one loss to the District II finals in GRIFFITH on July 6)

At Hessville (HAMMOND) Monday, June 30
LOWELL 6, Whiting 0
Munster National vs. Hessville - 8 p.m.

At Hessville (HAMMOND) Tuesday, July 1
LOWELL vs. Munster National or Hessville - 6 p.m.
(winner advances to District II final in GRIFFITH on July 5 undefeated)
Whiting vs. Munster National or Hessville - 8 p.m.

At Hessville (HAMMOND) - Wednesday, July 2
Tuesday's 8 p.m. winner vs. Tuesday's 6 p.m. loser
(winner advances to District II finals in GRIFFITH on July 6 with one loss)

District 2 Little League (age 11-12) Champions
2002 - Munster American
2001 - CROWN POINT
2000 - Robertsdale
1999 - DYER
1998 - DYER
1997 - DYER (state champion)
1996 - DYER
1995 - CROWN POINT (state champion)
1994 - Highland National
1993 - DYER (state champion)
1992 - CROWN POINT National
1991 - DYER
1990 - DYER
1989 - DYER
1988 - CROWN POINT
1987 - CROWN POINT
1986 - CROWN POINT
1985 - Highland American
1984 - Whiting
1983 - Robertsdale
1982 - Griffith (state champion)
1981 - East Chicago Ki-Yowga
1980 - CROWN POINT
1979 - CROWN POINT
1978 - Hammond Edison
1977 - Hammond Hessville
1976 - Whiting
1975 - Highland American (state champion)
1974 - Griffith American
1973 - Hammond Edison
1972 - Hammond Edison (state champion)
1971 - State Park (Chesterton)
1970 - Highland South (state champion)
1969 - Hammond Hessville
1968 - CROWN POINT
1967 - Hammond Maywood