Warriors hold off Red Devils at US Steelyard for 6-1 baseball win

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

4-19-2010

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
BISHOP NOLL (4-2)	1	0	3	0	0	1	1	6	8	3
LOWELL (2-5-1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	4	3

Friday, 4-16-2010 - 62 degrees, windy at US Steelyard, GARY, IN

WP - Kevin Mullaney (2-1) CG, 7K, 2 walks
LP - Craig Austgen (0-2) 4K, 2 walks (4 innings)

BISHOP NOLL (4-2)
Kevin Mullaney (P) 1-for-3, walk, 2 runs scored
Kody Alayon (SS) 1-for-4
Ryan Eger (CF) 3-for-3, walk, double, triple, 3 RBIs
Tommy Merkelis (C) 0-for-3, HBP
Cody Moskovsky (2B) 1-for-3, 2 RBIs
Mike Palomo (1B) 1-for-2, 2 walks
Billy Galgan (3B) 0-for-3, RBI
Danny Oseguera (LF) 0-for-3
Leon Covington (RF) 0-for-3

LOWELL (2-5-1)
Mat Hilbrich (LF) 0-for-2, walk
Josh Del Rio (CF) 0-for-1, walk
Josh Henshilwood (DH) 0-for-3
Craig Austgen (P-SS) 0-for-3
Evan Ensweiler (SS) 0-for-2
Jordan Juarez (3B) 2-for-3, triple,
Zack Bruckman (2B) 0-for-1
Jeff Harbrecht (RF) 1-for-3
Austin Magley (C) 0-for-3

GARY, IN (04-16-2010) Lowell's problems early in the 2010 season revolved, as they worried they might, around the team's pitching. Late Friday in the sunny, chilly US Steelyard, pitching wasn't the problem. The Red Devils had just three base hits. Three hits in seven innings. That's like having a cattle drive with one cow. You don't have much when you get to the market.

"Andrean handed it to us earlier this week," said Lowell coach Tom Stoner. "But we had eight hits. We had eight hits when Crown Point beat us last week. We had 10 against Merrillville and we had 12 last night (against Kankakee Valley). Tonight we had three. We'll be in the (batting cages) tomorrow morning."

"We had a couple of errors that cost us a couple of runs, but that didn't cost us this game. Jordan Juarez had a couple of hits. But we couldn't score."

Noll scored in the first inning after an error by Lowell third baseman Jordan Juarez and the Warriors scored three times in the third inning. Ninth place Noll hitter Leon Covington singled to left field and leadoff man/pitcher Kevin Mullaney singled to right. Cody Alagon struck out trying to bunt but Ryan Eger smacked a long triple to right center scoring two runs for a 3-0 lead.

"Ryan hasn't hit like the No. 3 guy in the lineup should hit," said Noll coach Paul Wirtz. "But he did today. We didn't play very well. We had a lot of base runners (16). We really should have scored more than six runs."

Cody Moskovsky's RBI single made it 4-0 in the third and Billy Galgan's bases loaded ground out jumped the Noll lead to 5-0 in the top of the fifth.

Lowell trailed 5-0 in the fifth against Mullaney, a right-hander with an unusual hesitation delivery, when Juarez, the Red Devil football linebacker, lined a leadoff triple into the right field corner. A short flyball, a strikeout and a ground ball back to the pitcher Mullaney ended that threat.

Lowell started right-hander Craig Austgen, who gave up six hits in four innings.

"This is my sixth time here," said Stoner. "And I've started a senior (pitcher) every time. I have six seniors on this team and they all started tonight. They all got at least one at bat. It's their last hurrah here so I wanted them to play."

"Craig did okay. He got a couple of pitches where he didn't want them and we made a couple of errors behind him. But we had three hits. You can't win with three hits."

The game ended with a bizarre seventh inning. Juarez singled and Jimmy Szafranski was safe on an error with no one out in the final inning. Jeff Harbrecht hit a ground ball back to the pitcher and when Noll's Mullaney threw to second base for the first out and the relay to first got away. Juarez rounded third and scored Lowell's run. Then Austin Magley hit a ground ball to the pitcher and Mullaney threw to first for the second out. Harbrecht broke for third and the throw across the infield got away. Harbrecht tried to score and was thrown out at home to end the game.

"That's on me," said Stoner. "I was just trying to make something happen. But we didn't lose there. We got three hits."

Wirtz, a Crown Point high graduate, knows his boys did not quite take this matchup as 'just another game.'

"I know it's special because we're here," said the coach. "But it's just one game. It doesn't count any more than any other game. It really doesn't. But I know they look forward to playing here."

STEEL YARD NOTES: Officials at the US Steelyard roped off large portions of the stands and asked fans to sit behind the screen in the home plate area. No one was allowed to sit behind the dugout. No reason was given publicly but there were probably two issues.

Sitting in the first row behind either dugout, it's easy to be hit with a line drive if you aren't paying attention. No one at a high school game has ever been struck by a flying baseball, but there has been at least one notable injury at the ballpark when some one didn't see a foul ball coming at them.

The seating restrictions, which are for the high school games only, are probably also for the sake of custodians. Crowds for the High School Baseball Challenge at the US Steelyard are relatively small compared to the 6,200-seat capacity of the stadium. The smaller the area fans are allowed to roam, the less area there is to clean up after the game and the less people you have to have on duty to clean up.

Regardless of the reason, the change prohibited parents from sitting behind the dugout where their boys were and it was an annoyance to some fans. Although, to be honest, a minor one. Most fans feel the Railcats are doing the high school boys a favor by allowing them to play in the Steelyard.

Lowell coach Tom Stoner says that Craig Austgen could play for Purdue North Central or South Suburban (Lansing) next season.

"I think Craig is a solid Division II player," said Stoner. "But if he doesn't play every day, he'd go crazy. I've never had a guy who works as hard at it as he does. He loves the game and his best baseball is ahead of him. Craig's a guy I never worry about."

Lowell upset undefeated Kankakee Valley 10-5 Thursday (4-15-2010) as freshman right-hander Danny DeBoer pitched all seven innings, allowing five hits and three walks. Jordan Juarez had a triple and four RBIs. Matt Milcarek was 2-for-3 and Matt Hilbrich hit a home run on the road.

The Kougars (6-1) scored three in the bottom of the seventh after Lowell had built a 10-2 lead.

2010 LOWELL (2-5-1)
Coach Tom Stoner (1st season) 9-18 in 2009 - NCC games in CAPS
4-2-10 (Tie) 11-11 at Hanover Central (1-2-1)
4-5-10 (L) 3-12 Lake Central (7-1)
4-6-10 (L) 3-14 at Crown Point (10-0).
4-8-10 (L) 4-5 at Portage (6-1).
4-9-10 (W) 9-5 at Merrillville (6-3)
4-13-10 (L) 4-17 (5 inn.) ANDREAN (5-1)
4-15-10 (W) 10-5 at KANKAKEE VALLEY (6-1)
4-16-10 (L) 1-6 vs. Bishop Noll (4-3) @ RailCats Stadium

4-19-10 (M) at MUNSTER - 4:45 p.m.
4-21-10 (W) HIGHLAND - 4:45 p.m.
4-23-10 (F) HOBART - 4:45 p.m.
4-26-10 (M) at Rensselaer - 5 p.m.
4-28-10 (W) Hammond - 5 p.m.
4-29-10 (Th) at GRIFFITH - 4:45 p.m.

Boone Grove Invitational
5-1-10 (S) semifinals (a.m.)
5-1-10 (S) finals (p.m.)

5-3-10 (Tu) at ANDREAN - 4:45 p.m.
5-5-10 (Th) KANKAKEE VALLEY - 4:45 p.m.
5-7-10 (S) MUNSTER - 4:45 p.m.
5-15-10 (S) at LaPorte - 10 a.m.
5-17-10 (M) Valparaiso - 4:45 p.m.
5-19-10 (W) GRIFFITH - 4:45 p.m.
5-20-10 (Th) Morton - 4:45 p.m.
5-21-10 (F) at North Newton - 4:45 p.m.
5-24-10 (M) Wheeler - 4:45 p.m.

Munster (4A) Sectional
5-27-10 (Th) quarterfinals (p.m.)
5-29-10 (S) semifinals (a.m.)
5-31-10 (M) championship (p.m.)