Red Devils crush West Side 19-1, advance to Sectional Finals vs. LC

MUNSTER (5-29-2007)  I'm not sure how much Lowell gained from playing Gary West Side Monday night in the semifinals of the Class 4A Munster Sectional.  Except for the obvious.

"WE got as good a draw as we can possibly get," said Lowell coach Tom Stoner after the 19-1 victory.  "It's up to us now."

The Devils sprayed 17 base hits all over the Munster varsity diamond late Tuesday in front of a slim summer night crowd that had come to see a foregone conclusion, that Lowell would advance to the sectional championship game against Lake Central, a 7-3 winner over Highland.

It figures to be senior right-handers Jon Cap for Lowell and Matt Murphy (5-3) for LC.  Murphy pitched a one-hit shutout and struck out 14 against East Chicago, a 4-0 quarterfinal win on Memorial Day.  Left-hander Scott Handley (4-4) was the starting pitcher Tuesday in LC's 7-3 win over Highland (15-16).

On Tuesday, Lowell senior Brian Gerlach (2-3) gave the Devils what they needed, pitching scoreless ball until the game was out of reach.

"We've got John (Cap), we've get Nick Bolda (5-1) and we've got Derek Brandenburg if we need them," said Stoner.  "We should be ready."

Lowell didn't really want a close game with Gary West Side and they didn't get one.  The Devils put together four singles after two out against West Side sophomore Michael Swayne.  Hits by Jon Stoner and Brandenburg drove in the runs after Josh Kuiper's two-out pop fly dropped into left field.  Swayne struck out Kevin O'Keefe to begin the second inning but West Side shortstop Mike Godfrey fumbled a ground ball to start another Devil rally.  Singles by Matt Kay and Nate Korth made it 3-0, and with two out, Zak Hoffman walked to fill the bases.

Stoner, probably Lowell's most consistent hitter this season, drilled a long home run to left field to make it 6-0 and effectively put the game out of reach.

"He came into the game batting .420," said Tom Stoner, who has always hesitated to publicly praise his senior son too much.  "And he had four more hits tonight.  I don't know where that power came from tonight.  But he's worked on his hitting.  He's watched film from last summer to break down what he's doing at the plate."

Lowell made a late season infield switch, putting Stoner at third base and Brandenburg at second.  Junior Kevin Donovan, who has been injured most of the season, has been inserted at shortstop, replacing Nate Korth, who became the designated hitter.

The Devils scored 15 runs against North Newton and 19 against Gary West Side, sandwiched around a 7-1 loss at LaPorte (21-8).

"We didn't have any errors tonight," said Tom Stoner.  "Shortstop is Donovan's natural position.  He'll do fine.  But I  know (LC) coach (Todd) Iwema knows he (Jon Stoner) is new over there and they'll test him Friday.  But we felt the need for a change in the field to help our defense.  I think we're ready to go."

Cap has a blister problem on the middle finger of his throwing hand so Lowell will probably needs more than one pitcher against Lake Central.  The senior Cap, Lowell's most experienced pitcher, will almost certainly start the game and he was OK with the fact that his side didn't make up the two school's scheduled game on March 31, which was postponed due to wet grounds and never rescheduled.

"I think it's better they haven't seen us," Cap said after the win over West Side.  "They have a lot of new players this year.  I think we can beat them."

His coach is also confident going into the game that will decide whether this has been a successful season for both schools.

"I think we have a great opportunity," Tom Stoner said.  "It's up to us to take advantage of it."

DEVIL NOTES:  Gary West Side has a lot of raw baseball talent, but we're talking red fish raw.  It's going to take a lot of cooking.  The biggest problem... no games to play.

"We can't get games," said manager Leroy Kirk.  "Those guys (Lowell)... they've played 30 games.  We've played 13 games.  You can't do anything with 13 games.  We can't get anybody to play us anymore.  Crown Point dropped us.  Even Munster dropped us."

An interesting player is pitcher DeMark Jenkins, who is listed as a 6-foot-4 junior pitcher.  Jenkins started out throwing in the low 80s and had that up to the mid-80s by the end of his three innings.  He was wild, striking out eight and walking three but there is obvious potential there.

"He didn't start tonight because he pitched last Thursday," said Kirk.  "He's just a junior.  He's got another year to develop."

There will be a Gary age 16-18 summer team to play at Gilroy Stadium with talent like Jenkins and center fielder Alfred Davis, who has an impressive throwing arm, plus speed.

"This is the first time George Outlaw's played baseball," said an assistant coach of his senior right fielder.  "He's always been involved in football and basketball."

The winner Friday at Munster will be on the road for a championship game on Tuesday night, June 5 at 7:00 p.m.  It will also be a night game.  Lowell's match with Lake Central Friday will be the team's third consecutive game under the lights.

There are rumors of a proposed change to the state baseball tournament that would return the tournament to its original four-week time frame, removing the Tuesday night regional games that nobody likes.  The problem is, the proposed format would chop off the final week of the regular season.  The sectional would begin the Thursday BEFORE Memorial Day with semifinal games Tuesday and finals on Monday, the holiday.  The regional, semistate and finals would follow on successive weekends.  This change would not be welcome in northern Indiana, where the weather makes it difficult to play the full schedule of games anyway.

LOWELL (14-15)
Coach Tom Stoner (3rd year) 9-20 in 2006
LAC games in CAPS - all games 4:45 unless indicated

3-30 - Lake Central (Rain) not yet rescheduled
4-5 (W) 6-4 Rensselaer (11-17)
4-9 (L) 2-12 (5 innings) KANKAKEE VALLEY (20-10)
4-11 (cold) at HIGHLAND (15-15) 

4-13 (L) 0-7 ANDREAN (19-9)
4-16 (W) 4-2 BISHOP NOLL (11-18)
4-17 (W) 3-2 Hanover Central (13-12) at US Steelyard - Gary.
4-18 (W) 9-7 at HOBART  (9-19)

 4-20 (L) 2-12 (5 innings) at MUNSTER  (23-7)
4-23 (L) 1-8 GRIFFITH (22-9)
4-25 (L) 4-17 at Kankakee Valley  (20-10)
4-27 (L) 6-7 HIGHLAND (15-15)

Boone Grove Invitational
4-28 (W) 11-9 Rensselaer (11-17)
4-28 (L) 1-2 at Boone Grove (23-5-1)

4-30 (L) 1-12 at ANDREAN  (20-9)
5-1 (L) 3-16 Merrillville (12-14)
5-2 (W) 14-4 (5 innings) at BISHOP NOLL (110-18)
5-3 (W) 7-6 HOBART (13-15)
5-7 (L) 2-12 (5 innings) MUNSTER (23-7)
5-9 (L) 2-4 at GRIFFITH  (20-9)
5-10 (W) 8-7 Hebron (11-16)
5-11 (W) 6-5 at Wheeler (17-11)

LAC Tournament
5-14 (L) 10-11 at Morton (20-6)
5-16 (W) 10-0 at Calumet  (9-18)
5-18 (W) 10-0 Whiting (11-18)
5-19 (W)  ***********
5-22 (L) 0-13 (5 innings) at Crown Point (28-2)
5-24 (W) 15-0 (5 innings) North Newton (9-17)
5-25 (L) 1-7 at LaPorte (21-8)

Munster (4A) Sectional
5-29 (W) 19-1 Gary West Side (5-8)
6-1 (L) 3-16 Lake Central (16-12)
  

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