Lowell Senior Little League (age 16 & under) all-stars advance to Sectional Play-offs with 7-4 win over DeMotte for District II title

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

(7-16-2006)

2006 JUNIOR LITTLE LEAGUE all-stars district playoffs
14s - District II double-elimination at Lowell Little League

Hessville 10, DeMotte 2, Hebron 10, CEDAR LAKE - 0
Hessville 7, LOWELL 6, DeMotte 12, CEDAR LAKE 1

Hessville 13, Hebron 1 DeMotte 6, LOWELL 3
DeMotte 11, Hebron 6; Hessville 12, DeMotte 2 (title)

SENIOR LITTLE LEAGUE All-Stars District Playoffs
16s - District II double-elimination at Lowell Little League

Roselawn 8, CEDAR LAKE 5; LOWELL 10, Hebron 6
DeMotte 7, Roselawn 3; LOWELL 22, Wheatfield 5
Hebron 8, CEDAR LAKE 6; LOWELL 5, DeMotte 1
DeMotte 12, Hebron 0; LOWELL 7, DeMotte 4 (title)

SECTIONAL playoff series (best of 3) at the Lowell Little League

Friday, July 21
5:30 - Junior League sectional game one: Hessville (4-0) vs. District I champ
8 p.m. Senior League sectional game one: LOWELL vs. District 1 champ

Saturday, July 22
2:30 - Junior League sectional game two: Hessville (4-0) vs. District I champ
5 p.m. Senior League sectional game two: LOWELL vs. District 1 champ

Sunday, July 23
2:30 - Junior League sectional game one: Hessville (4-0) vs. District I champ.
5 p.m. Senior League sectional game two: LOWELL vs. District 1 champ

Junior Little League state finals (age 14) are at Monticello July 27-30.
Senior little League state finals (age 16) are in Fort Wayne July 27-30.

LOWELL (7-15-2006) If you do not like hot weather, you really can't be a baseball player. I really don't know if the Lowell Senior Little League all-stars liked the full blast furnace effect that took over the Creek Side Little League Saturday. Lowell defeated DeMotte 7-4 Saturday afternoon to sweep the District II Senior Little League playoffs. They didn't play well, committing five errors and leaving seven on base in six innings. But can I blame them? It was 94 degrees. I wanted to go home after two innings. And I wasn't playing.

"I didn't talk about it," said manager Paul LoFrano on the hottest day of the year. "I just kept saying, 'Hey, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. It really isn't that bad. Not one guy complained about it."

You have to give both teams a lot of credit. The boys visibly suffered in the depressing heat and humidity. DeMotte needed a five minute break for a player to take some water and shade when he was near collapse. Lowell's boys could barely do the celebratory run around field with the District title banner after the visitors pushed them hard during a 2-1/2 hour game.

Lowell had outscored three foes 37-12 in three tournament games, but they trailed for the first time all week when singles by Kale Popp, Chris Milbourn and Cody Scott gave DeMotte (3-2) a 2-0 first inning lead against Lowell right-hander Ted Macis (2-0). But Macis, who homered in the opening playoff win over Hebron, led off the bottom of the first with a big fly that barely carried over the left field fence. Brother Eli Macis tied the game three batters later with an RBI ground out.

Ted Macis, using a sweeping curve ball, then held DeMotte scoreless until the seventh inning while Lowell (4-0) built up a 7-2 lead. The slim right-hander tossed 101 pitches, but he lasted until a leadoff single in the seventh inning sparked manager LoFrano to bring on right-hander James Perrin for the last three outs.

"I thought he did a great job," said LoFrano of Macis' performance. "Really, errors led to all the runs they scored. We didn't play that well defensively. I guess if we'd have played a great game and lost, I wouldn't mind. But sure, we'd have been very disappointed if we'd have been beaten here."

Singles by Kevin Donovan, Josh LoFrano and Eli Macis sparked a three-run third inning that gave Lowell a 6-2 lead after a slow-paced first two innings that took an hour to play. This Lowell team does not have the experience of the 2005 team that reached the state finals with three of the players who were on Lowell's 2004 state Little League championship team. But this squad might be more athletically gifted. Donovan, (P-SS) and Eli Macis (1B) are top of the order hitters and Eric Roadruck (CF) and Ricky Dotson (catcher) give the 16s above average defense at key positions.

"We have a lot of team speed," said manager LoFrano. "There's nobody who I'd really call slow. There were some pretty good athletes on last year's team. I don't know if this group is more athletic. But I thought we had the best team here. I thought we shouldn't have lost."

Donovan, who pitched a one-hitter in Lowell's 5-1 win over DeMotte in the 16s third playoff game, will probably open the best-of-three game playoff series against the District I champion Friday night at 8:00 p.m.

"He's our anchor," said LoFrano. "When he gets going, everybody gets going. But I don't know if we have one leader. They look to him, but they also look to each other."

"I don't know who we're going to play yet," said LoFrano. "I heard South Haven. Maybe Merrillville. We're going to get a chance to go see them. All the scores in District I have been very high. It's an advantage to play at home. The team coming here doesn't know the field. They don't know the mound. There's no tricks to it, but they've never been here. It's always an advantage to play here. We just can walk out on the field and expect that we'll win."

SENIOR LL NOTES: Umpire Diane Wagner said she actually ordered the DeMotte player to the dugout when he appeared ill.

"I told him we've got plenty of time for him to go sit down and get some water and ice," she said after the game. "The boys will not admit it when they're overheated."

Long range weather forecasts predict a very vivid heat wave for northwest Indiana. Temperatures are predicted to top out in the 90s every day through the sectional playoff series. The Lowell 16s will get the benefit of practicing at 7 p.m. daily and playing at 8 p.m. Friday (July 21) to start the series.

Manager Paul LoFrano agrees that Lowell should win the Senior Little League district playoffs every year.

"The way things have gone the last few years," he said, "and the fact that we are at home. There is some pressure to win the district every year. We usually have the players."

The Lowell Little League will host both the Junior and Senior all-star sectional championship series. Hessville (4-0) won the junior all-star district title. Lowell was 0-2. Hessville will play at 5:30 p.m. Friday against the District I champion and game two and three will be at 2:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.