Lowell edges Hillsboro 7-6 in 1st round of Little League Seniors (Age 15-16) Regional Tournament

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

(8-8-2004)

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
LOWELL, IN (8-2)	1	1	1	3	0	1	0	7	6	3
Hillsboro, MO (6-1)	0	0	0	0	2	3	1	6	11	1

Saturday, 8-7-2004 - Central Region Senior Baseball Regional Tournament

81 degrees & sunny at Peru, Illinois

Joe Adams (H) 2 singles, RBI

Kyle Grasle (H) 3 singles

James Bach (H) Double, RBI

Nate Jones (H) 2 singles, RBI

John Butor (LOWELL) HR, double, RBI

Nate Korth (LOWELL) HR, 3 RBIs

Breandan Langen (LOWELL) Single, walk, Sac. Fly, RBI

Peru, IL (8-7-2004) - If these Lowell boys keep winning these all-star games, it could do a lot for them. They'll start to think of themselves as pretty good players.

“I'm starting to think that way myself,” said coach Roger Hughes, after watching the Lowell senior Little League all-stars hold on to edge Hillsboro, Missouri 7-6 in first round play of the 12-team Central Region Regional Saturday afternoon.

Lowell didn't play a great game, giving up six runs in the final three innings and misplaying three easy outs in the seventh to keep the Missouri boys alive. But the eye-opener on opening day was something that went unsaid. The Lowell squad (8-2) that lost twice in the Indiana state tournament before winning two winner-take-all elimination games in the state finals in Terre Haute, appeared to be in the same league with these state champions.

Watching the four teams in Pool A play Saturday, including both sides in the game between Iowa state champion Ankeny, a 11-0 winner over Minnesota state champ Hibbing , nobody looked much, if any better than Lowell.

Ankeny, a suburb of Des Moines, was said to have an ace pitcher they were saving for Lowell (Sunday at 2 p.m.) who, in the mind of one Iowa coach, was one of the favorites. But Hibbing appeared overmatched in this field and Lowell was to play Hibbing Monday at 4:30 p.m., needing only to beat either Ankeny or Hibbing to advance to Tuesday's single-elimination quarterfinals.

The drama began after home runs by John Butor and Nate Korth helped the Indiana state champions build a surprisingly easy 6-0 lead. But Hillsboro, which was 6-0 in the Missouri state tourney, scored five times against Lowell right-hander John Cap (5-0) to close within 7-5 going to the final at-bat.

With relief pitcher Brian Gerlach taking the mound, Lowell appeared to fall apart. Three Lowell infielders could not catch leadoff batter Joe Adams' foul pop up in front of the first base dugout and Joe Adams promptly singled to right field. Kyle Byrd doubled to the left field fence, making the score 7-6. Gerlach, who pitched the 12-5 state championship game victory over Georgetown, struck out Hillsboro's Justin McLoud. But on Justin Bach's ground ball in the hole at second base, Gerlach collided with first baseman Jerry Hughes trying to cover the bag and Bach was safe. Gerlach then fumbled Kyle Grasle's bunt, filling the bases and putting the winning run at second.

“I was just trying to calm down and concentrate on the batters,” Gerlach said later of that moment. “My catcher (Josh Kuiper) came out to talk to me. Try to calm me down. “

Gerlach got Daryl Spencer to pop out on the first pitch and struck out Sammy Haynes on four pitches to end the game, to the delight of about 100 fans who made the two hour drive from Lowell.

“Yeah,” Gerlach admitted, “these games are a little wild.”

Lowell jumped ahead when Kuiper walked and scored on a single and a ground ball in the first inning and it was 2-0 when Butor pulled a line drive over the left field fence to lead off the second.

Lowell made it 3-0 when Korth was hit by a pitch in front of Zach Voss' single and Breanden Langen's sacrifice fly in the third. With two out and two on in the fourth, Korth appeared to put the game away with a long home run, to the right of the 315-foot sign in left. Korth may be a surprise to foes in Peru as Lowell manager Dan Butor had slipped him down to the ninth spot in the order. Korth, a solid hitter in previous years of all-star play, had not done well this year until hitting a grand slam in the Indiana state title game.

“I hadn't really hit in the districts,” Korth said later. “Straight fastball. I think it was the first pitch. I knew it was going out.”

Korth didn't get a ball hit to him at shortstop in the final inning so he was a little helpless watching the game almost slip away.

“I was a little scared,” he said. “We finally got the last out. We were just happy to win state. We were happy to win any games there. I didn't think we were going as far as we have.”

Lowell won't be out quickly here, obviously. They were even talking about sweeping the pool and getting a bye in the six-team (with two byes) quarterfinals. That would put Lowell two wins from the Senior Baseball World Series in Bangor, Maine. August 18-22.

On a sunny, near-perfect day in nearby Illinois, Maine and the world championships seemed a lot further away than it actually was becoming.

“The little town of Lowell would never be the same,” Hughes said. “We had a nice crowd today. We had more people here than most of the other teams. Unless you're really a diehard, you're not coming all this way.”

Unless you're from Lowell, apparently.

LITTLE NOTES: Half of the regional tournament was played at Washington Park, which included a relatively large baseball field outside Washington Junior high in Peru. Washington Park included a swimming pool and a kids play area. Only one Lowell game (Sunday vs. Ankeny Iowa) was scheduled for Veterans Park, the alternate site.

The defending Central Region Senior (age 16 and under) Little League champ is Urbandale, Iowa. The 2002 champion was Chet Waggoner of South Bend. Only two northwest Indiana teams have ever won this tournament in its 44 years of existence.

The old East Glen Park Little League of Gary won in 1963 and the Merrillville Little League won in 1965. While no Lake County media made the trip to Peru, the games involving Peru were aired locally on radio station WLPO (1220) AM. Peru has hosted the Senior Baseball Little League Regional for the last 22 years.

Nate Korth's two big home runs were, in part, a result of some extra work.

“Mr. Hughes, he always pitches batting practice to us and he says, keep your head down,” Nate reported. “He just told me, keep my foot down, keep my head down. I tried it and it worked."

Washington Park was only slightly larger than Lowell's Creek Side Little League. The foul lines were 315 feet to the fence while the center field distance was 345 feet.

Central Region Senior Baseball Regional Tournament

at Peru, Illinois

POOL A - Saturday

Ankeny (IOWA) 11, Hibbing (MINNESOTA) 0

LOWELL (INDIANA) 7, Hillsboro (MISSOURI) 6

POOL A - Sunday (8-8-4)

LOWELL (INDIANA) vs. Ankeny (IOWA)

Hibbing (MINNESOTA) vs. Hillsboro (MISSOURI)

POOL A - Monday (8-9-4)

Ankeny (IOWA) vs. Hillsboro (MISSOURI) 2 p.m.

LOWELL (INDIANA) vs. Hibbing (MINNESOTA) 4:30 p.m.

TUESDAY (8-10-4)

QUARTERFINAL - 5:30 p.m.

QUARTERFINAL – 7:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY (8-11-4)

SEMIFINAL - 5:30 p.m.

SEMIFINAL - 7:30 p.m.

THURSDAY (8-12-4)

CENTRAL REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – 6 p.m.