Red Devils 'turn corner' with back-to-back wins, 2-1 over Highland and 6-2 over Kankakee Valley

A USA-365 special report by Mark Smith

4-29-2006

Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 76 degrees & sunny in Lowell

WP - Brian Gerlach (2-3)  CG,  9K 2 walks  (83 pitches)
LP - Justin Kaczmarski (2-2) CG,  7Ks, 3 walks  (91 pitches)

Kankakee Valley (8-7)
Matt Dobin (RF) 2 singles, double

LOWELL (4-8, 1-7)
Nate Korth (3B) 2 singles, 2 runs scored
Kyle O'Keefe (RF) 2 singles, 2 RBIs

Wednesday, April 26, 2006 - 70 degrees & sunny in Lowell

WP - Jon Cap  (2-2)  CG,
LP - Alex Byers (1-3)  CG

Kankakee Valley (8-7)
Matt Dobin (RF) 2 singles, double

LOWELL (4-8, 1-7)
Nate Korth (3B) 2 singles, 2 runs scored
Kyle O'Keefe (RF) 2 singles, 2 RBIs

HIGHLAND (4-27-2006) When a team starts to play well, the eternal question is, "How many games do they have to show quality before they become quality?"

"The first time we played Kankakee Valley, they beat us 11-2," said head coach Tom Stoner.  "The first time we played Highland, they beat us 5-0.  I think we've turned a corner."

After a 6-2 home win over KV Wednesday, Lowell went on the road and posted a significant win, 2-1 over Highland.

Junior Brian Gerlach (2-2) tossed 83 pitches and started a bases loaded double-play in the sixth inning as Lowell, which thought they had a winning team at the start of the season, began to play like it.

"We were scared when the bases were loaded with nobody out," Stoner said. "But he kept his composure.  He threw a ground ball to Nathan (third baseman Nate Korth) and then he threw a ground ball back to him for a double play."

That was the sequence that decided the game.  Trailing 2-1, Highland got a leadoff single from Matt Bugajski and a five pitch walk to Michael McFarland as clouds wiped out the sunny skies.  Center fielder and core hitter Tim Usher (.325, 2 HRs, 18 RBIs) was asked to lay down a bunt and he did, pushing the ball towards Korth at third.  Usher, with good speed, was able to beat the throw, filling the bases with nobody out.

But with a 2-0 count, Highland's Ryan Drake hit a medium speed ground ball to Korth, who made an error on a ground ball by Drake in the first inning.  Korth grabbed the sixth inning grounder and fired home for a force play.  Then Highland's Brian Altgilbers tapped an 0-1 pitch back to Gerlach, who started a plate to first double play.  Highland right-hander Justin Kaczmanski pitched six no-hit innings but only after Lowell scored twice in the first on a double by Kuiper, a single by Korth, a walk to designated hitter Zack Hoffman and an error by Trojan shortstop Glenn Durocher.  Kaczmanski retired 11 in a row at one point and nine in a row to end the game.

"I've told these guys since December that they're a good team," said Stoner, "but they just have to believe it. They just have to know it themselves."

Teams look better when they get good pitching and Gerlach, who was bombed in the season-opening 15-1 loss to Lake Central, was unshakable on this Friday.  Highland may have helped Lowell's junior right-hander by putting his first or second pitch into play 10 times.

"I told these guys after the first inning that two runs wasn't going to do it tonight," said Stoner. "They proved me a liar but I'll take it.  He (Kaczmanski) did a good job.  He mixed his pitches well.  We've got some guys in a hitting funk right now but they'll come out of it."

How much Lowell is improving will be on trial Monday night when the Devils host Andrean.  On April 13, the Devils had a 9-3 sixth inning lead at Andrean, but the 59ers rallied to win 10-9.

"I think we'll come back with Jon Cap," said Stoner.  "He threw about 100 pitches Wednesday night (beating KV) so it depends on how he's feeling.  He likes to be in that role and the guys like him in that role."

"We deserved a better fate," said longtime Highland coach Dan Miller, who saw his team lose its third in a row. "Justin (Kaczmarski) definitely deserved a better fate.  But you think you're going to score more than one run."

But Lowell feels they are improving.  The two wins broke an eight-game losing streak, which included the demoralizing loss to Andrean and an equally depressing 6-4 loss to Munster, a game in which Lowell led 4-0 in the fifth inning.  Wins matter more, but it does matter that Lowell is close in games against the top teams.

Flyballs are being caught.  Infield plays are being made in the late innings.   

"We didn't have any called third strikes tonight," said Stoner. "We want to be aggressive at the plate.  There's no great team that's going to run away with things this year.  Anybody can beat anybody on any given night."

Yeah, but can Lowell beat defending state champion Andrean?  Baseball isn't about winning two in a row.

"We've hurt ourselves more than we've been beat and we've talked about that," said Stoner. "They're coming to believe that we know what we're talking about and that they can do what we ask."

DEVIL NOTES:  Lowell's Nate Korth did have an early error Friday, but coach Tom Stoner reminds, "Nate's been a shortstop all his life and we're turning him into a third baseman.  The ball gets there quicker.  He's going to make some errors because this is new for him.  But at this point, his errors aren't killing us."

Stoner says that when the Lake Athletic Conference (LAC) breaks up after the 2007 baseball season, the new league that Lowell will play in (presently with KV, Highland, Munster, Andrean, Hobart and Griffith) will not have a baseball tournament.

"We talked about it at the coaches meeting and we talked about could we have a tournament and keep the double-round robin," said the second year Lowell coach. "We decided we wanted the double round robin.  But the problem is that three of those teams will be in our sectional.  So we could see them twice during the season, once in a tournament and then again in the sectional.  That's too much."

What that means is that Lowell will have a lot more non conference games in 2008.

"We're looking to schedule some new people and maybe host a four team tournament," he said.

Lowell senior Zach Zolmer is out indefinitely with a hand injury and that slowed the Lowell offense, which scored just 19 runs in five games.

Highland coach Dan Miller was unhappy with the week.  The Trojans were 9-5 and 3-3 in league play before a 4-0 loss to Munster, a 14-4 loss to Andrean (11-4, 5-3 LAC) and the 2-1 loss to Lowell all in a five-day span.

"We haven't been hitting very well," said Miller.  "We had the six hits tonight, but we haven't been scoring."

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Revised: April 29, 2006.