Lady Devils late rally not enough in 8-4 loss to 2nd-ranked Chesterton

A USA-365 special report by Mark Smith

3-31-2007

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

Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 65 degrees & sunnay at Lowell, IN

WP - Dawn McClellan (2-0) 8Ks, 5 walks 3 ERs, 4 hits (6 innings)
(Chesterton) Nikki Gamblin (1 inning) 0K, 0 walks, 1 ER
LP - Kaitlyn Bolanowski (1-1) 2K, 2 walks 3 ERs, 7 hits (4 innings)
(Lowell) Alyssa Reed (3 innings) 2 Ks, 2 waks, 2 ERs.

Chesterton (2-0)
Emma Lawson (1B) Double, single, RBI
Amanda Gough (RF) HR, 2 singles, 2 runs scored
Alexis Paz (3B) Double, single, RBI
Laura Lange (DP) w alsk, Bunt sac
Nikki Gamblin (CF-P) 2 singles, RBI
Dawn McClellan (P) HBP, walk

LOWELL (1-1)
Jacki Fletcher (2B) Single, 2 walks
Michelle Johnson (1B) Double, single 3 RBIs
Kelly Johnson (SS) Single, walk, 2 runs scored
Nicole Roniak (3B) Single, RBI
Kelly Koza (CF) HBP, walk

LOWELL (3-29-2007) - Let's be honest. When the final score of a softball game is 8-4, neither coach is going to be really happy with it. High school softball is simply not an 8-4 kinda game. But you're better off with the eight. Third-ranked Chesterton didn't get on the bus with memories of a classic contest, but they did take home their second victory of the season, a solid win over a good non conference foe.

"Dawn threw five innings last night," said Chesterton coach Lou Ann Hopson of her senior right-handed pitcher Dawn McClellan in Wednesday's 8-0 win over Gavit. "I knew she'd throw today so I wanted her to throw some that night. When kids throw hard like she does, they tend to be a little wild. Leslie Malerich (Merrillville all-stater and Olympic star) would do the same thing. Then when she didn't get a couple of calls, the answer to that in their (hard-throwing pitcher's) minds is to throw harder. And that doesn't help."

Chesterton (2-0), which reached the 4A state championship game with a 30-game winning streak last season, dominated the game early, making solid contact at the plate and benefiting from Lowell's defensive problems in the infield. Nikki Gamblin's two-run fifth-inning single and steal of home by Amanda Gough made it 7-0 Trojans on a rare, sunny, 65-degree March day.

But Lowell, which was no-hit for five innings by McClellan (2-0), who was 22-1 last season, broke through for three runs and four hits in the sixth inning. That was a shock against a pitcher who had a 0.41 ERA last season and 22 consecutive victories before a 1-0 loss to state champ Martinsville.

Michelle Johnson sliced a two-run double to left center field and Nicole Roniak came through with a two-out RBI single. With the score 7-3 and the bases loaded, McClellan, who threw 107 pitches, got Lowell ninth place hitter Nina Ioakimidis on a called third strike.

"It was nice to see us swinging the bat a little bit there at the end," said Lowell veteran coach Pete Iussig. "And if you're playing someone who's not very good, you might come back (from 7-0 behind) and score eight runs. But you're not going to score seven runs on Chesterton."

Chesterton led after two minutes. Julie Farmer pulled a double to the left field fence to start the game against Lowell junior right-hander Kaitlyn Bolanowski (1-1). Alexis Paz laid down a bunt that was probably intended as a sacrifice. But Paz beat it out to put two runners on base. Emma Lawson then drove another deep double over the head of left fielder Megan Bentley. Lowell got out of that inning only due to a botched squeeze bunt.

In the second inning, Chesterton's Amanda Gough drove a leadoff solo home run straight down the left field line and Misty Bottos walked with one out. Ninth place hitter Lauren Wright laid down what was probably another sacrifice bunt and again, the Trojan runner beat the play at first. Bolanowski got Farmer to pop up, but Paz doubled down the left field line to make it 3-0.

In the fourth inning, McClellan walked and Laura Lange bunted her to second base. Gough popped out but Gamblin singled to left field. Hopson, in the third base coaches' box, appeared to be holding pinch runner Sammy Gross, but when Bentley fumbled the ball in left field, Gross scored to make it 4-0. Lowell leadoff man Jacki Fletcher walked twice in the first five innings, but the Red Devils didn't get any hits until Fletcher singled to lead off the sixth. The Devils have two freshmen (Fletcher and Ioakimidis) and two first time starters (Bentley and Roniak) and while that didn't show in the 9-3 season opening win over Valparaiso on March 23, it was obvious Thursday.

But nether side was overly satisfied with anything but getting the non conference game. "We screwed up that first inning royally didn't we?" said Hopson. "We should have had three runs right there."

"I think things will shake down okay for us, but I've got three new kids (Gough, Lange and Bottos). They're all three capable hitters. We'll make some adjustments like any coach does, but we have some pretty good athletes."

Lowell didn't seem crushed by the loss, probably because of the four runs in the late going. Losing 8-4 feels a lot better than losing 8-0.

"I really didn't expect this game to be like this," said Iussig. "Last time I saw them was the state championship game and what was that? 1-0? I really expected a 3-2 game. If you do what you should be doing on defense. Then, if you get three runs, you should win the game in softball. You're supposed to."

"But we've got a lot of work to do. We've got a lot of new players out there. There were a couple of times, we didn't even know the signs. But it's early. I'm not too worried."

DEVIL NOTES: Lowell was the only team to beat Chesterton during the regular season in 2006, winning 3-2 on opening day of the 2006 season. Chesterton opened the 2007 season Wednesday night with an 8-0 home win over Gavit. The Trojans got only five hits, but Dawn McClellan and Nikki Gamblin combined on a one-hitter and the Gladiators made seven errors.

Lowell played without regular center fielder Becca Nida, who was out of town on vacation over spring break. A half dozen members of the Lake Central softball team and coach Keith Hauber made it down to Lowell for Thursday's game. LC lost three times to Chesterton last season and they'll face Lowell in late May.

Portage pitcher Meagan Gutierrez also was in Lowell watching the Devils play Chesterton Thursday. The Trojans' win was their 26th consecutive regular season victory and McClellan's 18th consecutive regular season win.

LOWELL (1-1)
Coach Pete Iussig - (23-7 in 2006, 21-10 in 2005)

Note: all games at 4:30 unless otherwise indicated....
LAC games in CAPS

3-22-7 (W) 9-3 Kankakee Valley
3-29-7 (L) 4-8 Chesterton
3-31 (S) at Valparaiso - 11 a.m.
4-2 (M) at Portage
4-3-7 (Tu) at HIGHLAND
4-5-7 (Th) ANDREAN
4-10-7 (Tu) BISHOP NOLL
4-11-7 (W) Boone Grove
4-12-7 (Th) at HOBART
4-14-7 (S) at Crown Point - 12 noon
4-16-7 (M) at MUNSTER
4-18-7 (W) Hanover Central
4-19-7 (Th) GRIFFITH
4-24-7 (Tu) at KANKAKEE VALLEY
4-26-7 (Th) HIGHLAND

4-28-7 (S) at Pioneer - 9 a.m.
4-28-7 (S) vs. West Lafayette at Pioneer (TBA)

5-1-7 (Tu) at ANDREAN
5-3-7 (Th) BISHOP NOLL

Twin Lakes Invitational (3-5 games)
5-4-7 (F) pool play game (5 p.m. or 6:30 p.m.)
5-5-7 (S) pool play game (9 a.m. or 10:30 a.m.)
5-5-7 (S) pool play game (12 noon or 1:30 p.m.)

5-7-7 (M) Merrillville
5-8-7 (Tu) HOBART
5-9-7 (W) Wheeler
5-10-7 (Th) MUNSTER
5-14-7 (M) MORTON
5-1-5-7 (Tu) at GRIFFITH - 7 p.m.
5-16-7 (W) Lake Central

Lake Central (4A) Sectional
5-21-7 (M) quarterfinals - TBA
5-23-7 (W) semifinals - TBA
5-25-7 (F) championship - TBA