Munster Little League Majors all stars eliminate Lowell 6-0

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

(7-14-2004)

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
MUNSTER (5-0)	0	0	2	3	0	1	6	9	1
LOWELL (3-1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	1

Saturday, July 10, 2004 - Majors (12 & Under) District II all-star playoff semifinals at DYER Little League

WP - Josh Lukoshus (2-0) 8K, 1 walk, 86 pitches (5 inn.)

LP - Derek Propes (0-1) 0K, 1 walk (3.3 inn - 48 pitches)

Matt Achter (Munster) HR, single, 3 RBIs

Josh Lukoshus (Munster) 2 singles

Kevin Watterson (Musnter) 3 singles, RBI

Joe Bell (Lowell) Single, walk

DYER (7-10-2004) - The playoff run for Lowell's 12-and-under Little League all-star tournament didn't figure to see them knocking down all the favored teams and hitting the highway for the state finals. After all, Lowell has never won a district Little League 'majors' (12-and-under) title. But for a while there, you weren't sure.

After winning all three 'pool play' games last week, Lowell was into the third inning against undefeated Munster in the district semifinal championship game Sunday night before the favored squad broke through for a 6-0 win.

"I thought we played well," said manager John Fenner. "We gave them a game and they said we were a quality opponent."

'They' were the Munster squad that was a state finalist in 2002 as 10-year-olds. They were also the team that beat Dyer 17-2 in the quarterfinals last Saturday.

"They made several good plays on defense or it could have been a 10-run game," said Munster coach Wes Lukoshus. "The only thing we knew about them was what we saw in the pool play games. We just knew they were fundamentally sound."

The key to the semifinal was the third inning. Munster (5-0) scored first when Wes Lukoshus singled to left field and moved to second base on a passed ball. Matt Achter's bunt was scooped up by Lowell pitcher Derek Propes, who looked at third base and then had no play at first. Craig Dohman followed with an RBI-single to left to make it 1-0. On the next bunt, first baseman Matt Milcarek chose to throw to third base and the ball hit the helmet of the runner, Achter, filling the bases.

After a force play, Kevin Watterson's single made it 2-0.

"We didn't handle the bunts very well," said Fenner of the key sequence. "We had played well the whole tournament, but we didn't handle those plays."

Still, Lowell got out of that inning when shortstop Craig Austgen grabbed a high bouncing ball, stepped on second and forced to first for an inning-ending double play. Lowell's biggest threat to score came in the bottom of the third. Brandon Grubbe led off with a single to left field and, one out later, Joe Bell sliced a base hit to right. Milcarek, Lowell's clean-up hitter, then lifted a high fly ball to right field. Initially, it looked like the ball might clear the short fence in right field, only 190 feet from the plate. Munster right fielder Craig Dohman retreated and then raced towards the foul line as the ball dropped for a single.

"He just got under that one," said Fenner, "or it would have been 3-2."

Lukoshus, Munster's curve-balling right-hander and the son of their manger, struck out Evan Ensweiler and third baseman Larry Allen moved quickly to his left to grab Zach Kopka's grounder to end the inning. Munster got a three-run homer from Achter in the fourth inning to break the game open. Lowell threatened twice more but left nine runners on base.

"I think Munster is the best team here," said Fenner, who watched them play a total of five games. Munster and Lowell were in the same six-team pool but they did not meet in the first round.

Lowell got four strong defensive plays in right field, two from starter Kyle Simko and two more from sub Zach Kopka. Two were hard running catches and two were diving catches.

"I was very pleased with us defensively."

Fenner refused to complain about the new single-elimination format which saw his team eliminated with a 3-1 record. But no one came very close to Munster through the first five games of the all-star tournament."

"We all knew the format when we started. We would have had to play very well to beat them. They beat Dyer 17-2. We did a lot better than that. This was a well-played game. It was all we could ask," concluded Fenner.

LITTLE NOTES: Lowell swept the three pool play games by a combined score of 17-2. Joe Bell picked up two pitching victories and Matt Milcarek hit two home runs. Brandon Grubbe led the Lowell Little League with eight homers this season while Franz Stagl smoked out seven home runs.

If pool play was designed to speed up the playoffs, it succeeded. Subtracting idle days on the third and fourth of July, the entire 18-team District II tournament was conducted in 10 days.

2004 Little League All-Star Playoffs

MAJORS (ages 11-12) Pool play

POOL A (at Whiting)

7-5-4: Whiting 3, Hebron 0, DeMotte 19, Irving 0

7-6-4: DeMotte 7, Hebron 1; Whiting 17, Irving 0

7-7-4: DeMotte 5, Whiting 4 (7 inn.), Hebron 9, Irving 6

POOL B (at DYER)

7-5-4: CP 10, Cedar Lake 2 , Highland 3, Dyer 2

7-6-4: Highland 4, CP 1, Dyer 11, CEDAR LAKE 0 (4 inn.)

7-7-4: Highland 12, CEDAR LAKE 1, Dyer 4, CP 1

POOL C (at Munster)

7-1-4: LOWELL 11, Hobart Township 0, Munster 13, Griffith 2

7-2-4: Griffith 6, Hessville 1, Hobart Township 8, Robertsdale 3

7-5-4: LOWELL 2, Robertsdale 0, Munster , Hessville 3

7-6-4: LOWELL 5, Griffith 2, Munster 13, Hobart Township 0

7-7-4: Hessville 10, Robertsdale 6

District II Finals

MAJORS (ages 11-12) at DYER -Single-elimination

QUARTERFINALS

7-10-4 Munster 17, DYER 2 (4 inn.)

7-10-4 Whiting 2, DeMotte 0

7-10-4 Highland 13, Griffith 2

SEMIFINALS

7-11-4 Munster 6, LOWELL 0

7-11-4 Highland 10, Whiting 1

CHAMPIONSHIP

7-12-4 (Mon) Highland 3, Munster 1

Sectional playoff series - Best of 3 games - at East Chicago

7-16-4: (F) Highland (6-0) vs. Valparaiso (5-0) 6:00 p.m.

7-17-4 (Sat) Highland vs. Valparaiso 6:00 p.m.

7-18-4 (Sun) Highland vs. Valparaiso 6:00 p.m., if necessary

Majors STATE FINALS - Ages 11-12 - 8 teams

July 22-26 - pool play - (at Southport Little League - Indianapolis)