1.) 4A CROWN POINT (0-0)
22-9 (2006), 21-12 (2005), 17-11 (2004), 22-10 (2003)

CROWN POINT - It is a back-handed compliment to sectional champ Crown Point that 22-9 and two tournament titles was considered a 'disappointing' season.  I'll take that every year. They can do it again with a solid starting pitching staff that includes seniors Chris Saroff, Jon Sertich (5-1) and Matt Ernest (4-0) plus lefty Blake Mascarello.  Newcomers Mike Hernandez and Eric Clayton are also good on the hill.  The lineup remains much the same as it was in 2006 with Saroff, Ernest, Tommy Parks and Tim Mummery (.378) in the infield and Sertich (.306, 5 HRs, 11 steals), Joe Patrick and Russell Chick in the outfield most of the time.  New catcher Nick Hladek has a lot of summer experience.  Why is CP so highly regarded?  They have history.  This is a combination of the 2001 CP Little League state finalist... last year's CPHS sectional title team and two consecutive CP American Legion Post 20 age 17-and-under summer state tourney title teams.  And there's an age-15 Babe Ruth state title team here that hasn't reached the varsity yet.  These are the good old days for Crown Point baseball.  But lets tell the truth.  CP was not a good offensive team in 2006.  They have to get deeper into the count and create more runs.  It'll all come down to creating runs late in playoff games.  But they could win 20 on pitching alone.

2.) 3A Griffith (0-0)
23-8 (2006), 19-15 (2005), 19-14 (2004), 17-12 (2003)

GRIFFITH - Like Crown Point, Griffith was said to have not achieved despite a 23-8 mark.  They did beat Crown Point (22-9), Andrean (25-8), Merrillville (23-8) and Lake Central (19-10 and swept state finalist Bishop Noll (22-11).  They are again very close to being the region's top team with the D-1 duo of infielder Ryan Bridges (.465) and right-hander Matt Kuna (6-2, 1.94 ERA).  To show you how expectation works, Bridges was only a second-team all-area pick despite hitting .465, probably because he hit .500 in 2005.  The Panthers have to replace a couple more position players than CP does, but lefty Will Frets is solid and Nate Bryan (.342) is a big fast CF anchor.  Bridges may be the third starter, but Griffith shouldn't be short on prospects.  Lots of teams have two D-1 players.  But most of them are 4A and most of them are in Indianapolis or Lafayette.

3.) 4A Chesterton (0-0)
15-13 (2006),12-12 (2005), 19-9 (2004), 8-20 (2003)

CHESTERTON - 2007 will be a big year for the Trojans who return 13 varsity players, including 6-foot-6 pitcher Sean Green (5-3, 2.53 ERA), who throws in the low 90s.  Basketball star Zack Novak (.361 in 2006) returns in center field and catcher Jeff Gaston (.414) will be an all-area player.  First baseman Matt James (.311 ) also returns.  This team plays a very tough schedule and they will not go undefeated.  But very few teams return this much talent and nobody has a No. 1 pitcher like Green.  Even with Steve Peterson (3-2, 2.61 ERA), the Trojans might be a little short on pitching, but Chesterton will finish in the top half of the DAC and many will overlook them.  Chesterton plays LaPorte in a key DAC game at the US Steelyard on April 24 and they are in the Carmel Greyhound Invitational.

4.)  3A ANDREAN (0-0 )
25-8 (2006), 33-2 (2005), 26-8 (2004), 27-7 (2003)

MERRILLVILLE - Andrean overachieved (25 wins) in 2006 and they'll be a regional title contender this time with Chris DeGuilio (7-1, 2.69) and Adam Norton (5-1) pitching.  Add Washington Township lefty Carl Chambers (7-1) and the 59ers have a solid pitching staff.  Norton is only a sophomore, but he hit .524 last year with five homers and 48 RBIs.  Mike Arvin (.468, 29 steals) is a top second baseman.  Power-hitting Eddie Reardon (.439, 30 RBIs) is back to play first base.  Word is, the Niners have a ton of talent at the freshman and sophomore levels.  They have top prospects like Austin Sutter, who have not surfaced yet.  There are a couple of others who did well in youth leagues, but they haven't done anything on the varsity yet.  They'll get a chance.  Everybody in an Andrean uniform will.  Penn, Kokomo, Norwell, Clay and Chicago Heights, Illinois power Marian Catholic are all on the schedule and they can all bring serious pain to your pitchers.  Andrean is very much a team to watch and with three solid starters and a '3' hitter in Norton, odds are the 59ers will be in high gear by May.

5.) 2A Boone Grove (0-0)
26-4 (2006), 24-7 (2005), 17-12 (2004), 21-7 (2003)

PORTER TOWNSHIP - Boone Grove got smoked out 12-1 by Bishop Noll, but that's not so bad because Noll is the LAC champ and a state finalist.  Other teams may have played them cheap, but let the record show Boone was 5-1 against 4A schools, 8-1 against the Lake Athletic Conference and they were the Porter County Conference champs.  The Wolves' only losses were to PCC regular season champ Washington Township, arch-rival Hebron, DAC champ Merrillville and state finalist and LAC champion Bishop Noll.  The 2007 team projects to be one of Boone's best.  Hard-throwing Kyle Ferber (7-1) leads a quality pitching staff that includes Jim Kulchar (3-0) and David Diaz (5-1).  Shortstop Joe Johnson is in the middle of the defense and another basketball varsity starter, Nick DiMarco (.397), will cover center field.  Kulchar (.377) is a power hitting designated hitter.  Boone faces Merrillville, Portage, Michigan City, Valparaiso and Crown Point.  They'll host 3A powerhouse West Lafayette (28-5 last year) and KV.  There is a four-team Boone Grove tournament with Lowell and Boone travels to Kokomo for the Northwestern Classic.  Add 4A Munster and 3A Knox and this is as tough a schedule as any 2A team plays.  I don't know if they're clearly better than LaPorte and Munster, but we'll see.  The Wolves play at Munster on April 17.  Boone is a regional title contender.

6.) 4A LaPORTE (0-0)
25-6 (2006), 30-5 (2005), 25-7 (2004), 22-10 (2003), 20-9 (2002), 28-2 (2001)

LaPORTE - LaPorte lost 15-4 to Penn in the regional, the first time in 40 years they were '10-runned' in a state tournament game.  They won't forget it.  But the Slicers have a tradition to uphold.  40 consecutive seasons of 20 wins.  A record that is unmatched in all of Indiana team sports.  They'll be around that 20 win mark again with left-handed clean-up hitter Ian Nielsen, a junior who had a 25-game batting streak in 2006 and was a dominant hitter.  Reportedly, they have some quality pitching, but they are unproven.  LaPorte loses seven starters from 2006, but that's deceptive because a lot of boys don't play here until their senior year.  Brad Phillips (.402) will take over at shortstop and football star Darren Kincaid (.302) gets the catcher's role.  Nielsen and Wells will pitch, but they had very limited duty last spring.  The Slicers may start slow and the inexperience is why they can't be rated any higher than this.

7.) 4A LAKE CENTRAL (0-0)
19-10 (2006), 28-3 (2005), 24-7 (2004), 23-6-1 (2003)

ST. JOHN - Ten losses was a lot for LC last year and with less experience, I think they'll win more than 20 this time.  LC actually split with Munster (22-11) Merrillville (23-8) and CP (22-9) and they did beat 2A state finalist Bishop Noll (19-11).  I like left-hander Scott Handley (2-2, 50 Ks in 46 innings) to win big for the Indians and Matt Murphy (4-1, 1.81 ERA) also could come through.  Senior second baseman Troy Russell (.308) is in line to anchor the infield and SS AJ Doyle (.328) is another solid infielder.  Look out for football QB PJ Gbur and 6-foot-7 soph right-hander Eric Summers.  There is a lot of talent coming off the JV and freshman squads.  Lake Central, like LaPorte, is a place where some don't get a real chance until their senior season.  I see LC again as a regional championship contender, but you'll be able to beat them in April.

8.) 4A Munster (0-0)
23-11 (2006), 19-14 (2005), 23-6 (2004), 20-10 (2003)

MUNSTER - Munster outscored Clark 12-8 in the season opener on March 27, but they'll pitch better than that later on. The Mustangs rallied past LC 6-4, blanked Crown Point 2-0 and hijacked Penn 12-8 a year ago.  Now I know they got barbecued 14-0 by Snider in the semistate, but when you beat LC, CP and Penn back-to-back-to-back, you had a good year.  I've read differing opinions, but I thought they had a lot back in the field including outfielder John Bugajski, catcher Pete Jurich, infielders Bret Keil (.303, 25 RBIs) Adam Enright (.306) and Brett Keeler.  The pitching staff is going to revolve around 6-foot-6 Mike Sudburry and Chris Winterhaler (3-2, 2.23 ERA).  Munster will be fun to watch because they won't be playing 2-1 and 1-0 games.  The pitching staff may be ponies at the start of the season but they'll be wild horses by the end of May.

9.) 4A Valparaiso (0-0)
15-13 (2006), 8-21 (2005), 16-13 (2004), 25-5 (2003), 27-5 (2002)

VALPARAISO - Valparaiso opened with a 3-1 win over Marquette as Seth Clinkenbeard pitched a two-hitter.  Lead-off man Scott Rastovic was 3-for-4 for new coach, former Cub Mickey Morandini.  That's good news because Valpo knows they have lefty Charles (Chooch) Sizemore (5-6, 2.79 ERA) who, when healthy, can rip off complete game wins.  Sizemore (5-3, 1.43 ERA) batted .431 with 20 RBIs.  The middle of the infield returns SS Sean Funes (who hit .340 last year) but, to be honest, this team is a little short on pitching and offense for the league they're playing in.  When you have to play so many games against league foes (16 including the sectional) how you match up against your league is almost all that matters.

10.) 3A Clark (0-0)
25-6 (2006), 22-7 (2005), 24-5 (2004), 21-8 (2003), 20-5 (2002)

HAMMOND - After the school's first regional baseball title, Clark will face a battle in sectional play this year.  The Pioneers are led by second baseball Mike Carpen (.526, 33 stolen bases) and center fielder Albert Carpen (.444, 67 RBIs).  Trent Howard and Jon Carpen (.457, 22 RBIs) will anchor the pitching staff with 6-foot-6 basketball star Nick Curosh.  Clark got hot and beat Griffith and Andrean last year, but really don't play a good schedule as their 14-2 five-inning loss to LaPorte in May would indicate.  The success late last year may boomerang if it convinces the Pioneers feel they do not need to play strong competition.  Once again, the regular season here means little because of whom they play.  Clark was 14-0 in the LAC Blue last year, but that isn't a badge of honor.  Clark made four errors and was bombed 12-8 in the season opener on March 27, but Munster beat Clark badly last year, too and the Pioneers are always going to be poor defensively early in the season because of the field they play on.  It didn't matter last year.  The LAC tournament, the late May game with LaPorte and the sectional are the 'real' season.

On the outside looking in ...

4A LOWELL (0-0)
9-20 (2006), 11-19-1 (2005), 11-18 (2004), 25-9 (2003), 20-11 (2002)

LOWELL - The Devils should have a big bounce back year with nine seniors, including pitchers Jon Cap, Nick Bolda and Brian Gerlach.  Despite the limited team success, Cap (4-5, 2.94 ERA) struck out 10 in a 3-0 win over Portage last year.  Gerlach won a complete-game 2-1 at Highland.  Nate Korth (.340) and Jon Stoner (.329) are a good double-play combination and Eric Roadruck takes over in CF.  Catcher Josh Kuiper (.325), a three-sport standout and the Devils' sectional championship QB is the key to the team.  This team is primed for a big year, but so are Griffith and Andrean.  Lowell needed a good showing against LC in the season opener Friday (March 30).  LC beat Lowell 15-1 and 6-2 last year.  In the league and the sectional (LC, Munster, Highland) they play in, the Devils are going to need a little luck to come out on top.  But this is a winning team and if everybody gets healthy, they are a sectional title contender.

3A Kankakee Valley (0-0)
16-15 (2006), 22-9 (2005), 19-14 (2004), 14-17 (2003)

DeMOTTE - The Kougars have a lot of offense and there are hints the pitching will be better.  Matt Dobin (.505, 37 RBIs) and infielders Cory Bilfoss (.447, 25 RBIs) and Derek Kunzman (.441, 39 RBIs) will put runs up as they did in 2006 when KV scored 10 or more runs in 10 games.  Pitcher Sean Nannenga (6-4, 190) was 7-0 in 2004, but he was hurt most of 2005.  Junior Micah Raebel (4-3) and Alex Byers (3-5) did a decent job last year but they need more.  Raebel reportedly is being switched to catcher although I don't know if that's permanent.  Big Kevin Corbett, another junior, has potential.  Experience should make them all better.  This team will score dozens of runs.  Dobin is as good a left-handed hitter as there is in this part of the state.  But the Kougar pitchers have to get somebody out to challenge Andrean at the sectional.  By May, they will.

The Out-of-Towners ...

3A West Lafayette (0-0)
28-5 (2006), 27-6 (2005), 24-9 (2004), 18-12 (2003)

WEST LAFAYETTE - The five Tippecanoe County (Lafayette area) schools, McCutcheon, Lafayette Catholic, Harrison, Jefferson and West Lafayette have won more baseball state titles (6) than all of Lake and Porter County combined.  The Red Devils, who lost 7-1 to state champ Norwell in the 3A semistate championship game last year, feel they can go all the way this time.  West Lafayette confronts you with junior Emilio Domondon (10-1, 2.48, 80 Ks in 70 innings) throwing to junior catcher Kyle Butler (.305, 2 HRs, 22 RBIs).  Outfielder Andy Dunscomb (.371, 4 HRs, 43 RBIs) and second baseman James Wodicka (.361, 20 RBIs) are looking to win the school's third consecutive regional title.  West Lafayette and Norwell appear to be the big hurdles for a Northwest Indiana team heading to the finals in June.  Class 3A coaches might want to mark down May 18 when West Lafayette comes north to take on Boone Grove.  Griffith, Clark and Andrean might want to see what they hope to be up against.

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