2009 - Week-2, Top-10

High School Baseball Teams in

Northwest Indiana

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

4-12-2009

ST. JOHN (4-10-2009) Rain and (yes) snow shut down a couple of days in early April and I suppose that's not news. There was a semi-promising forecast and most teams will be postponed a couple of times again before tax day (April 15). Lake Central and Boone Grove quickly jumped to 3-0 while LaPorte (2-1) bounced back from a loss to Penn and Crown Point and Andrean struggled to get on the field.

But the field conditions won't be a problem for the next four weeks at the Gary Steelyard where a schedule full of Northwest Indiana squads get to battle on the professionally manicured (and, in rain, covered) stadium diamond.

A new aspect to the 'Railcat Challenge' this year is that the games have been pushed to weekends when people can (and want to) attend. The April 18 game at 12 noon between Morgan Township and South Central is a good example. If you play that game Wednesday night at 5:00 p.m., even the pigeons won't show up. But Saturday at noon? Those two schools will make it an event and I'd bet a couple of hundred fans find the park.

Class 4A No. 11 Crown Point is not on the schedule because they really couldn't find a date. CP didn't want to move a DAC home game against a top opponent to the Steelyard. In recent years, they've played Michigan City or Hebron and the game was not competitive. CP wanted to play the NWI Challenge (the Duneland Conference vs. the Northwest Crossroads Conference) in the Steelyard but that could not be arranged.

Andrean, which did not play in the Steelyard a couple of times in the past eight years of the showcase, is back with that high noon April 25 game against Bishop Noll.

The Steelyard is often a wonderful baseball experience except for one thing. As I've said here before, the concession prices are far too high. You may pay as much for a piece of pizza or a hamburger as you will for a ticket. I've heard the argument that these are 'professionally competitive prices' but then how about a break for the moms and dads who simply want to watch their sons play?

I am appreciative of the low ticket prices for the Railcats game later in the summer, and like I have said before, this is my only complaint. To advertise family fun at a reasonable price is commendable. Except that the food isn't at an affordable price. Especially in these hard economic times. I'm still waiting for a $1 hot dog night. Or a $2 burger night?

I see the parents turn away from the concession stand when they see the prices listed on the wall. I sure wish management could see that. In the hope that the second half of the month brings warmer weather, here's the Railcat schedule:

2009 RailCat Challenge (at Gary Steelyard)
all games at the Gary Steelyard, 2 blocks east of US 20 and Broadway - Gary - all games $5

4-17 (F) River Forest vs. Lake Station - 4:00 p.m.
4-17 (F) Portage vs. Clark - 7:30 p.m.
4-18 (S) Morgan Township vs. South Central - 12:00 noon
4-18 (S) HEBRON vs. HANOVER CENTRAL - 3:30 p.m.
4-18 (S) Kouts vs. BOONE GROVE - 7:00 p.m.
4-24 (F) Lew Wallace vs. Wirt - 4:30 p.m.
4-24 (F) Griffith vs. Whiting - 7:30 p.m.
4-25 (S) ANDREAN vs. Bishop Noll - 12:00 noon
4-25 (S) Calumet vs, East Chicago - 3:30 p.m.
4-25 (S) Hobart vs. LOWELL - 7:00 p.m.
4-28 (Tu) Michigan City vs. MERRILLVILLE - 7:00 p.m.
4-29 (W) North Newton vs. Wheeler - 5:00 p.m.

5-1 (F) (Lansing, Ill.) TF South vs. (Cal City) TF North - 7:00 p.m.
5-2 (S) HEBRON vs. Gary West Side - 4:00 p.m.
5-4 (Tu) Chesterton vs. LaPorte - 7:00 p.m.
5-8 (F) Gavit vs. Morton - 7:00 p.m.
5-9 (Sat) Marist vs. Mt. Carmel (2 games) 10:15 a.m.
5-9 (Sat) LaCrosse vs. Kankakee Valley - 3:30 p.m.
5-9 (Sat) Portage vs. LAKE CENTRAL - 7:00 p.m.

1. (4A) LAKE CENTRAL (7-0)
22-9-2 (2008), 16-12 (2007), 19-10 (2006), 28-3 (2005), 24-7 (2004), 23-6-1 (2003)

ST. JOHN: LC dominated seven games to remain No. 1 statewide in the Class 4A poll. The Indians won 16-1 over Hanover Central and then swept a double header 11-1 and 10-0 over Morton. Three different LC pitchers allowed a three-game total of seven hits. The Indians look very good on offense and they should. This team batted .358 last year and all eight position players are back. Max Majchrzak struck out nine in six shutout innings against Morton. LC's first 'test' was a 7-3 come-from-behind win over Lowell where the Devils scored three unearned runs in the first inning. LC rolled over Munster (5-1), Griffith (15-3) and Highland (15-1), but with what LC has, those are teams they should beat. Lake Central plays arch-rival Crown Point on April 28 and, again this year, that series is shaping up as being pivotal in the DAC race.

2. (3A) ANDREAN (2-2)
30-2 (2008), 25-10 (2007), 25-8 (2006), 33-2 (2005), 26-8 (2004), 27-7 (2003)

MERRILLVILLE: The Niners took an ugly-looking 10-1 loss to Illiana Christian, but as everybody knows, baseball teams are never defined by one game. The loss 5-4 to Penn Saturday is certainly not a major failure, but for the second consecutive game, Andrean made five errors in the field. The 59ers did not make four errors in the field in any game in 2008. Ken Mahala pitched the five-inning shutout and hit his first homer of the year in the opener, but he was the victim of some weak Niner defense (4 errors) in game three. The Niners were snowed out against Clay on April 6 and they may have lost the Clark game (April 7) as well. It would appear that the Niners are holding back Adam Norton, perhaps until the weather is better. He likely would have started against Illiana or Penn under normal circumstances. Norton, the Notre Dame recruit, not being 100% is another reason the 59ers drop in the poll. Baseball is about winning and losing streaks. You need a lot of the former and none of the latter.

3. (4A) CROWN POINT (5-0)
29-6-2 (2008), 29-3 (2007), 22-9 (2006), 21-12 (2005), 17-11 (2004), 23-10-1 (2003)

CROWN POINT: Crown Point beat Elkhart Memorial 6-1, Highland 11-1, Griffith 22-6, Munster 14-2 and Lowell 7-0 to start the season. Jeff Limbaugh was 3-for-3 with a home run against Highland while Josh Negele, Scott Donley and Mike Kozlowski homered on the road at Memorial. Mike Manion got his first career win at Munster. The Bulldogs hit eight home runs in the first five games. CP knew Negele and Kozlowski, the first two winning pitchers, were capable and they now have to find two or three other starting pitchers. Manion and Scott Donley appear to be the candidates. Donley is being used largely in relief so far. Brian Holloway got the win against Lowell while Manion pitched a three-inning save. The Bulldogs melted down defensively with six errors in the win over Griffith and that is a major concern because there are storm clouds on the horizon. CP still has Clay, Mishawaka, St. Joseph's, Northridge, Illiana Christian, Penn and Plymouth to play along with the 14 DAC games. The DAC has changed faces and names, but not positions. It appears that CP, LC, LaPorte and Chesterton are the top four teams. CP was 14-0-2 in 2008 before they lost. The Bulldogs were 15-0 in 2007 before they got beat. As great as this is, you almost wish it didn't happen. It brings an unreal perspective to the road ahead, which gets much tougher once league play begins.

4. (4A) LaPorte (5-2)
21-9 (2008), 22-9 (2007), 25-6 (2006), 30-5 (2005), 25-7 (2004), 22-10 (2003)

LaPORTE: The Slicers' designated hitter Clay Marshall hit a grand slam homer and Scott Upp pitched a shutout as LaPorte beat Oak Hill 14-0 last Tuesday (4-7-2009). After losing to Penn to start the year, LaPorte lit a fire to their bats and smoked New Prairie 13-0, Oak Hill 14-0 and South Bend Washington 13-3. They piled up the bats on Hobart 14-3 as well. The Slicers don't seem, on paper, to have that kind of attack and I'm surprised they've rolled up these run totals. But junior shortstop Dustin DeMuth (13-21, .619) has a hot bat early this season. LaPorte's 5-game win streak was stopped 5-0 by Lakeshore Michigan Saturday (4-11-2009). I don't know what junior Clay Mannering (3-0, 1.79 ERA) is throwing, but he had 26 strikeouts in his first 15 innings. Junior Kevin Upp (2-1, 2.93) has 22 strikeouts in 15 innings. Kyle Rosenbaum (9-20, .450) had eight stolen bases in seven games. The Slicers' pitching has been very effective, but we'll see more about that on Thursday, April 16 when Crown Point comes to visit.

5. (2A) BOONE GROVE (3-1)
27-4-1 (2008), 25-6-1 (2007), 26-4 (2006), 24-7 (2005), 17-12 (2004), 21-7 (2003)

PORTER TOWNSHIP: Boone lost their first game Wednesday (4-8-2009) to Mike Schroeder and North Newton 4-3. That's not that big an upset as North Newton's right hander Mike Schroeder struck out 14. He's a top player and the Spartans (3-0) were undefeated after games of April 11. Boone Grove didn't have a lot of games scheduled early in the year and they were idle last weekend. The slate heats up when they play four times in four days: at Hanover (April 20), at Munster (April 21) and against undefeated North Judson (5-0) on April 23. Boone plays Kouts at the Railcats Stadium on April 18 and it's a good bet the Mustangs will show up (Roosevelt didn't show for a game at the Steelyard on April 11) for a major Porter County Conference match.

6. (4A) Chesterton (2-0)
18-10 (2008), 20-6 (2007), 15-13 (2006), 14-13 (2005), 18-9 (2004)

CHESTERTON: The Trojans didn't start the schedule until the second week of April and they then bombed East Chicago 18-2 and nudged Bishop Noll 3-0. Glenn Peterson (1-0) and Alex Olson (1-0) were the first two starters. Peterson struck out seven in three innings. The schedule Chesterton plays is excellent. They should get a lot of credit for traveling to Lafayette annually for three games at the Joe Heath Classic, which they will do this weekend (April 17-18). They'll face McCutcheon and Jefferson, two perennial Lafayette powers. Truthfully, I think the first two weeks of April are better spent in the field house than attempting to play outdoors in refrigerator-like conditions. I don't know if Chesterton had any games earlier than April 10 postponed or not, but I don't think they suffer any by starting the season a little later than other schools.

7. (3A) Griffith (3-3)
17-13 (2008), 23-10 (2007), 23-8 (2006), 19-15 (2005), 19-14 (2004), 17-12 (2003)

GRIFFITH: The Panthers have taken some bad losses, 15-3 to Lake Central (7-0) and 22-6 to Crown Point (5-0) in the Northwest Indiana Challenge. The only good news about Griffith's three-game long streak against the big school conference is that they didn't make a half dozen errors in every game. The defense wasn't overly bad (at least the error totals weren't that high) but the performance of the starting pitching has been scary. If the boys lose confidence, the ship could sink here. Here's a thought for the Griffiths, the Lowells and the Munsters of the world. Maybe CP and LC are really, really good and just because the Bulldogs and Indians bury you, it doesn't mean your team is lousy. I still think this is a 20-win team and that fact may become obvious by the end of April.

8. (3A) Kankakee Valley (4-1)
11-16-1 (2008), 20-10 (2007), 16-15 (2006), 22-9 (2005), 19-14 (2004)

HAMMOND: Okay, so 2-3 isn't great. But a lot of that is the double-header loss to Lake Central (7-0). The Governors haven't really started yet and they are having troubles with the weather like everybody else is. Of all the 10 teams listed here, this team needs a winning streak once the weather clears. They've had a long time to sit with those two losses to LC. The best thing you can do when you lose is play. The Governors haven't been able to do that. They need a couple of wins badly.

10. (4A) North Newton (4-0)
14-14 (2008), 15-16 (2007), 9-14 (2006), 11-19 (2005)

MOROCCO: Not possible? They've already beaten Boone Grove and Kankakee Valley and they have two college players in senior pitcher Michael Schroeder (6-4, 2.52 ERA, .420 batting average, 37 RBIs in 2008) and a senior catcher in Bobby Anderson (.410, 17 RBIs in 2008). The Spartans have little depth other than CF Steve Groah (.300 in 2008), shortstop Joe Corning and third baseman John Pizer, but you can't get away from the fact that they have two college players on the field at all times. Are they better than Portage? Bishop Noll? Merrillville? When Schroeder pitches, probably so.