2010 - Week-4, Top-10

High School Baseball Teams in

Northwest Indiana

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

4-20-2010

LaPORTE (04-20-2010) The big schools are off to a good start in the 2010 season as an unusual run of 60, 70 and 80 degree days let everybody play lots of games in early April. The dates to remember are obviously Wednesday, April 21 and Tuesday, May 11 when the two teams rated No. 1 (Crown Point) and No. 2 (LaPorte) in the first three weekly state 4A polls go head-to-head. There is a very good chance that both CP (10-0) and LaPorte (9-0) will be unbeaten heading into that first game next week at Crown Point.
But Lake Central, which plays Crown Point April 29 and May 20, will also have their say. The great unanswered question in NW Indiana baseball is: Why have Crown Point (88-12-2), Andrean (88-14) and LC (65-26-2) been so good the last three years when the schools could fit in a circle covering about 10 miles?

It may not be a secret. The area is buried in little boys playing baseball and it has become a very affluent area in the past 25 years. We like the stories of the poor-hard working school that became a powerhouse, but those schools usually get beat down by the big, rich hard-working school. The more players and teams you have, the better you are going to be. The area has Little League, Cal Ripken, Babe Ruth, American Legion and all levels of traveling teams. All areas have SOME of those teams but not all.

If CP coach Steve Strayer takes over the Crown Point Post 20 program, as has been widely rumored (but not yet announced), it can take CP baseball to another level. Most LC players who are not on traveling teams play for Hammond Post 168 getting another 30-40 games of experience after high school closes for the summer. They may also have a 'B' team (age 17-and-under) to go with the 19-and-under squad. I don't think there's any question that LC's playing as a group for Post 168 has helped them this season when the varsity had to replace so many starters from the 27-5 squad of 2009. LC has started 8-0 because this isn't a new team. It's largely the 'B' team from last summer. Highland's rise hasn't been hurt by Highland Post 180's summer team.

This is the equivalent of the top programs in the Chicago area (like Sandburg and Brother Rice), which play as a team during the summer. That's how they get so good. What do other areas have to do? I'm a big proponent of American Legion baseball. Complaints about the quality of competition aren't the issue. The superstar player is going to the elite teams. It's the other boys you need to win consistently in the spring. You see good teams when you get to the post-season. Indiana summer baseball isn't much. The goal is to get those extra 30 summer games as a team. Lowell and Hanover should get together. Boone and Wheeler should get a post affiliation. Andrean's top players often surface on the Hammond Chiefs. But they also have American Legion and other travel ball players.

Selfishly, the American Legion creates a 'second' baseball season in good weather with the same boys. It's easy to follow. The best baseball is played during the summer. But the goal is not to have some of your stars playing at peak competition all summer. The goal is having all of you boys playing some competition somewhere. That's why the 'Bermuda Triangle' of CP, LC and Andrean is a tough place to visit.

One note: Westville topped New Prairie 8-6 last Saturday. That's reportedly the first Westville win over New Prairie in 34 years.

Obviously a major confrontation matching 4A No. 1 CP (10-0) and 4A No. 2 LaPorte (9-0) takes place Wednesday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. and then DAC day at the US Steelyard with all eight teams in action in four games beginning at 10 a.m.

One note: You are no longer allowed to sit anywhere but behind the screen at the US Steelyard for the high school games. They no longer want small crowds spreading out all over the park. It's a safety move and an effort to make the park easier to clean afterwards.

1. (4A) LaPorte (9-0)
21-10 (2009), 22-9 (2007), 25-6 (2006), 30-5 (2005), 25-7 (2004)

LaPORTE: The Slicers dominated three teams in the first LaPorte Invitational and them stopped Chesterton 12-0 Monday in DAC play. LaPorte stopped Lakeshore, Michigan 14-0 and Barberton, Ohio 10-0. LaPorte then handed Lake Central a 5-3 loss, a game where they led 4-0 after one inning. I don't know who's going to win the (potentially) three meetings between LaPorte and Crown Point. But it stacks up as LaPorte's pitching staff against Crown Point's offense. The first meeting is Wednesday, April 21 at Crown Point and the Slicers could go with Kevin Upp, who pitched a five-inning perfect game against Brandywine, Michigan on April 6. But 6-foot-5 Conner Podkul, who shut out Barberton, also may get a shot. The DAC schedule calls for three league games next week so neither coach can use anybody they want. But it's hard to make an argument against LaPorte at this point. Six of their first eight games didn't go the regulation seven innings due to the 10-run rule. Do not assume that because CP was better than LaPorte in 2009 that automatically puts them ahead of LaPorte now.

2. (4A) CROWN POINT (10-0)
30-3 (2009), 29-6-2 (2008), 29-3 (2007), 22-9 (2006), 21-12 (2005)

CROWN POINT: Crown Point buried Portage 12-2 behind home runs from Jeff Limbaugh, Josh Negele and Colin Casey. Mike Manion (2-0) pitched the victory. The Bulldogs scored 105 runs in their first 10 games with Negele (3-0) and Brian Holloway (2-0) pitching well enough. CP hit four home runs in a 10-5 win over Clay last Saturday and then CJ Becerra had four hits in a 14-8 victory at Mishawaka. Casey already has four home runs in 10 games. CP is already 7-0 on the road and they are almost exactly the same team they were in 2009 and they're now 40-3 in their last 43 games. The question is whether LaPorte has surpassed them. We begin to find out on April 21.

3. (4A) LAKE CENTRAL (8-1)
27-5 (2009), 22-9-2 (2008), 16-12 (2007), 19-10 (2006), 28-3 (2005), 24-7 (2004)

ST. JOHN: LC lost the first showdown with LaPorte trailing 4-0 after one inning and Conner Podkul slowed their attack. That's not a surprise. If there is news here, it's that the hitting has carried LC and not the pitching. Frank Pluskota had two hits in the 12-9 win over Griffith and two more in the 13-10 win over Munster. Pluskota also had a homer against LaPorte. But other than Max Majchrzak and Jimmy McNamara (2-0), no one's pitched that well. LC had scored 70 runs in the first seven games, but don't expect that to continue. Lake Central gets a shot at Crown Point at LC on April 28.

4. (3A) ANDREAN (7-1)
33-2 (2009), 30-2 (2008), 25-10 (2007), 25-8 (2006), 33-2 (2005), 26-8 (2004)

MERRILLVILLE: The defending state champs scored 11 in the second inning to win at Lowell 17-4 Tuesday (4-14-10) for the 59ers 4th consecutive victory. The 59ers scored seven in the fifth and topped Griffith 7-0 behind Tyler Ochi. It's still hard to tell whether Andrean has enough pitching because they haven't played a lot of games in a row. Ken Mahala stuck out 12 in a 6-2 with over Clark. The 59ers also won 4-2 in nine innings at Penn and 13-7 over Chesterton But Mahala started three of the first five games. We need depth of pitching here.

ST. JOHN: Highland stomped on Hobart 11-1 last week as Nik Mason was 3-for-4 and Keith Mahler pitched a two-hitter. Mike Bremer also had three hits. Jordan Minch struck out 10 in a 1-0 loss to Merrillville as the pitching strength the Trojans supposedly have is starting to show. Highland rolled over Whiting 11-0. The losses 12-0 to Crown Point and 12-2 to Lake Central were a setback but it might have ben an illusion because of the first week of the season. Highland shouldn't get beat 12-0 by anybody around here. Highland lost to No. 5 Kokomo (7-1) and 3A No. 3 Northwestern (7-0) over the weekend but that's top level competition they should be playing. Coach Dan Miller may know he has a top team and he beefed up the schedule.

VALPARAISO: Valparaiso lost 8-4 to Crown Point (10-0) and they trailed 8-0 after five innings, which was a surprise. Jerrick Suiter wasn't able to hold in CP which may say more about CP than it does about him. But the Vikings may again be a victim of circumstance. The 14-game Duneland Athletic Conference season will have them meet CP, LaPorte and Lake Central twice each and that could mean six losses. I'm afraid this may be a good team that is just in the wrong league in the wrong season.

PORTAGE: Portage shelled Michigan City 13-8 and then nipped Clark 4-3 in the US Steelyard Friday. The Indians' early losses were to Highland 15-3 and Boone Grove 14-3 and that's a little unsettling. In the Indians' other games, they have won four times by one run. You can spin that into a positive, but really good teams don't play a lot of one-run games.

MERRILLVILLE: I'm starting to buy into the new Pirates who have won as many games this season, as they have in the last two years combined. Mike McNeil pitched a complete-game victory 10-3 over Kankakee Valley Friday as the Pirates stole six bases. Can Merrillville become LaPorte-West? Not for a while, but coach Mark Schellinger has them playing DAC-level ball, something that could not be said the last two seasons. They don't make six errors a game like they used to. there's no excuse for Merrillville to have a losing baseball team every year and now they don't.

HAMMOND: Noll stopped Lowell 6-1 in the US Steelyard on Friday, but they had 16 base runners and scored just six times due to some base running mistakes. The Warriors have lost to Lake Central and Clark, but they do have good speed and they are very aggressive offensively. The bad news: Far too many errors. Six against Clark. Six more against Munster. Four more against Morton. The Warriors can't keep winning without an upgrade defensively.

10. (3A) Kankakee Valley (6-2)
18-12 (2009), 11-16-1 (2008), 20-10 (2007), 16-15 (2006), 22-9 (2005)

DeMOTTE: KV saw their 6-0 record fall with a 10-5 home loss to Lowell and a 10-3 road loss at Merrillville. This happens to KV. The early portion of their schedule annually isn't very strong and they often start fast. The trouble is, the Kougars will see a lot tougher teams than Lowell and Merrillville. What hurt the Kougars in these two losses was walks by the pitchers. They can tighten that up as the season goes along. Of course, the Cubs are saying the same thing.