2012 - Week-4, Top-10

High School Baseball Teams in

Northwest Indiana

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

4-26-2012

ST. JOHN (04-26-2012) Bad weather finally rolled in and started to hamper teams in late April. Lake Central avoided an unfortunate injury as lefty pitcher Jimmy McNamara, thought to have broken his hand getting hit by a pitch in a 4-3 loss to Chesterton, was cleared to play late in the week. You can argue that LC (15-1) or Andrean (12-2) is the top team in NW Indiana, but LC has the best chance for post-season success with two top pitchers in McNamara and Taylor Lehnert.

As LaPorte fell to 7-10 midway through the DAC season, it became obvious the Slicers' incredible streak of 43 consecutive 20-win seasons will come to an end this spring. To my mind, this is the greatest team sports streak (Carmel's swim state titles don't count) in the history of the state. Unless the IHSAA comes out of the stone age and allows teams to play more than 28 games (you can play more in almost any other state), this streak will NEVER be broken and never is a long, long time.

All credit to the boys from Hobart and Lowell who agreed to play a rained-out game in the Railcat Challenge on a cold Monday night. The boys played with enthusiasm in 40-degree weather for 2-1/2 hours. I couldn't have. The game, originally scheduled for the previous Friday night, was postponed and the final Monday (4-23-2012) was the only option.

Crown Point lost out on scheduled games with Cathedral (13-2) and Homestead (14-1) Saturday due to wet grounds and cold winds. It wouldn't be crazy to schedule a couple of these three-team dates a year, though. One team shows up early and plays twice. The other visitors show up at noon and play twice. The home team plays early and late and gets a long lunch. It's all over before dark so you don't need lights. You might even get some coaches and players from schools that aren't playing (or played early Saturday) with the 3 p.m. start.

NW Indiana baseball teams have to make full use of EVERY Saturday in the season or they're going to end up with six postponed games every year.

It's time for mid-season grades and it's been a good season, so nobody flunks.

PLYMOUTH INVITATIONAL
at Bill Nixon Field - Plymouth - $8 all day

CROWN POINT (14-2) vs. Carroll (10-5) 10 a.m. (CDT)
Penn (9-4) vs. Plymouth (8-4) 12:30 (CDT)

3rd place - 4 p.m.
Championship - 6:30 p.m.

1. (4A) LAKE CENTRAL (15-1)
26-5 (2011), 20-6 (2010), 27-5 (2009), 22-9-2 (2008)

ST. JOHN: Obviously, without lefty pitching star Jimmy McNamara (5-1), LC wouldn't be as good as they were. But he'll be back this week. Taylor Lehnert pitched a nine-inning complete game in a 1-0 win at LaPorte and McNamara had the game-winning hit. LC travels to arch-rival Crown Point (14-2) this Wednesday (May 2).

GRADE: A. Nobody goes undefeated in big school high school baseball. One loss, 5-2 to Portage, could be expected. LC has done everything they realistically could have hoped to do so far.

MERRILLVILLE: The Niners have been very strong since an early 9-1 loss to Penn. The Niners got seven earned runs off Highland star Jordan Minch in a 7-4 win over Highland last Monday (4-23-2012) and they rolled 11-0 over Munster last Tuesday behind right-hander Zac Ryan. The 59ers topped Brandon Murray and Hobart 6-4 in a big Northwest Crossroads Conference game.

GRADE: A. Just two losses and some dominating victories. Undefeated is too much to ask. Losses are to Penn and Marian Catholic. It's a top flight season so far.

3. (4A) Crown Point (14-2)
21-12 (2011), 27-5 (2010), 30-3 (2009), 29-6-2 (2008), 29-3 (2007)

CROWN POINT: Crown Point has won eight in a row since back-to-back losses to Lake Central and Clay. Jake Lindeman struck out 10 in a 9-4 win over Michigan City Tuesday. Zach Plesac (6-0) struck out 12 in a 6-4 win over LaPorte. David Kepshire tossed a complete game in high winds and cold, winning 7-3 over Valparaiso.

GRADE: A+. This is a surprise because this team lost its top two pitchers from 2011. Loses only to Lake Central and Clay. Tied for first in the DAC. More than was expected.

PORTAGE: The Indians were 9-0 before they hit a losing streak. The Indians are back on track after a 10-3 win over Valpo last Tuesday. Senior power hitter Gabe Acevedo was 3-for-5 with four RBIs. The Indians nipped Michigan City 5-4 Thursday to stay in the DAC race. I don't know who Kris Spring is, but he struck out 11 in the come from behind win at Michigan City (7-6) last Thursday (4-26-2012).

GRADE: A. Must not be feeling well. I'm giving out a lot of high grades. I didn't see Portage at 12-4 after they only won 17 last year. Looks like a 20-win season.

HOBART: I'm not sure Hobart is better than Valpo and Chesterton and they've been 5-4 since a 9-0 start. The 6-4 loss to Andrean (12-2) can't be held against them. Right hander Brandon Murray (5-2) struck out eight against Andrean, but he walked seven. The Brickies do not play the level of competition as the top three teams here do, but they've been competitive in all but one game.

GRADE: B. A couple of the losses have taken them down a bit, but this is still an impressive season.

VALPARAISO: The Vikings had a tough week losing 10-3 to Portage and 7-3 at Crown Point. Valpo has lost four in a row. The Vikings' Devin Bafia was 5-for-8 in the two games and struck out 10 against Crown Point. Bafia, Andrew Sykes and junior John Olejniczak are all underclassmen on a staff that could solidify by playoff time.

GRADE: B. This was a .500 team and the pitching seems to be a little better than that now.

HAMMOND: There are smaller schools like Morgan Township (11-3) and Washington Township (12-4) with much better records, but I think Munster would beat them. The Mustangs lost 12-0 to Andrean after topping KV 13-3. I still like this team. The Mustangs have lost 3-2 to Crown Point (14-2), 1-0 to Lake Central (15-1) and 11-8 to Valpo. Munster rolled over Hobart 11-1 and they've had some strong games away from home, like the 11-1 win over Highland Saturday.

GRADE: C +. You can't give too high a grade for a team that's barely over .500, but Munster is a team to watch in the second half of the year.

CHESTERTON: Here's another team that has had a roller-coaster ride through a dark forest of a schedule. Did they really hand 4A No. 5 Lake Central their only defeat 4-3 last week? Yes sir. And then they lost to last place Merrillville 5-4. Yep, that was them too. The Trojans are better than their record, but that's about as meaningless as saying that the Chicago Bulls still have a chance for the NBA title without Derrek Rose.

GRADE: C. This team has really good pitching in Jake Post and Bobby Humphreys. They shouldn't be losing close games like 4-3 to Michigan City and 4-2 to Crown Point. Look for a second half surge here.

HAMMOND: Noll had an unfortunate 20-0 win over Calumet where pitcher Danny Pobereyko struck out 12. I think they had some rainouts last week in the Greater South Shore Conference (GSSC), which means a heavy schedule the rest of the way against some not-so-tough teams. Noll vs. Wheeler (12-3) is a major match up this week. I think that Noll is 0-4 against the DAC (losses to Michigan City, Chesterton LC and CP) and 8-0 against everybody else. Noll needs to make some phone calls and add one or two tougher teams to the final week's schedule.

GRADE: B. I think that the losses are understandable here and Noll has won all the games they should have won. When you are in Class 2A, who cares what you did against 4A schools?

10. (3A) Hanover Central (10-6)
22-6 (2011), 23-10 (2010), 11-16 (2009), 15-10 (2008)

CEDAR LAKE: This was a 1-6 team and after Saturday's rainout at Munster, Hanover was sitting on a 10-game winning streak. Washington Township, Wheeler and Morgan Township have better records, but they have played 4A DAC powers Portage (12-4), Valparaiso (9-6), Crown Point (14-2) and Lake Central (15-1). HC has pieced together a pitching staff with seniors Danny Stum, Tyler Trepton and some freshmen and somebody's been working with the hitters because the Cats roll over smaller schools with scores like 15-3 and 17-1.

GRADE: A. This team graduated two pitchers who had undefeated regular seasons in 2011 and they are 10-2 against non-4A schools. When you go from 1-6 to 11-6, you have met the enemy and it isn't you anymore.