2012 - Week-6, Top-10

High School Baseball Teams in

Northwest Indiana

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

5-10-2012

ST. JOHN (05-10-2012) There continues to be more good teams than we can insert in the Top-10. Whiting topped Calumet Monday behind three RBIs from AJ Velez. Whiting (12-5) has climbed into the state's Class 2A top 15. Washington Township (15-4) stopped North Judson 8-4 Monday in a week where they were ranked seventh in Class 1A. It's also hard to keep Wheeler (15-3) out of the Poll when the Bearcats are No. 2 in Class 2A. What about Hebron (12-6)?

But I can't ignore the schedule you play, and even though Whiting and Wheeler defeated Hanover Central early in the season, Hanover has played Lake Central (19-1), Crown Point (17-4) and Portage (16-3), the top three teams in the big school Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC). And Noll is a 2A team that has not lost to a 2A or 3A team this season. I don't have much sympathy for a team that didn't play as tough a schedule as they could have. In high school baseball, anyone cam play anyone once the rain outs pile up.

While I fully appreciate a small school declining to challenge somebody like Lake Central or Andrean (17-2), you get more credit for losing to four giant 4A schools than you do by defeating four small 1As or 2As.

I ask again that teams post their statistics on line somewhere. There are sites like Var-Vee, but the vast majority of teams do not use them. I have always wondered why each team does not have one 'team manager' or 'team publicist'' who's job it is to post the latest statistics somewhere. A player could do it.

Some old school coaches don't want to post statistics, believing they take away from the 'team' focus. Some coaches don't even know what the team's record is. But baseball is a statistic-based game and the old dinosaurs need to come into the 21st Century.

It is at this point of the season where we SHOULD have league championship series, but only the Porter County Conference has one. I have a basic template for a two-day league champion form an eight team league. You take the top four teams and play a single-elimination four-team tournament with the semifinals on home sites Friday and the finals Saturday morning at the site of the first place team. You take the bottom four teams and do the same with a Saturday final on the site of the fifth place team. The winners of those two mini-tourneys meet Saturday night on the site of the top-rated team, or a top rated team that has lights. You would get a Saturday night league championship game under the lights and all league teams would play twice. In a league like the Porter County Conference (PCC) where none of the eight teams have lighted fields, maybe Whiting's Oil City Field or Crown Point's Teagle Field could be used.

The local baseball season doesn't have any big Saturday night events (people can't show up Monday afternoon) and any league can create one as soon as they decide to.

One more note: Monday's 3-2 Michigan City victory over LaPorte gave the Wolves a two-game season series sweep over the Slicers. That's the first time in the 17-year history of the consolidated Michigan City high school (Elston and Rogers became Michigan City high in 1995) that Michigan City has swept two games from LaPorte.

Remember that in the final two weeks of the season, there are a lot of rescheduled and unscheduled games. There's nothing real that stops Lake Central (19-1) from facing Andrean (18-2), but that neighborhood match up hasn't happened in this century and I don't expect it to happen this week.

PORTER COUNTY CONFERENCE (PCC) Championship
Quarterfinals (home sites)
May 16 (W) Hanover Central (12-7) at South Central (10-10)
May 16 (W) Morgan Township (15-4) at Boone Grove (11-7-1)
May 16 (W) LaCrosse (5-12) at Washington Township (16-6)
May 16 (W) Hebron (10-7) at Kouts (11-8)

Semifinals (at Washington Township)
May 19 (Sat) HC/SC vs. Morgan or Boone - 12 noon
May 19 (Sat) LaCrosse or WT vs. Hebron - 2:30 p.m.
Championship (at Washington Township)
May 21 (Mon) PCC title game at Washington Township - 4:30 p.m.

North Central Invitational
Saturday, May 12, 2012 at North Central high, Indianapolis

(Indianapolis) Cathedral (15-2) vs. North Central (8-9) 9 a.m.
LAKE CENTRAL (19-1) vs. Franklin - 12 noon.

3rd place game - 2 p.m.
Championship game - 5 p.m.

Benton Central Invitational
Saturday, May 19, 2012 at Oxford, Indiana - $6

Northview (15-4) vs. Benton Central (10-7) 9 a.m. (CST)
CROWN POINT (18-4) vs. Western - 11:30 p.m.

3rd place game - 2 p.m.
Tournament championship: - 4:30 p.m.

1. (4A) LAKE CENTRAL (19-1)
26-5 (2011), 20-6 (2010), 27-5 (2009), 22-9-2 (2008)

ST. JOHN: Lake Central rolled over Crown Point 10-1 and topped Portage 4-2 last Tuesday (5-8-2012) to clinch the Duneland Athletic Conference title for another year. Lead off man Nate Kellums was 3-for-4 against Portage and LC continued to play well consistently. Taylor Lehnert struck out 12 against Portage. Remember that the only loss here was 4-3 to Chesterton back on April 24. LC plays in the North Central Classic this weekend. Lake Central could take on Cathedral in the finals of the North Central Classic Saturday in Indianapolis.

MERRILLVILLE: The Niners ran their in streak to 11 after two early losses. Last week Joey Plesac and Mark Pishkur combined for a five-inning no-hitter in an 11-0 victory over Noble Street Charter school. On Tuesday (5-8-2012), Zach Goldasich stuck out 10 in an 8-2 win over Hebron as Zac Ryan drove in four runs. The 59ers, who topped St. Ignatius 18-11 last Saturday, were undefeated in the Northwest Crossroads Conference beginning this week with Munster and Highland still to play. It wouldn't be a shock to see them schedule Crown Point in the final weeks. Both teams need games and the annual scrimmage was rained out.

PORTAGE: The Indians lost 4-2 to Lake Central (19-12) after topping Crown Point (17-4) last week. Gabe Acevedo broke a 5-5 tie with a seventh inning homer at CP. Portage has defeated CP 3-out-of-5 in the last two years and they could draw each other in 4A Sectional 2. Portage is 0-2 against LC, but 16-2 against everyone else and 'everyone else' includes the seven teams in Portage's Class 4A Sectional 2. Portage makes their first trip to Whiting's new Oil City stadium for a night game Friday, May 18.

4. (4A) Crown Point (18-2)
21-12 (2011), 27-5 (2010), 30-3 (2009), 29-6-2 (2008), 29-3 (2007)

CROWN POINT: Crown Point has taken on some injuries, but they won the Plymouth Invitational 3-2 over Carroll and 14-2 over Plymouth. Monday, CP held off Merrillville 6-5. Junior Markus Kessler got the win over Plymouth while freshman Noah Burkholder pitched four innings in the win at Merrillville. CP lost catcher Bobby Morgan, first baseman/pitcher Johnny Lynk and center fielder Kevin Brunski to injuries and it's not certain when/if they will return. CP does not have the pitching depth they hoped to have (No. 1 pitcher Ronnie Plesac will not pitch all season) and there's no way on paper they should be 18-4. But you are what your record says you are. CP hosts neighbor Boone Grove Friday night (5-11-2012) at 7 p.m.

HOBART: Hobart held off Kankakee Valley 18-10 Saturday and the Brickies have to be approaching a school record for wins. The Brickies got 20 hits in a 10-9 upset loss at Hanover Central Saturday, but they topped Munster 4-2 last week with two in the bottom of the seventh inning. Hobart has played well defensively with no defensive error meltdown except a 12-5, six error win at Highland. The Brickies are 8-5 since a 9-0 start and they have to compete in the Class 4A Sectional 2 playoffs with seven larger Duneland Conference schools.

VALPARAISO: The Vikings' Devin Bafia pitched a one-hit shutout in the 3-0 win over Chesterton Tuesday (5-8-2012) striking out 13. Valpo was 7-4 in the DAC after 11 games, but that was only good for fourth place behind LC (19-1, 10-1), Crown Point (17-5, 8-3) and Portage (15-4, 7-4). The Vikes would be 15-6 without a double-header loss 3-1, 6-1 at Warsaw last Saturday. Valpo scores about as many runs as the Chicago Cubs do.

HAMMOND: Noll swept Lake Station 14-0, 12-0 in Greater South Shore Conference (GSSC) play to improve to 7-0. Why doesn't the GSSC have a conference tournament in Whiting's Oil City Stadium? Here's another strength-of-schedule pick as Noll is 0-4 in losses to Michigan City (9-7), Chesterton (10-8), LC (19-1) and CP (18-4). So Bishop Noll is undefeated against the level of schools they will face in the state tournament and they did top Wheeler 12-3 on May 2 with a 15-hit attack to take the GSSC lead. Noll has to have a lot of makeup games left in the final two weeks.

HAMMOND: Munster survived four errors in a 14-7 win over Griffith as Craig Dedelow had a homer and three RBIs. Munster won win the Northwest Crossroads Conference but they did stomp on Lowell 11-1 Friday (5-4-2012). The Mustangs did make five errors in a 4-2 loss to Hobart last week. I still like this team. The Mustangs have lost 3-2 to Crown Point (18-4), 1-0 to Lake Central (19-1), 11-8 to Valpo (15-8) and 4-2 to Hobart (17-5). Tough week coming up on the road with Portage (17-5) and Andrean (18-2).

9. (3A) Hanover Central (12-7)
22-6 (2011), 23-10 (2010), 11-16 (2009), 15-10 (2008)

CEDAR LAKE: Hanover survived 10-9 over Hobart last Saturday (5-5-2012) on a 10th-inning hit by Tyler Trepton, even though the Brickies had 20 base hits. HC obviously is 34-14 over the past two years and the future is bright with three freshmen playing significant roles. This is clearly a strength-of-schedule selection as the HC losses are to Wheeler (16-3), Whiting (11-6), Washington Township (14-4), Portage (17-4), Valparaiso (15-8), Crown Point (17-4) and Lake Central (19-1). HC travels to Munster for a night game Tuesday, May 15 and the PCC tournament begins the next day.

CHESTERTON: Still waiting for Chesterton to hit a winning streak. I still think the Trojans will come back from hard times stronger than Adam Dunn. Jake Post gave up just three hits Wednesday against Valpo, but he lost 3-0. Bobby Humphreys gave up just three hits in a 1-0 win over LaPorte Monday (5-7-2012). Those two pitchers continue to dominate batters, but the record does not indicate that. In a match up of Chesterton with Post or Humphreys versus anyone not in this poll, I would take Chesterton.