Northwest Indiana Top-10

Week-10, 2007 High School 'Renegade' Poll

5-28-2007

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

PORTAGE (5-28-2007) The 4A sectional, as they always do, took out a bus full of the top teams in NW Indiana in the first week of the playoffs. Since I was not there, I do not know exactly why Chesterton coach Lou Ann Hopson pulled all-state pitcher Dawn McClellan (19-5) out of a tie game with arch-rival Portage in the 4A Merrillville Sectional championship game. But the move didn't work and Portage won 8-4, taking the school's first sectional title since 2001 and changing the face of the 4A playoffs since offense-minded teams like Lowell figure to have a better chance against Portage than they would Chesterton, a more high-scoring group.

At Wheeler, the showdown between Wheeler and Hanover found a new champion as the Bearcats held off HC 2-1 to advance to the LaVille Regional. Andrean freshman Alyssa Mosely pitched her team to the sectional title and Lowell dominated the 4A Highland Sectional.

Whiting edged Morgan Township in a match up of Top-10 Class 1A schools and the defending state champs stayed alive for a repeat title, something only Martinsville has done. The theme of freshmen boosting local squads more than probably in any other season, continued.

Wheeler started four freshmen and pitcher Lanay Parks (21-2) continues to have a dominating impact. Andrean's Mosely (14-3) will pitch every game now that junior Nicole Derezinski is out for the season with an arm problem. Lowell has two junior pitchers, but freshman Jacki Fletcher smacked out four hits in the Highland Sectional championship game against Munster and freshman teammate Lauren Wells had two hits. Unlike baseball where top teams Crown Point and Chesterton have not put a freshman on the field this season, every NW Indiana girls softball team that's still alive starts a freshman or sophomore.

The drama remains in 4A where No. 1 Hamilton Southeastern (27-0) was unscored upon in a very tough sectional. Elkhart Memorial (23-6) took out Concord, Penn and undefeated Mishawaka in the Elkhart Sectional. Powerhouse McCutcheon (27-4), the Twin Lakes Invitational champion, advanced to the regional round, as did Twin Lakes tourney runner-up Lowell (28-6), the team that leads the state in victories.

In 3A, who on earth is Culver Academy junior left-hander Holly Johnson? Johnson, who just arrived at Culver over the winter, set a state record with 30 strikeouts in a 17-inning, 1-0 upset of Class 3A No. 3 Mishawaka Marian. In 31 innings, Johnson, who is a New York native (Culver Academy kids come from all over the world), was not scored on. Don't kid yourself. Culver Academy (19-6) may not be the favorite at the Twin Lakes Regional on June 2, but nobody knows for sure they can hit Johnson.

In 2A, Jimtown (21-8), Winamac, Sheridan (13-14) and Wheeler have all never been beyond the regional. They'll meet at LaVille Saturday and while Parks has to worry everybody else in the field. Winamac (25-5) is basically at home and Wheeler hasn't been off their home field in the state tourney so far.

In 1A, Whiting leaves the home field for the first time in the playoffs to take on Lakewood Park Christian (20-5), and keep this match up in mind. Whiting's Mel Dumezich (25-3), with over 400 strikeouts against Lakewood's speedy star Holly Weaver, who, during the regular season, batted an unheard of .631 (53-84) with 33 stolen bases and 45 runs scored. Teammate Logan Carnahan is batting .507 (38-75). Are their numbers inflated by a soft schedule? Maybe. But they've played six 4a schools and they are a slap-hitting, running team, the likes of which Whiting has not seen.

Because of the hurry-up format of the state tournament, the softball regionals and the girls state track finals will occur on the same day, which is the answer to any girl who wanted to know why she can't play softball and run track at the same time.

1. (4A) Portage (23-7)
2006 (18-12), 2005 (20-9), 2004 (27-4-3), 2003 (19-9)

PORTAGE - Portage pitcher Meagan Gutierrez pitched a no-hitter against Valparaiso and the Indians' much-maligned bats took over in an 8-4 win over arch-rival Chesterton in the 4A Merrillville Sectional championship game. The victory was the Indians' second in three games against Chesterton, but it was a major hurdle for the Indians, who rallied from a 2-0 deficit with seven consecutive hits against Trojan back-up pitcher Alexis Paz. They'd have probably preferred to beat Chesterton ace Dawn McClellan, but she left in a 3-3 tie game. The Indians have defeated Munster (24-7), Lowell (28-6), Hanover Central (20-10), Chesterton (20-6) Penn (21-7-1) twice and Illinois power Lincoln-Way East. Portage has been consistent all season long and they have NW Indiana's most experienced pitcher.

2. (4A) Chesterton (20-6)
30-2 (2006), 27-3-1 (2005), 20-7 (2004), 22-5 (2003), 21-4 (2002)

CHESTERTON - Chesterton has an interesting legacy for this season because their ace pitcher Dawn McClellan (19-4) didn't win or lose the deciding game. The logic that, with a 25-30 mile-an-hour wind blowing out, that seldom-used Alexis Paz, was a better pitching choice than McClellan, who had 41 victories and five losses in her career, sounded good on paper, but it blew up as Portage scored five times off Paz. I watched the Trojans beat Hobart 3-2 and Crown Point 4-0 before the 8-4 loss to Portage so it's hard to downgrade them. Chesterton split with Lake Central, and defeated Lowell (28-7), Hanover (20-10) and Hobart (17-11) twice. This team had three extra-inning losses and four by one run. Plus, two losses to Munster (24-7) and Elkhart Memorial (23-6). There's very little difference at the top here. Only Portage's head-to-head wins puts them over the top.

3. (4A) LOWELL (28-6)
23-7 (2006), 21-10 (2005), 20-9 (2004), 13-16 (2003), 14-15 (2002), 21-9 (2001)

LOWELL - Lowell has a half dozen losses, but like Portage, they have been consistent. The Devils overcame injuries late in the season to roll through the sectional with wins 10-0 over East Chicago, 6-1 over Highland and 10-1 over Munster. Allyssa Reed (15-2) pitched two complete game playoff wins and she was backed up by an impressive attack. Freshman Jacki Fletcher had four hits in the win over Munster. Kelly Johnson, who missed three games late in the year, was back and hit a three-run homer. If the Devils, who won a sectional for the first time in seven years, stay healthy, they have a fighting chance to reach the state finals. Nobody had a better sectional. They lost to the two teams ahead of them in this poll and I don't think Reed is the equal of Chesterton's McClellan (19-4) or Portage' s Gutierrez (20-4) yet. Momentum gets shut down by starting pitching, but Lowell's losses have been to Wheeler (25-3), McCutcheon (27-6), Chesterton (20-6), Portage (23-7), Munster (24-7) and Hobart (17-11) and they lead the state in victories. Lowell should play Portage for the regional championship.

4. (4A) Lake Central (22-6)
25-8 (2006), 32-1 (2005), 29-3 (2004), 32-3-1 (2003), 28-1 (2002), 30-4 (2001)

St. JOHN - Lake Central never got going against Munster in the sectional semifinals, even though the Mustangs gave them chances with five errors. LC never displayed a lot of offense this season. It wasn't so much losing games, like 2-0 to Carmel and LaPorte, 3-2 to Lowell; 2-1 and 3-1 to Munster. It was the victories. I had LC scoring 10 runs or more only five times all season and two of those were against Michigan City (3-22). That's just not enough offense. This was a high quality team and they will be again next year. Both Jessica Dobson (8-2) and Rachel Weaver (12-3), who was a surprise choice as the Duneland Conference MVP, will return in 2008. LC comes back in 2008 as the clear-cut favorite in the DAC, but they want to restart a just-ended streak of six consecutive sectional championships. That gives the Indians more pitching coming back than anyone else, except for maybe Lowell. But this team needs more speed and better contact at the plate.

5. (4A) Munster (24-7)
22-7 (2006), 25-3-1 (2005), 25-3-1 (2004), 22-7 (2003), 15-12 (2002), 23-10 (2001)

MUNSTER - Munster was just plain in the way as Lowell crushed them 10-1 for the 4A Highland sectional championship Saturday (5-26-2007). The Lady Ponies played better in that game than they did in a 3-1 win over Lake Central (21-6) the day before. As long as Munster, LC and Lowell are in the same sectional, two of NW Indiana's top teams are going to go down in the first week of the playoffs. Munster beat LC twice for the first time in school history and the Mustangs definitely had a good season with the losses only to Harrison (20-8), Portage (23-6), Andrean (25-5) twice and Lowell (28-6) three times. All but Harrison (defeated by McCutcheon) were sectional champions. But only the Cleveland Cavaliers get excited about playoff losses. The Mustangs lose some very experienced position players, but Munster returns both Eleanor Kennedy (11-5) and Grace Ispas (13-2) next season, so they'll be a league and sectional contender again in 2008.

6. (3A) ANDREAN (24-5-1)
26-4 (2006), 32-3 (2005), 29-5 (2004), 27-2 (2003), 30-3 (2002), 26-7 (2001)

MERRILLVILLE - Now is the time for Andrean, a team that walked through an easy sectional, crushing Wirt 14-0, Kankakee Valley 10-0 and Roosevelt 13-0. The Niners will go the rest of the way with freshman power pitcher Alyssa Mosely (14-3) after Nicole Derezinski (10-2) suffered an arm injury. But I don't think that's a big handicap. In my mind, you can't keep alternating pitchers after the sectional level of the post-season. The Niners are about to start the season. They pretty much knew they'd win the sectional despite an upset win by KV last year. Now, Andrean faces Griffith (16-14) in the semifinals of the Class 3A Twin Lakes Regional. The Niners, who beat Griffith 2-1 in May with Derezinski and 2-1 in April with Mosely, surely expect a difficult game from a much, more experienced Panther team.

Andrean plays in the Twin Lakes Invitational so, while they did not play on the field they'll see Saturday, they did stay and play at Twin Lakes this season. Coach Frank Podkul reportedly played his junior varsity against Gary Roosevelt in the sectional final so the mismatch with Roosevelt would not be so bad. That move also served to get new players valuable experience in a meaningful game. The 59ers have to be pleased that Marian (23-6) was defeated by Culver Academy (19-6). Marian had defeated Andrean twice 1-0. But somebody's going to have to hit Holly Johnson of Culver, who will carry a 32-inning shutout string in against Benton Central in the semifinal opposite Griffith-Andrean. It should be noted that Mosely has a 20-inning scoreless string herself. Teams have to work on the bunt plays this week, because there are some run-challenged teams here. Any of the four teams at Twin Lakes can win and all of them probably look at the other three and think they will.

7. (2A) Wheeler (25-3)
2006 (14-16), 2005 (10-18), 2004 (7-21), 2003 (7-18), 2002 (11-14)

UNION TOWNSHIP - Wheeler played outstanding defense for most of the game in a 2-1 win over Porter County Conference (PCC) champion Hanover Central (20-10) in the Wheeler 2A Sectional title game (5-24-2007). Lanay Parks (21-2) was good, but her defense, until two seventh inning errors was better, with running or diving catches taking away opportunities to score the tying run. Wheeler earned the sectional title with three wins in close games, 3-2 over Noll, 1-0 over Boone Grove and 2-1 over Hanover Central. The Bearcats are not a great offensive team, but they have an odd mix of four freshmen and four seniors in the starting lineup and they rose to the occasion to beat Hanover, a much more battle-tested squad. Parks is hard to deal with if you've never seen her and with senior catcher Ashley Marino, they could overmatch the field at the LaVille 2A Regional. There are better teams than Wheeler in Class 2A, but none of them will be at LaVille Saturday. Parks is the kind of dominating pitcher you need beyond the sectional. But a team with four freshmen playing everyday roles cannot be trusted to score runs consistently.

8. (2A) HANOVER CENTRAL (20-10)
16-14 (2006), 26-5-3 (2005), 25-7 (2004), 25-6 (2003)

CEDAR LAKE - The Lady Cats cold not score runs when it counted and they lost the 2A sectional title game to Wheeler (25-3). Hanover Central could have pulled it out with clutch hits, but they didn't deserve to. HC committed five errors. It didn't help that starting shortstop Kara Gilbert became ill the day of the game and could not play. But HC left eight girls on base and they had chances to win. Wheeler outplayed them. The Lady Cats have lost to Munster (24-7), Lowell (28-6), Beecher Ill. (30-4), McCutcheon (27-6), Chesterton (20-6), Eastern (24-4), Portage (23-7) and Wheeler (25-3) twice. Hanover started three freshmen and three sophomores in 2007 and they won the PCC and got the young girls valuable experience. The future is 2008 and 2009 for HC. In 2008, the Lady Cats will return seven starters and both pitchers Jessica Toth (11-6) and Kelsey Jankowski (8-4). HC also gets back first baseman Victoria Wigsmoen, who missed almost the entire 2007 season with a hand injury. HC girls simply have to play a lot over the summer. HC will be a 2A Top-10 team at the start of next season and they could be one of the top teams in the state in any class by the end of the year.

9. (3A) Griffith (16-14)
12-19 (2006), 19-15 (2005), 16-15 (2004), 18-14 (2003)

GRIFFITH - The Panthers now find out if playing tough teams all year pays off in the post-season. It already has, actually, as Griffith won the sectional title again with a 14-1 win over Clark and a 7-1 win over Gavit. Led by seniors Molly Orzechowicz and Anne Hernandez and junior pitcher Brittany Bridges (10-9), the Panthers have to feel they can deal with Andrean, a team they've lost to by 2-1 scores twice. Griffith battled Lake Central (21-6) and Wheeler (25-3) in the final week and they now have to jump back to that level of play after two romps over out-manned Hammond schools. Griffith lost twice to Lowell (28-6), twice to Munster (24-7), twice to Andrean (24-5-1) and to 20-game winners Chesterton, LC and (South Bend) Riley. Now they need two big wins to make it all worth the time. The Panthers have to be very aggressive against the younger Andrean squad and freshman pitcher Alyssa Mosely. Griffith has pitching depth, but it appears that Bridges will be the No. 1 hurler now. The Panthers are the most experienced team in the Twin Lakes Regional and that gives them a good chance to win Saturday.

10. (4A) CROWN POINT (16-14)
2006 (13-14) 2005 (12-14), 2004 (8-19) 2003 (16-16), 2002 (11-16)

CROWN POINT - The Bulldogs beat Merrillville 8-0 and lost to Chesterton 4-0 in the sectional to end a rebuilding year. When you look at it, CP lost twice to Portage (23-7), twice to Chesterton (20-6), twice to LC (21-6), once to Lowell (28-6), Riley (21-7), Hanover Central (20-10) and New Prairie (23-7). With freshmen and sophomores pitching, much more than this wasn't realistic. CP returns their entire infield and all their pitching staff next season. They are in much the same position as Hanover Central with every position returning next season. CP will play a different non-conference schedule in 2008. They need to play weekend tournaments like Andrean and Munster do. But bottom line, the best two pitchers in the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) graduate in 2007. Lake Central, a team the Bulldogs have not beaten since 1998, remains very formidable. But LC is not a sectional foe of Crown Point. The Bulldogs have to feel they can win the sectional title in 2008.

On the outside looking in...

(1A) Whiting (26-3)
33-0 (2006), 11-16 (2005), 28-6 (2004), 21-10 (2003)

WHITING - Whiting stopped Morgan Township 2-1, Hebron 5-1 and Washington Township 4-0 to win the Class 1A Whiting Sectional, as expected. Soph pitcher Mel Dumezich (25-3) pitched three complete games, striking out 42 in 21 innings. Dumezich struck out all 21 batters in the win over WT, which may say more about the Senators (13-13) than it does about Dumezich. Kelly Jansky, who missed the last 10 days with an injury, had three hits in the championship game. Whiting's three foes were overmatched at home plate, and Dumezich wants to be challenged. She will be this week. Lakewood Park Christian (20-6) is not the typical 1A school. The schedule shows six games against 4A teams and victories over Snider, Northrop and Homestead. If Lakewood can successfully put the ball in play, can Whiting make the plays? With Dumezich striking out two out of every three batters, nobody really knows. The toughest team Whiting has played is Morgan Township (15-6) and the Oilers split with them. It's hard to put Whiting in any realistic NW Indiana Top-10 when they only have a 4-3 victory over No. 8 Hanover and have not played anyone in the LAC Black or DAC. But if the Oilers get past Lakewood Park Christian (20-6) on the road and get to the state finals again, they move up.

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