Northwest Indiana Top-10

Week-2, 2007 High School 'Renegade' Poll

4-03-2007

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

CHESTERTON (4-03-2007) Nothing was too surprising early, except that the weather allowed more than a couple of games to be played in March. Last Friday and Saturday, the rain held off until some games were just ending. Everybody who wanted to played Monday, April 2. For teams like LC, Chesterton, Lowell and Hanover Central to play three games before April 1 is a very good start almost no matter how they performed.

The Porter County Conference (PCC) looks much stronger in the early gong. Not only did Morgan Township upset No.1 Whiting 1-0 but Boone Grove (2-0) lefty Lauren Denhert pitched a perfect game for five innings in a 12-0 victory over outmanned Westville. Boone also defeated Valparaiso last week. South Central and Hanover Central are also expected to have good years.

In the Class 4A school Duneland Athletic Conference, champion Chesterton and powers Lake Central and Portage will find that Crown Point and Merrillville may be narrowing the gap this year.

The very weak LAC Blue Division looks very weak. Gavit, which was hoped to be better, has stumbled to a 1-2 start including a 9-8 loss to Hebron. Morton (1-3) got beat 17-0 by Crown Point. All eight teams have lost a game and we've barely played a week.

The upswing may be in the LAC Black where Andrean and Munster may start at a slightly higher level than 2006, but Hobart has beaten 4As Crown Point and LaPorte and Highland (2-1) looks stronger. Griffith consistently comes on late and Lowell will charge after they get past their early tough slate.

The weather gets severe this week with late afternoon temperatures in the 30s. We'll see how badly eight teams want to play that LaVille Tournament Saturday over in St. Jospeh's County.

1. (4A) Chesterton (4-0)
30-2 (2006), 27-3-1 (2005), 20-7 (2004), 22-5 (2003), 21-4 (2002)

CHESTERTON - The Trojans started fast with an 8-0 win over Gavit, an 8-4 win over Lowell and a 7-0 shutout of Hanover Central. Chesterton smacked out 11 hits against Hanover, even though they led only 2-0 after six innings. Chesterton led Lowell 7-0 early and the Gavit game was not competitive. Lowell scored three runs off senior right-hander Dawn McClellan, who was 22-1 last year, as McClellan may have tired pitching back-to-back games in the first week of the season. The Trojans displayed a lineup full of tough outs. They struck out only four times in two games at Chesterton and Lowell. There are 14 DAC games to play, but this is the start you want. The Trojans shut down Griffith 4-1 Monday. LaPorte, Merrillville and Mishawaka are next, but this is as good a start as you can have considering the date.

2. (4A) Portage (1-0)
2006 (18-12), 2005 (20-9), 2004 (27-4-3), 2003 (19-9)

PORTAGE - Portage didn't schedule any games in March, so they started fast with a 4-2 win over Lowell Monday. Now comes Lake Central, Crown Point and the Scecina Classic in Indianapolis this week. Portage ace Meagan Gutierrez allowed Lowell just five hits and the big deal was that the formerly weak-hitting Indians got eight hits in six innings off Lowell pitching. Sammy Griffith's RBI double and Gutierrez's RBI triple started a four-run game winning rally. Let's see what Portage can do this weekend at 2A No. 1 Scecina. By the time the Scecina tournament is over Saturday, we'll know what the Indians are likely to do this year.

3. (4A) Lake Central (3-0)
25-8 (2006), 32-1 (2005), 29-3 (2004), 32-3-1 (2003), 28-1 (2002), 30-4 (2001)

St. JOHN - Another strong start here as LC defeated Castle 4-1, Gibson Southern 2-0 and Evansville Memorial 13-6. A 13-6 win is never what you want, but those three programs are tradition-rich and defending state champs. KV transfer Jessica Dobson struck out 12 in her LC debut, the 2-0 win over Gibson Southern. Ashley Michalski allowed four hits in the win over Castle. To be fair to LC, they led the win over Memorial 11-1 in the top of the fifth before Memorial scored three times. LC goes downstate so they can get the games in in the first week of the season. Then they win all three. This was definitely a mission well accomplished. Is Portage better than Lake Central? They'll get together this week to talk about it.

4. (4A) LOWELL (2-2)
23-7 (2006), 21-10 (2005), 20-9 (2004), 13-16 (2003), 14-15 (2002), 21-9 (2001)

LOWELL - Lowell opened with a 2-1 week, beating Valparaiso 5-0, and Kankakee Valley 9-3 around an 8-4 loss to defending DAC champion Chesterton. Monday, they led 2-0 before falling 4-2 at Portage. The Devils' pitching and defense has not been great and that is a concern heading into the Lake Athletic Conference schedule. But Lowell has hit the ball well with new leadoff batter Jacki Fletcher getting on base in front of veteran Katherine Allert and Kelly and Michelle Johnson. Once all the Lowell hitters get going and defenders get some experience, this should be a very formidable team. But 2-2 is .500 and LC has started fast against equally tough foes. Lowell must beat LC to win the sectional. The Devils have Highland and Andrean this week and they'll find out a lot more about themselves.

5. (3A) ANDREAN (1-0)
26-4 (2006), 32-3 (2005), 29-5 (2004), 27-2 (2003), 30-3 (2002), 26-7 (2001)

MERRILLVILLE - Andrean junior Nicole Derezinski and freshman Alisha Mosely combined on a one-hitter in a 2-1 win over Highland. The Niners got only three base hits. The Niners lost three games to the weather man at the Center Grove Invitational on March 24, and with bad weather predicted for this week, the 59ers, who are scheduled to meet Bishop Noll and Lowell, are looking at a very light early schedule. That's not good. They need to play. The 59ers have 14 league games and, after taking next weekend off, they have four weekend tournaments left: At Dowagiac, Michigan; Highland, Mishawaka Marian and Twin Lakes.

6. (3A) Griffith (1-2)
12-19 (2006), 19-15 (2005), 16-15 (2004), 18-14 (2003)

GRIFFITH - The Panthers traditionally start slow and they did again last week, beating Merrillville 9-0 but losing to Hobart 3-0. Griffith made six errors against Hobart to give the game away. Junior right-hander Brittany Bridges allowed only five hits, but took the loss. Lisa Worley pitched a one-hitter against Merrillville. Griffith had a game with Boone Grove Saturday that was rained out and they lost 4-1 to 4A No. 2 Chesterton Monday. The Panthers have four games scheduled in week two, including Munster so they are again unlikely to start like a ball of fire. There are still high hopes here from NP, but six errors in one game can not happen late in the season.

7. (4A) Munster (2-0)
22-7 (2006), 25-3-1 (2005), 25-3-1 (2004), 22-7 (2003), 15-12 (2002), 23-10 (2001)

MUNSTER - Munster got good pitching from three new hurlers in a 6-0 win over Bishop Noll and a 2-1 victory over Hanover Central. Pitchers Grace Ispas, Phoebe Connor and Elanor Kennedy combined to stop Hanover, allowing just four hits and four walks. Kelly Mashura was 2-for-3 in both games. Munster had two games postponed, but they hope to play them soon. Munster has rescheduled Illinois power Homewood-Flossmoor (5-0) for April 14 and Lake Central (3-0) for Thursday, April 4. The Lady Ponies have three games this week, but rough weather is expected again. I think that if you play a couple of games and then have to sit out a few bad weather days, it can be a positive. You get extra practice time and the rest of the season passes quickly.

8. (3A) New Prairie (2-1)
2006 (31-4), 2005 (21-10), 2004 (26-4)

NEW CARLISLE - Out on the Prairie, the Cougars started the season with a 7-3 win over Crown Point and a 9-8, eight-inning come-from-behind victory over South Bend St. Joseph's. St. Joe led 8-5 in the fifth inning of that game. NP then lost 5-4 to 4A South Bend Riley (1-0). These are National Hockey League scores, not softball scores. The Cougars are supposed to have better pitching than that, but NP reportedly is lacking a little confidence defensively after six errors against St. Joe. I do not believe that New Prairie gave up eight runs in a game in 2006. Lee Ann Collins, who hit 10 homers last season, hit a two-run home run against Riley. We're going to find out about New Prairie this week when the Cougars take on powerful South Bend Washington. This is a quality team, but they can't give up this many runs and not take several losses.

9. (2A) HANOVER CENTRAL (1-2)
16-14 (2006), 26-5-3 (2005), 25-7 (2004), 25-6 (2003)

CEDAR LAKE - Hanover lost first week games 7-0 to Chesterton and 2-1 to Munster, but something was obvious. A lot of times you hear about who's in eighth grade and the player is made out to sound like a superhero who can leap tall buildings. Most often, the player looks very, very mortal when they finally get that high school freshman uniform on. What was obvious in the opening weekend was that Hanover's three new freshmen are three legitimate varsity players. Pitchers Kelsey Jankowski and Jessica Toth pitched complete games against good 4A schools. Toth gave up seven runs, but only two in the first six innings against 4A No. 2 Chesterton (3-0) in a 7-0 loss. Jankowski gave up only six hits in a complete-game 2-1 loss to Munster. Third baseman Morgan Austgen was the leadoff batter in all three games. The Lady Cats reportedly have some injury problems with more than one player so they'll have to shake up the lineup. HC looked like the same weak-hitting squad they had last season, but there were indications that will change when the Lady Cats stop playing 4A teams. Hanover stops playing 3A and 4A schools for a non conference weekend at Saturday's eight-team LaVille Invitational.

10. (4A) South Central (1-0)
2006 (19-9), 2005 (21-11), 2004 (23-7)

UNION MILLS - South Central opened up with a 10-0 win over out-manned River Forest on March 27, and I can't find another game they've played. Taylor Scarborough struck out 13 and pitched a no-hitter, but River Forest is 0-3. Class 1A schools, with the exception of Whiting, tend to have the poorer facilities and are more prone to postponements. They also don't have indoor facilities like Crown Point, Merrillville and Chesterton so idle days can affect their teams more. The Satellites may not get to play very many times in the first few weeks, but this is an experienced squad that should not be bothered by inactivity. But once the weather warms, SC is gong to have to play a lot of games quickly. The Satellites travel to No. 1 Whiting on April 30.

On the outside looking in...

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

WHITING - Whiting's 34-game winning streak came to an end after a long ride from Whiting to Morgan Township Monday. The Cherokees pushed across a third inning run to win their season opener 1-0. New catcher Ali Cruz made a throwing error on a stolen base to allow the only run. But you can't win if you can't score. It remains to be seen how good Morgan is, but the Oilers weren't a good offensive team last year when they were undefeated. Soph pitcher Melanie Dumezich allowed just two base hits. Can't win them all. The big question is, how does Whiting play after they lose? There's still no way they can not win 20-25 games and be a favorite in the sectional and regional. Dumezich struck out 15 in a 5-0 win over Calumet, a team that has to be tired of seeing Whiting after losing to them twice last season. Again, it's going to be very difficult to judge the Oilers until they order up some big-time competition. A 1-0 loss doesn't tell you much more than a 1-0 win. But the Oilers do play Wheeler and Lake Station, all on the road this week and they should be able to get at least one of those games in weather-wise. The unknown here is Wheeler, which has some new position players. Talk about road trips, the 1A No. 1 Oilers head for Royal Center to play in the Pioneer Invitational on April 21.

(4A) Hobart (3-0)
2006 (12-15), 2005 (19-12), 2004 (15-10), 2003 (19-11)

HOBART - What's going on here? Hobart could easily have been 0-3 after season opening games with Crown Point, Griffith and LaPorte. but the Brickies posted wins 7-1, 3-0 and 6-0. Junior right-hander Brittany Spears (Okay, she's heard every joke you can think of) is putting opposing batters in rehab (sorry) with 16 strikeouts against Crown Point in the 7-1 victory over CP, and she followed it up with 17 strikeouts in a 6-0 four-hit shutout of LaPorte. Seniors Lisa Nedberg (Double, 2 RBIs) and Lori Lashenik (2-for-4 against LaPorte) were strong at the plate in the first week. Obviously, Hobart faces the biggest odds of any team in NW Indiana. They play in the LAC Black with softball powers Andrean, Munster and Lowell and they then play in 4A Sectional Two with softball powers Chesterton and Portage. But I don't know if Hobart softball has ever gotten off to a first week like this one.

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