Northwest Indiana 4A Regional Softball Preview 5-24-2010
	A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

26th Indiana State Softball Tournament
Class 4A

at Lake Central (7 teams) no lights
Quarterfinals
5-24-10 (M) Munster (18-9) vs. Highland.
5-25-10 (Tu) LOWELL (19-8) vs. East Chicago
5-25-10 (Tu) Morton vs. Lake Central (19-10).
Semifinals
5-27-10 (Th) Gary West Side vs. Munster or Highland. - 4 p.m.
5-27-10 (Th) LOWELL vs. LC - 6 p.m.
Championship
5-28-10 (F) at 4:30 p.m.
(winner hosts one-game regional final Tuesday, June 1)

at Chesterton (8 teams) lights
Quarterfinals
5-24-10 (Mon) Merrillville (4-22) vs. LaPorte (18-10) 5:30 p.m.
5-24-10 (Mon) Chesterton (17-6) vs. Hobart (6-15) 7:30 p.m..
5-25-10 (Tues.) Portage (13-10) vs. Valparaiso (1-21).
5-25-10 (Tues.) Michigan City (12-7) vs. CROWN POINT (25-1)
Semifinals
5-27-10 (Th) MVille/LaPorte vs. Chesterton/Hobart. -5:30 p.m.
5-27-10 (Th) Portage/Valpo vs. CP/MC - 7:30 p.m,.
Championship
(winner is on the road for one-game regional final Tuesday, June 1)

Top 10 All-Time Sectional Championships
18: Center Grove.
17: Boonville, Eastern (Greentown), Shenandoah.
14: LAKE CENTRAL
13: Floyd Central, Huntington North, Jennings County, Northridge, Pendleton Heights, Pioneer.

Lowell's senior left-handed pitcher Lauren Wells leads her team into the playoffs.

CROWN POINT (5-25-2010)  In the new hurry-up softball format, you almost have to combine sectional and regional play.  The sectional champions are going to have to turn around in three days (if the weather is perfect, which it rarely is) and play the IHSAA's new winner-take-all one game softball regional.  So forget about celebrating your sectional triumph, because your first practice after the sectional title game could be your last.

Obviously, Crown Point is the favorite in Sectional Two.  The state's top-ranked team finished with a 24-game winning streak and they got a great draw.  They will be the home team in every sectional game.  They are 14-0 against DAC teams this year, 2-0 against everyone in this sectional except Hobart, a team they almost certainly will not see.

If the Bulldogs stick with their two-girl pitching rotation, it will be Jackie Beilfuss (12-1) starting the post-season against a Michigan City team she pitched against in a 9-4 win last week.  I'm a big believer in throwing one pitcher in the post-season, but the new format means that one pitcher would have to pitch and win four playoff games in eight days.  No matter what people involved in the sport tell you, recent local prep history shows that very few pitchers can be in top form against big school competition that many times in that short a stretch.

Look at the other seven teams here and find a pitcher who you think can win four times in eight days against this level of bats.  CP's ability to create runs with lefty leadoff batter Victoria Connelly (23 steals) works well with surprising No. 3 hitter Raeanna (Lulu) Jenks, who had 40 RBIs during the regular season.  The Bulldogs have allowed a region-low 28 runs all season and the pitching duo of Beilfuss and Taylor Perry (13-0) had 15 shutouts.  CP will probably end up using them as a starter and relief pitcher.

CP has watched Perry's innings more closely than Perry.  On the final day of the Twin Lakes Invitational, Beilfuss pitched in three of the four games.  The Bulldogs biggest claim to fame during this season may end up the fact that they defeated Andrean (20-4) twice 4-2, and 8-2.  Andrean is a prohibitive regional title favorite in Class 3A.

The only pitcher who can contain CP is probably Taylor Harlow of Chesterton, if they were to meet in the sectional title game Friday.  But the season series does not show that.  CP won 7-0 and 9-1 and, while errors were a factor, Harlow was the losing pitcher.  Chesterton has defeated every DAC team but CP and the Trojans shut out Portage 1-0 in nine innings to end the regular season.  Chesterton also defeated LaPorte 8-4 and 5-3 and they should win a third meeting Thursday.

But I don't think the Trojans have an answer for CP's pitching and, even if they do play a strong game defensively on their home field, CP should win 4-1 or 5-2.

In 4A Sectional One, Lowell has somehow stumbled through the regular season to the extent that a team with 10 seniors, six returning starters and the top left-handed pitcher in this part of the state is not considered the favorite.  Lake Central defeated Lowell 7-6, a game Lowell led 6-1 in the sixth inning.  Munster topped Lowell 12-3 on May 4, but the Devils have won seven of eight since then and the only loss was a game where the Devils lost 12 girls to the prom.

Lowell's big edge is left-hander pitcher Lauren Wells (15-3), the region's premier player.  Wells also had 37 hits in her first 72 at bats (.514).  Wells' losses are 2-1 to Highland, 1-0 to Andrean and 3-2 to Griffith.  When the Devils have scored any significant amount of runs, she's won, including a 4-2 win over 2A No. 1 Wheeler and wins over Highland and Munster, the competitors here.

Lake Central has allowed a lot of runs this season and it's very hard to see them winning three times here, even on their own field.  Munster (17-8) and Highland open the post-season and the Lady Ponies swept Highland 6-1 and 6-5 this season.

But in Lowell's 12-3 loss to Munster, the Devils made six errors.  That's just not going to happen again and Lowell has returned to that lefty-heavy lineup where four of the batters are left-handed.  The 1-2 punch of left handed hitters Jacki Fletcher (31 of 73, .425) and Wells (37-32, .514) requires an overwhelming pitcher to stop them.  There is no such pitcher here.  LC will be the 'home' team against Lowell, but if Lowell met Munster or Highland, Lowell would be the home team, a big edge if the game goes to extra innings.

The Devils have had some multiple error breakdowns this season, but none recently.  I'm thinking Lowell is the Boston Celtics.  Older players who waited until the playoffs to turn it on.  I like Lowell to beat Munster 4-2 in the title game.

The regional championship game is a rematch of a Saturday 9:00 a.m. game on April 17 where Crown Point topped Lowell 5-4.  That score is very misleading.  Lowell dominated this game and led 4-0 after five innings.  First of all, Perry (13-0) did not pitch for CP.  The Devils had seven hits and runners all over the bases, but Perry is a big power pitcher, the likes of which Lowell has not see this year except for Wheeler's Lanay Parks.

But Lowell should have won 4-0.  They gave this game away with four errors, including two dropped fly balls.  CP had just four hits against Wells, who struck out 12.  No one else has struck out more than 10 against CP all year.

So the question is:  Do I believe the overall won-loss records and regular season performance or do I believe my lying eyes?

Lowell would be the home team if they met CP in the regional.  That's a very big factor and it's one reason the home site regional isn't fair.  Not only will Lowell be on their home field but they'll have their 'Noizy Boys' cheering section in full force to back the Devils against the No. 1 team.

If CP stays with their pitching rotation Perry will carry an undefeated record into this contest.  So again:  Do you pick the home team with 10 seniors?  Not only a defending regional champ but a defending state finalist?  Or do you take the undefeated pitcher and the top-ranked team on a two month winning streak?  I hope this regional matchup occurs because it stacks up as one of the more dramatic games in recent years.

But Lowell is the older, more experienced team with the home field advantage and the left-handed pitcher.  In one practice day, CP has to simulate all that and get ready.  In one practice day.

I'm looking for Lowell to go to the semistate with a 3-1 victory.