Northwest Indiana Top-10 Final 2010 High School 'Renegade' Poll 6-25-2010
	A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

CROWN POINT (06-25-2010)  There does not have to be a state championship for it to be a good season.  Teams simply have to meet expectations or exceed them. You don't have to have teams go all the way for it to be a memorable year.

But it helps.

Of all the senior-dominated teams in 2010 (and there were several), only Wheeler got to the state finals and the Bearcats came up with the biggest comeback in state finals history to win 8-7 for the school's first state softball title.

Four years ago, at least six schools (Crown Point, Andrean, Boone Grove, Lowell, Hanover Central and Wheeler), had significant groups of freshman players enter school.  Every single one of them thought there would be a state title somewhere in the next four years.

Only Wheeler made it.  The Bearcats actually made it twice, losing to Linton-Stockton in 2009 and then winning 8-7 in June of 2010.  And even though many other teams did not have post-season success, it was still a strong season.  I think we have to wait and see if the increase in distance between the plate and the pitcher (40 to 43 feet) has an effect on the game.  There SEEMED to be more runs scored, but a 30-game season truthfully tells you nothing.  You need a larger sample than that.

The Tuesday afternoon regional was won largely by the home team.  It seemed unfair.  A sectional winner, with one practice day, had to travel after school to play a one-game regional final, sometimes on fields without lights in the setting sun.  The Tuesday regional is a bad idea.  The answer is to go back to the four-week state tournament, which was abandoned for reasons that have never been explained.

The state finals didn't end until Tuesday because of rain.  A suggestion here?  Play the 1A state final on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. as baseball does.  Then you have all day Saturday for the 2A, 3A and 4A games.  Baseball holds the 1A state championship on a Friday night and it works well for them.

The future?  We need large 8 to 16-team Northwest Indiana tournaments.  Right now, there are not any.  There is talk of a multiple team tourney in Portage in 2011.  I hope that's true.  There's no reason this area cannot host a tourney like the 16-team Twin Lakes Invitational.  I actually think it would draw fans in this area.

Who should play who in 2011?  Westville and Ashley Henrich (23-4)?  Call Crown Point and become the fourth team in the four-class tournament with Hanover, Andrean and CP.  How about a Duneland Conference-Northwest Crossroad Conference challenge matching three or four teams from each league against each other in one weekend?

I would also like to again suggest the Michigan formula where ALL league dates are double-headers.  Highland and Lowell do not need to play home-and-home.  Highland plays a double-header at Lowell one year and Lowell plays a double-header at Highland the next season.  That leaves more practice time and less possibility of rainouts.  The 14-game DAC schedule should take place on seven separate days, not 14.

1. CROWN POINT (27-2)
24-5 (2009), 18-11 (2008), 16-14 (2007), 13-14 (2006), 12-14 (2005)

CROWN POINT:  CP will miss their 'Big-3' of three-year varsity catcher Katrina Klingberg (.402, 3 HRs, 33 RBIs) and pitchers Taylor Perry (14-0. 0.76 ERA) and Jackie Beilfuss (13-2).
The Lady Bulldogs won't win 26 games in a row in 2011, but they will return six starters including outfielder Tori Connelly (.404, 22 steals), second baseman Raeanna (Lulu) Jenks (.389, 40 RBIs), and outfielder Allison Amodeo (.403, 22 runs scored).  Crown Point did not face Wheeler so there's only circumstantial evidence as to who is better.  But having seen both teams, CP was simply overpowering when Perry pitched and their two wins over Andrean (24-5), plus a 16-1 mark (counting playoffs) against DAC schools, gives them a slight edge as my No. 1 team.

2. WHEELER (31-2)
27-3 (2009), 20-7 (2008), 25-4 (2007), 14-16 (2006)

UNION TOWNSHIP:  Wheeler set a record that will not broken in our lifetime when they overcame a six-run deficit in the state title game. The Bearcats went 58-5 over the last two seasons, something they also will not do again anytime soon.  Senior Lanay Parks (19-1, 0.89 ERA) won both local NW Indiana newspapers 'player of the year' award and she clearly led her team to the top, even though the final step was a bumpy road.  She was 79-12 over four years setting a Wheeler school record that will probably never be broken because, in the future, the trend will be towards two pitchers who alternate. 

Wheeler is a much more worthy champion than Whiting was in 2007 and 2009 because Wheeler chose to pursue tough competition outside the weak Greater South Shore Conference, while Whiting avoided big schools.  Wheeler's core that led them to the promised land all graduate, with Marcy Medina (.415, 36 runs scored), Kylie Plank (.433, 32 runs scored) and MacKenzie Ness (.404, 15 RBIs) all walking off into the sunset with that big 2A title trophy.  Other than outfielders Caitlin Herzog (.329) Mari Medina (.444) and second baseman Whitney Maas (.292), there won't be much returning in 2011, but nobody knows who is entering school.  Emily Bisch (7-0, 1.11 ERA in 38 innings) will be a senior in 2011, but they are going to need another good pitcher to show up from somewhere.  The difference in the schedules is too great for Wheeler to be ranked ahead of Crown Point.  But here's a team that did everything they wanted to do.

3. ANDREAN (24-5)
28-8 (2009), 18-10 (2008), 29-3 (2007), 26-4 (2006), 32-3 (2005)

MERRILLVILLE:  Andrean dropped out of the tournament when they lost 6-2 to Bishop Dwenger (27-2), a game where Dwenger led 4-0 in the first inning.  Dwenger went on to win the state championship and they block Andrean's path in 2011 as well.  Andrean loses two core players in Alyssa Moseley (20-4, 0.82 ERA, 40-11 in her last two seasons) and shortstop Audrey Bickel (.544, 10 HRs, 33 RBIs), who had 30 career home runs.  The Niners return catcher Kelly Ryan (.400, 23 RBIs) and pitchers Morgan Mosely and Nicole Steinbach and those anchors make them the favorite in the Northwest Crossroads Conference.  But they did lose two players who are irreplaceable.

4. LOWELL (18-9)
23-11 (2009), 20-10 (2008), 30-7 (2007), 23-7 (2006), 21-10 (2005), 20-9 (2004)

LOWELL:  Lowell lost 4-0 to Lake Central, a surprisingly quiet finish for a team that won eight of their last nine, including a win over 2A state finalist Wheeler.  I'll say it again.  I really don't think there was much difference between the 2009 Lowell team (23-11) that lost to state champ Center Grove in the state semifinals and the 2010 Lowell team (18-9), which was shut out in the playoff opener.  There was no greater disappointment in 2010 than Lowell, which had 10 seniors.  The Devils were the only team to beat 2A state finalist Wheeler at full strength and they were the only team to outplay Crown Point (albeit in a 5-4 loss) all season.  I would have selected Lauren Wells (.506, 20 RBIs; 16-4, 0.67 ERA) as the Northwest Indiana player of the year.  The only difference between her and Parks (.379, 19-1, 0.89 ERA) was her batting average and the fact that Wheeler reached the state finals.  The future for Lowell is a foggy day with all the seniors graduating and 21-year coach Pete Iussig retiring.  Lowell tends to stay close to home when they pick new coaches so expect the program to continue to win.  But you can't predict 2011 for Lowell.  You just can't.

8. (4A) LaPORTE (22-11)
19-9 (2009), 20-14 (2008), 17-11 (2007), 16-11-1 (2006)