Northwest Indiana Top-10

Week-11, 2010 High School 'Renegade' Poll

6-10-2010

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

CROWN POINT (06-08-2010) The season began with a lot of senior-laden teams and only one, Class 2A Wheeler, reached the 2010 state finals. The Bearcats (30-2), who lost only to Hanover (when Wheeler didn't use top pitcher Lanay Parks) and to Lowell in extra innings, got the benefit of not seeing Boone Grove and Hanover Central, the other 2A senior-laden powers, who were both upset in the sectional.

But the Bearcats were a solid 5-0 in the first three rounds of the postseason and other teams can tell you how tough a task that is. LaPorte blew up the Class 4A playoffs by upsetting top-ranked Crown Point on a home field and then not showing up for a 13-0 regional loss to Lake Central.

That left LC (21-11), a good team that truthfully, shouldn't have beaten a superior Hamilton Southeastern (26-4) squad in the semistate. The same was true of Whiting (25-7), which simply doesn't play a very tough schedule, and lost 4-0 to Lakewood Park Christian (21-6), which does. In a four class format, Whiting will always get a chance because of the lack of quality 1A programs in Northwest Indiana.

But lets talk reality. The days of Northwest Indiana getting two or three teams to the state finals every year are over now that there is a four-team semistate in each class. Class 4A Sectional 2 teams, for example, now must win six road games to reach the finals and that isn't happening very often no matter how good you are. Teams like Andrean and Whiting have very soft sectional assignments and, often, first round byes, but the semistate, as it is now constructed, will be a major hurdle.

In the debut of the midweek home site regional, the home team won most of the time, not surprising when one team sits at home and the other has to travel up to an hour. The Tuesday regional game was about as well-received as BP oil commercials, but none that I know of were rained out. This time. The only local team that won on the road was Andrean and that's because Sectional 18 in Class 3A is weaker than the Chicago White Sox offense.

It was good to see Westville (20-5) do well, but like Whiting, Westville now has to beef up the schedule and take on some 4A schools. You don't want to be Boise State football, playing weak sisters all season and then trying to con people into thinking you have quality.

Wheeler (30-2) takes on undefeated Linton-Stockton (26-0) in the state championship game 12:30 (CDT) and the Bearcats know they have a major challenge. Linton Stockton, which is southeast of Terre Haute, was the team that eliminated Wheeler 5-2 last year and their pitcher, undefeated 6-foot right-hander Stephanie Fougerousse, is also back. What's up with Wheeler wining state titles all of a sudden? That's like the Black Hawks winning the Stanley Cup.

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

CROWN POINT: The Bulldogs could not do anything but watch as the team (LaPorte) that upset them 5-4 in the 4A Sectional 2 title game, was wiped out 13-0 by a team (Lake Central) that CP dominated both times they met them. The Bulldogs lost on a two-run homer in the final inning. I don't know how a team that was 14-0 in the DAC could not beat three DAC foes in the sectional, but the more times you play the same team, the better the chances are that they beat you. CP will miss their 'Big-3' of three-year varsity catcher Katrina Klingberg and pitchers Taylor Perry (15-0) and Jackie Beilfuss (13-2). Also, the Bulldogs will never get as good a break as they got in the draw in 2010. CP was the home team (they batted last) in all three sectional games. That won't happen again in 2011. But CP returns the entire remainder of their roster that won 26 games in a row. The DAC will be tougher in 2011, but Crown Point returns seven position players.

2. WHEELER (30-2)
27-3 (2009), 20-7 (2008), 25-4 (2007), 14-16 (2006)

UNION TOWNSHIP: Wheeler had the look of a state champion because they really didn't play dominate anyone but they won five playoff games in a row. Senior Lanay Park (17-1) struck out 10 in the 7-3 win over Delphi (19-12)and she survived eight hits in a 3-1 win over Woodlan (21-6). The Bearcats made no errors in the title game reflective of the fact that they went deep into the playoffs with this same team last year. Playing a strong 4A team like Lowell late in the season had to help Wheeler as did the LaVille tournament they won in mid-May. Wheeler was ranked No. 1 half the season. When they get to Indianapolis, they should act like they expected to get there. At the start of the season, Wheeler was one of the favorites to reach the state finals.

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 (25-2), a game where Dwenger led 4-0 in the first inning. This is a textbook example of how one inning can blow you up in the playoffs. Dwenger junior Andrea Filler struck out 10 Niners and gave up five base hits and some of that is: It's a lot tougher to hit when you're down 4-0 in an elimination game. But no one should be surprised that Dwenger defeated Andrean. The Saints (26-2), who wiped out a good South Bend St. Joseph's (25-6) team 11-1 in the semistate championship game, have been very strong all year. What wasn't reported in NW Indiana was that Filler, who had home runs in both games, is the state's top hitter with a .682 batting average. Ashley Burkhardt, who hit a grand slam home run against Andrean, was 8-for-8 in the two semistate games. Dwenger is a 3A private school that wins a lot in all sports. Andrean should know what that's like.

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. Lowell bats had nothing against Bridget Boyle of Lake Central and LC swept two games from Lowell. This is a good example of the fine line that softball teams walk on. 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), that 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. Left-hander Lauren Wells (16-4), who batted .500, was probably NW Indiana's top player. For 2011? Who knows There's an all-new starting lineup coming here.

5. HANOVER CENTRAL (17-7)
22-5 (2009), 20-10 (2008), 20-10 (2007), 16-4 (2006), 26-5-3 (2005)

CEDAR LAKE: I don't have the answer here either. The Porter County Conference champions won their last six games heading into the post-season, but four sixth-inning runs by Bishop Noll ended the season with a 4-1 sectional loss. HC defeated Lowell. They have less losses than Lowell. They defeated Wheeler just like Lowell did. The Lady Cats beat Wheeler (28-2), Chesterton (18-7) and Lowell (17-8) but I still don't know if they'd have gotten past Wheeler (30-2) in the sectional title game. The Lady Cats graduate the core of their team the past four years with Morgan Austgen, Jessica Toth and Kelsey Jankowski all out of school. All three 2010 pitchers (including lefty Kasey Stenger) graduate so the 2011 team is going to need at least one pitcher from the freshman class. The Lady Cats will return top hitter Tiffany Gibson, third baseman Ashley Loy and catcher Katie Klopp for 2011, but there's no way to know the future until Hanover knows who the new pitchers are.

6. CHESTERTON (19-7)
14-15 (2009), 17-10 (2008), 20-6 (2007), 30-2 (2006), 27-3-1 (2005)

CHESTERTON: The Trojans never got their projected third match with DAC champion Crown Point as both Chesterton and CP were upset by LaPorte (21-11). The Trojans will now become one of the DAC and sectional favorites for 2011, along with CP, LaPorte and probably Michigan City. Pitcher Taylor Harlow, who hit a home run and pitched a complete game in a 4-1 sectional quarterfinal win over Hobart, is the top returning pitcher in the DAC for 2001. Chesterton graduated just four seniors in June. Six starters return and the next couple of years seem promising.

7. LAKE CENTRAL (21-11)
25-2 (2009), 25-7 (2008), 21-6 (2007), 25-8 (2006), 32-1 (2005), 29-3 (2004)

ST. JOHN: The lingering question about this season is, how good was LC? Really. The Indians lost 5-3 in the semistate championship game to Hamilton Southeastern (26-4). The Indians lost twice to CP (27-2) and once to Penn (24-2), but they did beat Lowell and Munster twice each. Right-hander Bridget Boyle (11-4) did an excellent job in the post-season with shutouts of Lowell and LaPorte. But LC got a great draw, played four playoff home games and took advantage of that. Also, LC never saw CP in the regional and I don't even think even they believe they'd have beaten the top-ranked Bulldogs. A few home field wins in the post-season can't wash away the entire year in this poll.

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

LaPORTE: The Slicers made another surprise playoff run, topping Chesterton 4-1 and Crown Point 5-4 to win their second Class 4A Sectional 2 title in three years. Junior Jessica Craft hit a game-winning, two-run home against CP in the seventh inning. LaPorte didn't really come to play three days later against Lake Central, losing the Tuesday afternoon regional on the road 13-0. But secretly, I would think they don't much care. The goal: To win the Sectional, was achieved again. Both LaPorte pitchers return for 2011 and they have a lot of speed. They'll lose 10 more and be a threat in the post-season again in 2011. But you can't rank them that highly when you look at the entire season.

9. (2A) BISHOP NOLL (20-10)
20-14 (2009), 19-10 (2008), 9-19 (2007), 16-16 (2006)

HAMMOND: The Warriors, as expected, couldn't beat Hanover Central and Wheeler on back-to-back days. The Bearcats topped Noll 6-2 after HC lost to Noll 4-1. But no team has a clearer picture for 2011 than Noll. They return top pitcher Vanessa Hartzell and their goal is to defeat Wheeler, a team that has topped them (I believe) six times in two seasons. Bishop Noll would make a nice addition to the four-team Crown Point Invitational (which includes Hanover, Andrean and CP) and they need to expand their road schedule. But a lot of teams graduated quality senior pitching in June of 2010 and Bishop Noll was not one of them.

10. (4A) HIGHLAND (18-9)
16-14 (2009), 11-15 (2008), 17-13 (2007), 0-0 (2006), 20-9 (2005)

HIGHLAND: The Trojans lost 5-0 to Munster (21-10), ending the season in the playoff opener. Highland had a strong early run, but never regained any kind of winning momentum in the late going. Senior Megan O'Day (12-6) did strike out 11 in her final game. Like Lowell, Andrean and Munster, the Trojans graduated senior pitching in June. I don't know what happened to the Highland Invitational tournament, but they better go find it. The Trojans need it and the sport needs it. A series of disconnected regular season games doesn't prepare a team for anything. The future is uncertain here, but the immediate future of all Northwest Crossroads teams is uncertain due to graduation pitching losses.

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