Northwest Indiana Top-10

Week-7, 2010 High School 'Renegade' Poll

5-07-2010

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

CROWN POINT (5-05-2010) As Crown Point ran their winning streak to 15 games this week, they appeared to be the top contender in 4A in Northwest Indiana. But they have the handicap of the eight-team 4A Sectional 2, while others like Wheeler play in five-team Sectional 33, where three of the five schools do not have to play a quarterfinal game.

With the IHSAA's move this week to put bracket soccer teams in two classes instead of one, it suggests what could happen if softball dropped to two classes. There is no indication this will happen, but it would eliminate the inequities detailed in the first two paragraphs.

With the dominance of the pitching, small 1A schools could compete with large 2As. Under any tourney format, large 4A schools like Carmel will have an enrollment advantage, but Griffith and Andrean certainly could compete for sectional honors with Lake Central and Crown Point and might want to.

A fundamental mistake that the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) makes is that they feel most sports must be structured equally, even though they have absolutely nothing in common.

Basketball, baseball, volleyball and softball all have four class playoffs for no apparent reason. When baseball went to four classes in 1997, the IHSAA said that all sports must also be structured that way.

Setting aside the debate about class basketball, the bigger question is why softball must have four classes when it is as foreign to basketball as the state of Arizona is to equal rights. Class sports gives small schools a chance, as the IHSAA has confirmed again with the soccer decision. But no sport other than football benefits from a large amount of classes and the IHSAA (and everyone else) readily accepts that class sports football playoffs is right and functional.

Since the softball playoff structure changes frequently (we've added Tuesday night regionals this season) maybe someone can again look at softball and soccer (two sports that are played by perhaps 80% of the state's schools) and suggest that two classes might work well for both.

Five local teams (Lowell, Munster, Hanover, Crown Point and Andrean) head for Indiana Beach and the 16-team Twin Lakes Invitational beginning Friday. And the question still stands. Where are the eight or 16-team softball tournaments in Northwest Indiana?

Most towns like Highland, Crown Point and Merrillville have school and park fields like Monticello does. I know it takes a lot of work to organize a tournament, but it also takes a lot of money to drive to one. Softball people tend to think of themselves as a minor activity for them and 12 girls and not a sport to be promoted and watched.

Everybody loves tournaments. Nobody cares about single games played Monday at 4:30 p.m.

The state tournament draw will be made public on Thursday, May 13 and rain is threatening to wipe out the opening night of the Twin Lakes Invite.

FRIDAY (all times are Eastern Standard Time)
Twin Lakes vs. Maconaquah - 5:00 p.m.
(West Lafayette) Harrison vs. Pioneer - 5:00 p.m.
(Lafayette) Jefferson vs. Lewis Cass - 5:00 p.m.
CROWN POINT vs. Frontier - 5:45 p.m.
(Howard County) Eastern vs. McCutcheon - 6:30 p.m.
Munster vs. Western - 6:30 p.m.
ANDREAN vs. HANOVER CENTRAL -6:30 p.m.
Benton Central vs. LOWELL - 8:00 p.m.

SATURDAY (all times are Eastern Standard Time)
Frontier vs. Twin Lakes - 9:00 a.m.
Eastern vs. LOWELL - 9:00 a.m.
Munster vs. (West Lafayette ) Harrison 9:00 a.m.
Jefferson vs. ANDREAN - 9:00 a.m.
Maconaquah vs. CROWN POINT - 10:30 a.m.
McCutcheon vs. Benton Central - 10:30 a.m.
Pioneer vs. Western - 10:30 p.m.
Lewis Cass vs. HANOVER CENTRAL - 10:30 p.m.
Maconaquah vs. Frontier - 12 noon
McCutcheon vs. LOWELL - 12 noon
Munster vs. Pioneer - 12 noon
Lewis Cass vs. ANDREAN - 12 noon
Twin Lakes vs. CROWN POINT - 1:30 p.m.
Eastern vs. Benton Central - 1:30 p.m.
Harrison vs. Western - 1:30 p.m.
Jefferson vs. HANOVER CENTRAL - 1:30 p.m.

Semifinals - 3:30 p.m. (Eastern time)
Championship - 6:00 p.m. (Eastern time)

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

CROWN POINT: The Bulldogs rolled over Illiana Christian 9-0 to end the month of April behind 14 strikeouts from Jackie Beilfuss. This came after a 7-3 victory over a Lake Central team that committed eight errors. Taylor Perry (9-0) stayed undefeated with a 9-1 win over Chesterton. Perry hit home runs in back-to-back games. The Bulldogs are a little short on games so far, but if they continue to win, they'll play five times in the Twin Lakes Invitational this weekend. With just a 6-4 loss to now-top-ranked Penn (17-0), Crown Point has done everything they had hoped to do so far, but you get the feeling they have not yet been tested.

GRADE: A. They should have won the Penn game and they should have lost to Lowell. But they have such a lock on the pitching and catching positions with Jackie Beilfuss (7-1) and Taylor Perry (9-0) it will be hard to beat them.

2. Wheeler (19-1)
2009 (27-3), 2008 (20-7), 2007 (25-4), 2006 (14-16)

UNION TOWNSHIP: Wheeler lost 9-4 to Hanover Central, but they did not use undefeated all-state pitcher Lanay Parks (13-0), so its hard to hold that loss against them. The Bearcats bombed Lake Station 13-2 and Calumet 16-0 for the Greater South Shore Conference (GSSC) title. Remember the eternal softball question. Do you judge a softball team on every single game they play or do you judge a team on the days when they play their best lineup? Wheeler's MacKenzie Ness (5-1), who was the losing pitcher against Hanover, won't pitch the next time Wheeler plays Hanover. It's that simple. The Bearcats shout out Bishop Noll 2-0 last week (4-29-2010) to virtually clinch the Greater South Shore Conference (GSSC). Pars allowed five hits and two walks, recording her ninth shutout. The Bearcats' game against Lowell (12-8) this month will be interesting and I wouldn't rule out a Wheeler-Crown Point game. They did play last year.

GRADE: A. I think Wheeler has done exactly what they should have done so far this year, but they did lose a 4-0 lead at Hanover and softball teams should never lose a 4-0 lead no matter who's pitching.

3. ANDREAN (11-4)
28-8 (2009), 18-10 (2008), 29-3 (2007), 26-4 (2006), 32-3 (2005)

MERRILLVILLE: Andrean lost 4-0 to LaPorte in the title game of the LaPorte Invitational Saturday, but at least they got to play. The Niners lost three games to the weather at the Crown Point Invitational on April 24. Andrean's 1-0 win over Lowell saw Alyssa Moseley (6-0) pitched all nine innings. The Niners had just two base hits but still won. The Niners won the NWCC title with a win over Hobart Thursday. Nicole Steinbach struck out 14 and Audrey Bickel hit her 4th home run of the year. Andrean faces Hanover (11-4) again in the opening game of the Twin Lakes Invitational on May 7, weather permitting, and they really haven't gotten into the middle of their schedule yet.

GRADE: B. Like Lowell and Wheeler, this is a state finals team from last season and the expectations are high. The Niners just didn't play very many games in April.

4. Chesterton (16-5)
2009 (14-15), 2008 (17-10), 2007 (20-6), 2006 (30-2), 2005 (27-3-1)

CHESTERTON: Judging Chesterton when Taylor Harlow pitches, this is where they belong. I'm not sure a lot of other softball teams even know that Chesterton is 16-5. It has occurred very quietly. The Trojans bombed Michigan City 9-1 last Thursday (4-29-2010) behind Harlow (10-3) and they improved to 9-1 in the DAC. Chesterton lost to Crown Point 9-1 Thursday but they'll get a 3rd shot at CP in the sectional. This team also played 21 games before May 7 which means they'll get 30 games in.

GRADE: A+. Chesterton is a young team but they've played a lot and played well. The Trojans are not as good as Crown Point but they are one game away from tying CP for the DAC title. That's more than I expected of them.

5. LOWELL (12-8)
23-11 (2009), 20-10 (2008), 30-7 (2007), 23-7 (2006), 21-10 (2005), 20-9 (2004)

LOWELL: Here's a hard team to figure. The Devils lost 1-0 in nine innings to Andrean and then lost 2-1 in nine innings to Highland. Good teams. Competitive games. But that's five one-run losses for a good-hitting squad. I don't get it. Left-hander Lauren Wells struck out 10 against Andrean and 12 against Highland. But the Devils have not scored a lot of runs this season, considering the experienced players they have. The Devils play three good teams: Eastern, McCutcheon (10-7) and Benton Central in the Twin Lakes Invitational, but that's all they'll play. It's my understanding this is Lowell's prom weekend and the Devils will not participate in the finals, even if they qualify. Or they will use the JV, which means they'll get beat. I'm going to be stubborn here and not drop them (too far) because I think everybody knows Lowell is better than a 12-8 team. Wells (9-3, 124 strikeouts in 82 innings, 33-59, .559, 18 RBIs) is having an MVP season.

GRADE: D. Too many losses so far. There are reasons for all of them. The games have been close. But there just too many losses so far.

6. HANOVER CENTRAL (12-4)
22-5 (2009), 20-10 (2008), 20-10 (2007), 16-4 (2006), 26-5-3 (2005)

CEDAR LAKE: There's no way to accurately rate the Lady Cats. They beat South Central (11-2) by a 15-1 score? But they lost to Griffith 2-0? The Lady Cats beat Wheeler (19-1), Chesterton (16-5) and Lowell (12-8) but lost to Highland (14-6), Boone Grove (11-6) and Beecher (20-9). All of those teams have winning records so where does that leave Hanover? It comes down to whether the bottom half of their order can hit and HC has shown recent improvement in that area with homers by Ashley Loy and Gabby Roggero, two rookies. They have two major tests left: The 16-team Twin Lakes Invitational this weekend (May 7-8) and the eight-team PCC finals next week (May 14-15). HC plays Andrean (9-2) Friday night at Twin Lakes.

GRADE: B. On days when they play good defense they are a state contender. But those days aren't every day. Hanover is improving but, with Wheeler (16-1) in the sectional, they need to.

7. LAKE CENTRAL (13-9)
25-2 (2009), 25-7 (2008), 21-6 (2007), 25-8 (2006) 32-1 (2005), 29-3 (2004)

ST. JOHN: Lake Central looked awful in a 7-3 loss to Crown Point last Thursday, committing eight errors. The Indians did get nine hits off CP's undefeated Taylor Perry, but they don't seem ready for the post-season just yet. I don't know if any big games are left on the schedule. They don't play at twin Lakes and they're through with CP. I don't know if they have enough pitching to get through the sectional.

GRADE: C-. The pitching has not shown to be what it is at the other DAC or sectional schools. They have a lot of first-year starters and it shows. The saving grace is: All the other sectional teams are questionable, too.

8. (4A) Highland (13-6)
2009 (16-14), 2008 (11-15), 2007 (17-13), 2006 (0-0), 2005 (20-9)

HIGHLAND: The Trojans won a rematch with Lowell 2-1 in nine innings (after an earlier 12-0 loss) and Highland topped Hobart 4-0 Tuesday (5-4-5) with Jaclyn Sandilla pitching a five-inning no-hitter. Highland's Megan O'Day (8-4) shut out Griffith two weeks ago. Highland is still improving and they'll easily pass last year's win total.

GRADE: B+. Probably too many losses for an 'A' but good wins over Lowell, Hanover Central and Griffith but I'm not sure they're better than those teams. I think they are still a touch better than LaPorte.

9. (2A) Bishop Noll (14-8)
2009 (20-14), 2008 (19-10), 2007 (9-19), 2006 (16-16)

HAMMOND: This is a good example of how things are. Noll lost 7-1 to a Lowell team which has virtually the same record. But few consider Noll and Lowell equals. Still, Noll has two losses to Wheeler (16-1), a team Lowell has not yet played. I think they have better pitching than LaPorte. Vanessa Hartzell pitched a no-hit game Thursday in a 10-0 win over Lake Station.

GRADE: B-. They have the pitcher (Vanessa Hartzell) to stay in the game with anyone. But they don't score a lot of runs and that's a problem, even in a five-team sectional where you only have to win twice.

10. (4A) LaPorte (13-6)
2009 (19-9), 2008 (20-14), 2007 (17-11), 2006 (16-11-1)

LaPORTE: The 4-0 win over Andrean jumps them up into this poll. The Slicers did lose 5-3 Monday at Chesterton, but they've risen from a slow start to be sectional contenders, if they are not contenders anymore in the DAC. The shutout win over Andrean was a big surprise because the Niners had not been shut out all season. Meghan Bunch struck out seven and allowed just four singles.

GRADE: A-. I don't think LaPorte is as good as their record, but that means they've done all they can. Here's a team that needs a good draw (May 14) for the upcoming sectional. They've had three or four competitive seasons in a row.

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