Northwest Indiana Top-10 Preseason 2012 High School 'Renegade' Poll 3-26-2012
	A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

ST. JOHN (3-26-2012) This could be a very good season in NW Indiana girls softball because you have pitching. In 2A, Hebron, Bishop Noll and Wheeler. In 3A, Hanover Central, Andrean and KV. In 4A, Munster, Lake Central, Crown Point and others all return their top one or two pitchers.

Add to this the fact that record breaking March weather has allowed everyone to prepare the way high school teams rarely can. A truck load of freshmen come back as sophomores, including Hanover pitcher Ashley Yoways (13-12), big right-handed pitcher Lily Del Toro (8-3, 1.02 ERA) of Lake Central and home run hitter Sydney Cooley (.455, 7 HRs, 43 RBIs) of Chesterton.

Crown Point brings back twins Ally (.352) and Amanda Rock (.333), both starting players as freshmen in 2011. And there are others because the vast majority of players don't start making an impact until their sophomore season. I don't know that there's much new in NW Indiana softball for 2012. Class 2A power Delphi has replaced McCutcheon at the Twin Lakes Invitational. Wheeler, Hanover and Andrean converge on Crown Point for the CP Invitational.

The hole in the format is that LC does not play Andrean and the sport needs it. Two of the perennial front runners in this area will not schedule each other in baseball, basketball, football or softball.

There's way too much of this. The Gary public schools won't play Bowman Academy in basketball, but Bowman won't play teams like Hanover Central. Whiting won't play the strong 3A and 4A schools. Why CP and Boone Grove don't play Andrean in baseball has always escaped me.

But this still seems like a peak year. Nine 80-degree days in March? Really? This is not going to be a normal, regular year.

1. (4A) LAKE CENTRAL (0-0)
29-6 (2011), 21-11 (2010), 25-2 (2009), 25-7 (2008), 21-6 (2007)

ST. JOHN: The Indians return most of the rest of a two-time regional championship team, including pitcher Bridget Boyle (12-2, 1.67 ERA), infielder Nikki Adams (.367, 4 HRs, 29 RBIs), outfielders Taylor Michalski (.376, 25 runs scored) and Kayla Bishton (.411, 33 runs scored). Lake Central has won at least 20 games 24 years in a row and there's little doubt that 2012 will be the 25th. They are not loaded with speed, but LC is a big, strong team that has all the pitching they need in Boyle and senior Morgan Frankovich (7-1, 60 Ks in 62 innings) and Del Toro. But the truth is, Del Toro (8-3, 85 strikeouts in 62 innings) was LC's best pitcher last season. I know you can't play sophomores ahead of seniors, but nobody wants to face Del Toro. LC is like the New York Yankees. They have all the advantages, but the sport is better off in this area when they are strong.

2. (3A) Andrean (0-0)
25-7 (2011), 24-5 (2010), 28-8 (2009), 18-10 (2008), 29-3 (2007)

MERRILLVILLE: Andrean returns Nicole Steinbach (22-3, 0.56 era, 298 strikeouts), NW Indiana's top pitcher and that means another winning season for a school that is 150-37 over the last six years. The Niners were not a good offensive team at the end of the year, scoring just six runs in five playoff games. That should get better on its own as girls like Kaitlin Barajas (.400, 26 RBIs), Johnee Rodish (.280) and Savannah Kinsella (.366, 18 RBIs) return bigger and stronger. The new coach Brooke Baker-Runyon is the old LC and Purdue star Brooke Baker, one of LC's best-ever pitchers. She takes on the expectations of a two-time state champion. If the Niners fall short of the state finals in baseball or softball, it just isn't a good year.

3. CHESTERTON (0-0)
19-8 (2011), 19-7 (2010), 14-15 (2009), 17-10 (2008), 20-6 (2007)

CHESTERTON: Chesterton lost 2-0 at Crown Point in the Class 4A Sectional 2 playoffs and that had to be disappointing, but they're probably over that. Junior Megan Tymorek (11-3, 1.72 ERA) pitched two strong sectional victories and freshman Sydney Cooley finished with a NW Indiana-leading seven home runs. Tymorek (.407, 16 RBIs) and Cooley (.455, 7 HRs, 43 RBIs) anchor the batting order. Megan Matheny batted .338 last season. Here's a first division DAC team and a definite Class 4A Sectional 2 contender but Class 4A Sectional 2 is more survival than it is supremacy.

4. CROWN POINT (0-0)
18-9 (2011), 27-2 (2010), 24-5 (2009), 18-11 (2008), 16-14 (2007)

CROWN POINT: CP was 3-0 against LaPorte (20-9) and 0-3 against Lake Central (28-5). The Lady Bulldogs were 2-0 against Michigan City and 0-2 against Portage. That means they can beat anybody, except maybe LC. Junior Siena Gyure (9-3, 1.98 ERA) and sophomore Rachel Centanni (8-4) are back but Centanni has an arm problem and may not pitch until May. Sophomores Ally Rock (.352) and Amanda Rock (.333) have three more seasons and should anchor the defense catching and at third base. Senior second baseman Raeanna (Lulu) Jenks (.311) leads the infield. CP may not be better than they were last year, but they have more veterans than question marks, the reverse of last season.

5. (2A) Hebron (0-0)
25-6 (2011), 20-10 (2010), 20-14 (2009), 20-14,(2008)

HEBRON: The Hawks reached the 2A semistate in 2001 and last year they were 3-0 against rival Hanover Central. The Hawks were 12-0 against Porter County Conference teams.
Senior Mollie Lindeman (17-4, 1.88 ERA) has proven tough to beat and Catcher Emily O'Leary (.455) is back, too, as is short stop Kyle Doelling (.385) and DH Ashlynn Wheeler (.389).
The Hawks don't play big schools Crown Point, Lake Central or Chesterton and you'd like to see those games. With rival Hanover Central now in 3A, the 2A road back to the semistate basically sets Bishop Noll (21-8) or Wheeler (14-6) in front of them as the big hurdle. Ten years ago, Hebron girls basketball made the state finals. Hebron boys basketball won 22 games in a row this past season. It could be their year.

6. (4A) LaPORTE (0-0)
20-9 (2011), 22-11 (2010), 17-11 (2009) 20-14 (2008), 17-11 (2007)

LaPORTE: You can rally play with numbers here. The Slicers were 0-6 against Andrean, CP and Lake Central and 20-3 against everyone else. Really? Was that true? I don't know what that means. They return both pitchers Meghan Bunch (12-3) and Hannah Fuller (9-4) next season plus Sammy Becker (.324, 2 HRs, 25 RBIs) and little Alexis Botsford (.420), who was batting almost .500 most of the year. With that said, I don't know how they can close the gap on Chesterton, CP and LC. LaPorte hits well traditionally and should do so again, but the DAC is well-stocked.

7. (3A) Kankakee Valley (0-0)
24-4 (2011), 14-15 (2010)

WHEATFIELD: KV lost 2-0 to Andean to finish the season and lost 2-of-3 to Andrean during the year. It will almost certainly come down to KV and Andrean for the 3A sectional title this May. Senior Ashley Dobson (15-5, 0.96) is a major problem for your batters. Alyssa Mattson (.371) stole 16 bases last season and the Kougars have to scratch out runs against good teams. New troops may have hit the beach as KV's junior varsity was 22-1 last year. But, like Hebron, this team doesn't play some of the schools I'd like to see them face. With that said, it only matters what the Kougars do against Andrean.

8. (4A) Munster (0-0)
2011 (20-9), 2010 (20-10), 2009 (17-14), 2008 (27-7), 2007 (24-7)

MUNSTER: The Mustangs are 130-54 in the last six seasons and they return pitcher Carly Murphy (15-8, 1.90 ERA) and shortstop Taylor Michalski (.376) plus a senior catcher in Sarah Simchak, which adds to their promise. Munster and Lowell each have two monster hurdles in the names of Andrean (who they could see 3 times) in the Northwest Crossroads Conference and Lake Central in 4A Sectional 1. They have eight weeks to beat the former and then one night only to take out the latter.

9. Bishop Noll (0-0)
21-8 (2011), 20-10 (2010), 20-14 (2009), 19-10 (2008)

HAMMOND: Noll got beat 10-0 by Munster, 5-0 by LaPorte and 1-0 by Andrean, losses for ace pitcher Vanessa Hartzell (17-5, 1.03 ERA, 264 strikeouts), but games Noll could not have won because they didn't score. Noll plays the traditional 'Bishop Noll schedule,' which features many rivals that the Warriors faced when Noll was a much larger school in the 1980s and 90s. Senior Rachel Williamson (.313) and center fielder Elena Palomo (.286) are part of a senior class that has won 20 the last three seasons. Lake Central transfer Monica Martin should be the catcher.

10. (4A) MICHIGAN CITY (0-0)
11-11 (2011), 17-9 (2010), 8-16 (2009)

MICHIGAN CITY: The Wolves got blown up by the weather last season as the total of just 22 games played indicates. They return pitcher Peyton Webb and start shortstop Jameka Collins, probably the top position player in the DAC and the Wolves' offensive and defensive key. MC has to play well defensively and stay confident through the difficult 14-game regular Duneland Conference season. As long as they have Collins at the top of the lineup, they can score on anyone.

ON THE MOVE...

HANOVER CENTRAL (13-13)
2010 (17-7), 22-5 (2009), 20-10 (2008), 20-10 (2007)

CEDAR LAKE: I'm not saying HC is the 11th best team. There's just a lot of ways they can go. Maybe more so than any other team. Hanover Central pulled the surprise of the season when they upset Bishop Noll in the sectional championship game. But now Hanover moves up to Class 3A and they seem overmatched for 2012. Come sectional time, HC faces Kankakee Valley with senior Ashley Dobson (15-4, 0.96 ERA, 118 strikeouts) and Andrean with senior Nicole Steinbach (22-4, 0.56 ERA, 298 strikeouts) in 3A Sectional 18. HC will look to regain the Porter County Conference (PCC) title from Hebron with sophomore Ashley Yoways (13-12), who returns in tandem with senior catcher Katie Klopp. But Yoways wasn't 100% healthy in March and No. 2 pitcher Abby Stewart was injured in soccer and didn't come back to the team this spring. Yoways may have to pitch in every game again as she did in 2011.

The Lady Cats have speed in juniors Blayr Poston and Tiffany Ward plus a good shortstop in sophomore Ivy Dawson and newcomer Melissa Balkema, a top third base prospect. Moving up to Class 3A puts HC in with powers Kankakee Valley and Andrean in a year when both have all-state senior pitchers. Hanover has to stay 100% healthy and they have to play confidently, which may be tough with just one senior when they face top senior pitchers at KV, Andrean, Noll and Hebron. But I thought HC had little chance against Noll and they beat them for the sectional title last season.

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