2012 Northwest Indiana Top-10 Week-10, High School 'Renegade' Poll 5-28-2012
	A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

ST. JOHN (5-28-2012) A rain-free NW Indiana week allowed all sectional games to be played on time and the only real upset was Lake Station (17-11) topping Wheeler in the 2A Sectional 33 semifinals. There wasn't a lot of difference between Chesterton and Crown Point and Rochester was favored over PCC champion Hebron.

You have to raise a flag for Class 1A Washington Township (12-9), which won the school's first ever sectional title with a 5-1 win over Kouts in LaCrosse. Twin sisters Liz and Elaine Lustgarten boosted the team, which also defeated perennial PCC champ Hanover Central at the PCC tournament.

A note about the sectional where it pertains to Sectional 2, which includes seven DAC schools. Seven of the eight teams in Sectional always face teams they have seen twice during the season and it seems to create high scoring, erratic battles. CP pitched two one-hitters against Chesterton during the season, but the playoff game was 7-6. Also, Sect. 2 is the only eight-team 4A sectional in the state so there are no quarterfinal byes. When some note how Lake Central dominates local 4A softball, they should also note LC is the only DAC team that does not have to navigate Sectional 2.

Also, Whiting and Hanover Central, both multiple sectional champions of the past, moved up a class and lost the sectional opener. Whiting lost 3-2 in the quarterfinals to eventual 2A Sectional 33 champ Lake Station, while Hanover lost 5-0 in the semifinals to eventual 3A Sect. 18 champ Andrean. Whiting had been blessed with a soft sectional for over a decade and they basically took Hanover's plays in Sectional 33, finding it predictably more difficult, albeit in a down year for the Oilers.

Hanover has bigger problems because the Wildcats, six-time sectional winners, now have to face Andrean annually in 3A Sectional 18. HC was 13-12 this season and 0-3 against the 59ers. But Hanover lost four players (for the year) before or during the season to injury. They played more than one game with only nine players on site and it was a minor-miracle the Lady Cats finished with a winning record at all.

1. (4A) LAKE CENTRAL (26-2)
29-6 (2011), 21-11 (2010), 25-2 (2009), 25-7 (2008), 21-6 (2007)

ST. JOHN: LC rolled over East Chicago and Munster to win 4A Sectional 1 and they were heavily favored against Chesterton in a Tuesday (5-27-2012) regional. LC has abandoned their multiple pitcher concept because of freshman Annabel Karberg, who struck out 11 in the 5-0 win over the Mustangs. It was the 17th LC sectional title. The fact that Karberg is pitching big games indicates that LC's coaches feel she's their best pitcher. And if she's better than teammate Lily Del Toro (8-1), she's very, very good. There appears to be a rematch coming for LC with 4A No. 1 Riley (30-1) and senior pitcher Cassie Boocher (16-1) at the Harrison Semistate.

2. (3A) Andrean (24-4)
25-7 (2011), 24-5 (2010), 28-8 (2009), 18-10 (2008), 29-3 (2007)

MERRILLVILLE: Senior Nicole Steinbach dominated Hanover Central 5-0 and Kankakee Valley 1-0 to win 3A Sectional 18. Steinbach (22-3) retired 20 consecutive batters to top KV at KV. I am uncomfortable that they can't score more runs, but there's no way Griffith can defeat them at the regional Tuesday (5-29-2012), and there's just three games remaining after that. The Niners certainly have noted that 3A No. 1 Mishawaka Marian was eliminated early, but they aren't overwhelmingly favored to return to Indianapolis. No. 2 Woodlan (30-1) and ace pitcher Hannah Robbins (27-1) stands in their way at the Twin Lakes Semistate.

3. (4A) CROWN POINT (25-8)
18-9 (2011), 27-2 (2010), 24-5 (2009), 18-11 (2008), 16-14 (2007)

CROWN POINT: The Lady Bulldogs had the sectional title and gave it away with wild pitches, errors and missed fly balls. They led Chesterton 3-1, 5-1 and 6-4 and ended up losing 7-6. CP let it get away. But let's step back. This was a team with only two seniors. CP had its coach removed at mid-season and they still rolled up 24 regular season wins. CP returns all three pitchers (rumors are there are more coming) and both sets of sisters, outfielders Bailey and Kendall Mores plus infielders Ally and Amanda Rock all return for the 2013 season.

4. (4A) CHESTERTON (20-10)
19-8 (2011), 19-7 (2010), 14-15 (2009), 17-10 (2008), 20-6 (2007)

CHESTERTON:  Mallory McKee's pop fly single drove in two runs and gave the Trojans their eighth sectional championship with a 7-6 win over CP last Friday. The victory was very satisfying because CP had defeated Chesterton twice during the season and 2-0 in the 4A Sectional 2 championship game last year. The key to the win was Sydney Cooley, who hits three home runs in the quarterfinals and semifinals. CP's efforts to pitch around Cooley in the fifth inning with the score 5-2 cost them the game. The Trojans have 21 home runs, but it will be tough to continue that power production away from home. With that said, Chesterton probably has as much chance of beating LC as anyone does.

5. (4A) Portage (18-8)
19-7 (2011), 12-10 (2010), 14-14 (2009), 19-9 (2008), 2007 (23-7)

PORTAGE: Portage lost a 3-2 lead in the late going in the 4A Sectional 2 semifinals against Crown Point. The Indians are a year away with freshman pitcher Kiley Jones, freshman shortstop Kaitlin Doud and power hitting catcher Haley Hodges. There were just not that many senior softball players in the DAC in 2012 and, while Portage will have a winning season again in 2013, it will again be very difficult for them at playoff time.

6. (3A) Kankakee Valley (20-10)
24-4 (2011), 14-15 (2010)

8. (4A) Munster (18-13)
2011 (20-9), 2010 (20-10), 2009 (17-14), 2008 (27-7), 2007 (24-7)

MUNSTER: Munster lost 5-0 to Lake Central in the 4A Sectional 1 championship game to end the year, but not before they turned back Morton (21-2) in the semifinals. This is a great record for a team that played LC (26-2) and South Bend Riley (28-1) plus several other top teams largely without top pitcher Carly Murphy, who returns in 2013. The Lady Ponies never did score runs the way I thought they would, but with hitters like Taylor Michalski returning, the best may be yet to come here.

9. (4A) Morton (21-2)
13-5 (2011)

HAMMOND: Morton ended up with 20 wins and while the 11-0 playoff loss to Munster proved they might not be able to handle the bigger schools, the Governors did pile up a school-record win total including wins over Wheeler, Noll and sectional champ Lake Station. The regular season loss was to South Central, just 1A but also a sectional champ. Junior pitcher Angellica Justiniano (17-2) has a difficult style to handle and the core of this team returns in 2013. But they need to heed the warning of the 11-0 loss to the Mustangs. Morton is always going to be in the same sectional as Munster and Lake Central. They have to add some athleticism and play a much more challenging schedule or the same thing will happen to them in the 2013, 2014 and 2015 playoffs.

10. (4A) Michigan City (15-14)
11-11 (2011), 17-9 (2010), 8-16 (2009)

MUNSTER: Here's a tough one. It could be Wheeler (18-11). It could be Bishop Noll (18-9). It could also be LaPorte, but Michigan City defeated LaPorte twice so they'll be No. 10 right now despite a season-ending 10-0 loss to Portage (18-10). This was the Wolves' last run with senior (one of four MC seniors) right-hander Peyton Webb (13-7), but shortstop Jameka Collins made a lot of big defensive plays late in the year and she returns. MC split with LaPorte and CP (25-8) after starting the year going 3-8 after 11 games. MC was 3-8 at one point in the season.