2012 Northwest Indiana Top-10 Week-4, High School 'Renegade' Poll 4-25-2012
	A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

ST. JOHN (4-25-2012) It's time for the mid-season report and the projection that a lot of returning pitchers would ignite a strong year has proven true. Lake Central, Andrean and Crown Point, all of whom returned all their pitchers, have all excelled.

Andrean's Nicole Steinbach struck out 21 in a nine-inning win over Hanover Central, although it was a game HC could have won with an eighth-inning single. A team getting some publicity is Morton (12-1), which has done very well playing a weak schedule. This is the argument that surrounded Whiting for many years. As a coach, would you rather be 12-1 against small schools and weak programs or would you rather play elite schools and finish at .500? Outsiders can say that you'll be better for the post-season if you play a tough schedule and that's most likely true. But when Lake Central is beating you 15-0 in 40-degree weather, you need Dr. Phil to convince your players that's a GOOD thing for your immediate future.

The big match-ups this week are LaPorte-Andrean at Andrean and LC-Carmel at Carmel. Then comes the Twin Lakes Tournament in 2 weeks. Let's look at the half-season grades.

TWIN LAKES SOFTBALL INVITATIONAL
4-23-12 at Twin Lake s high school in Monticello

FRIDAY - 4 p.m. (CDT)
Twin Lakes vs. Frontier
Western vs. Benton Central
Delphi vs. (West Lafayette) Harrison
FRIDAY - 5:30 p.m. (CDT)
(Howard County) Eastern vs. LOWELL
Maconaquah vs. CROWN POINT
ANDREAN vs. HANOVER CENTRAL
FRIDAY - 7 p.m. (CDT)
Munster vs. Pioneer

SATURDAY (5-5-12) 8 a.m. (CDT)
Eastern vs. Twin Lakes
Munster vs. Lewis Cass
ANDREAN vs. Western
Delphi vs. CROWN POINT

SATURDAY - 9:30 a.m. (CDT)
LOWELL vs. Frontier
Pioneer vs. Lewis Cass
(West Lafayette) Harrison vs. Maconaquah
Benton Central vs. HANOVER CENTRAL

SATURDAY - 11 a.m. (CDT)
Eastern vs. Frontier
(Lafayette) Jefferson vs. Munster
ANDREAN vs. Benton Central
Delphi vs. Maconaquah

SATURDAY - 12:30 p.m. (CDT)
LOWELL vs. Twin Lakes
Pioneer vs. (Lafayette) Jefferson
(West Lafayette) Harrison vs. CROWN POINT
Western vs. HANOVER CENTRAL

SATURDAY - 2:30 p.m. (CDT)
SEMIFINALS (at Twin Lakes high school)

SATURDAY - 5 p.m. (CDT)
CHAMPIONSHIP (at Twin Lakes high school)

1. (4A) LAKE CENTRAL (15-2)
29-6 (2011), 21-11 (2010), 25-2 (2009), 25-7 (2008), 21-6 (2007)

ST. JOHN: LC swept Jefferson and Harrison over the weekend and then stomped on Chesterton 12-3 Tuesday (4-24-2012) behind a 14-hit attack. Sophomore right-hander Lily Del Toro (6-1) got the win as Kayla Bishton had five RBIs. We get a hint of LC's chances for a state finals berth this week when the Indians head down to play 4A No. 1 Carmel (14-1) at Carmel.

GRADE: A. Not much doubt. Best record vs. best schedule makes LC No. 1.

2. (3A) Andrean (10-1)
25-7 (2011), 24-5 (2010), 28-8 (2009), 18-10 (2008), 29-3 (2007)

MERRILLVILLE: The Niners topped Wheeler, Hanover Central and Crown Point to win the CP Invitational. Nicole Steinbach struck out 10 in a 2-0 win over CP and she pitched a three-hit shutout in a 7-1 win over Highland Monday. Andrean does not play Lake Central. I do not think the 59ers are as good as LC but I don't know. Pigs and dogs will dance together and try out for 'Dancing with the Stars' before Andrean plays Lake Central in any team sport. The 59ers 'World Tour' continues this week when they head for the four-team LaPorte Invitational.

GRADE: A-minus. So far. So good. They probably think they should be 11-0, but they were fortunate to beat Hanover.

3. (4A) CROWN POINT (12-2)
18-9 (2011), 27-2 (2010), 24-5 (2009), 18-11 (2008), 16-14 (2007)

CROWN POINT: The Lady Bulldogs did lose to Andrean 2-0, but I think, overall, they are the better team. The coaching change here from Brett Crutchfield to former Lowell coach (and long time CP assistant) Ginger Britton has not affected the team, which has been very strong all year. CP stomped on LaPorte 8-0 Monday to stay in a tie for first place in the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC). Siena Gyure pitched a six-inning no-hitter against Hanover last Saturday (4-21-2012) and a 7-hit shutout against LaPorte. Big week coming up against Chesterton (12-6) on April 30 and Lake Central (15-2).

GRADE: B+. There's been some turmoil but they have endured so far.

4. (4A) CHESTERTON (12-6)
19-8 (2011), 19-7 (2010), 14-15 (2009), 17-10 (2008), 20-6 (2007)

CHESTERTON:  They have now lost to LC 12-3 and 5-0 after giving up 14 hits to the Indians Monday (4-23-2012). The Trojans had won five in a row before the blowout. They recorded wins 10-2 over LaPorte, 10-5 over Valparaiso, 5-1 over Portage and a 7-1, 11-0 double-header sweep over South Bend Washington Saturday. Chesterton has scored 100 runs (5.5) in 18 games, but the best thing about them is that they are not in the same sectional as Lake Central.

GRADE: C. This team can do better and there's still time. I thought they'd be better than CP and Andrean.

5. (4A) LaPORTE (12-4)
20-9 (2011), 22-11 (2010), 17-11 (2009) 20-14 (2008), 17-11 (2007)

LaPORTE: The Slicers have had some tough losses recently, 10-2 to Chesterton and 8-0 to Crown Point. I'm not sure what happens in some of these major confrontations. It's okay to lose, but did LaPorte make nine errors against CP? If LaPorte is secretly the best team in NW Indiana and they've been stumbling around just to fool us, we'll know it by the end of the week, because the Slicers host Lake Central (15-2) Thursday and Andrean (11-1) Friday.

GRADE: D. This may seem harsh, but there's been some hard core losses here. It's going to be a short post-season again if they can't get straight defensively.

6. (4A) Munster (10-6)
2011 (20-9), 2010 (20-10), 2009 (17-14), 2008 (27-7), 2007 (24-7)

MUNSTER: Munster is sixth on strength of schedule. They have losses to Crown Point (11-2), South Bend Riley (19-0) and Andrean (11-1) twice. The Lady Ponies have lost 7-0 and 8-1 to Andrean, including an 8-1 loss Monday (4-22-2012). A third match could come in the Twin Lakes Invitational on May 5. But in the long run, they won't see Andrean in the post-season. This is one of two teams to beat Lake Central and they will see them again in sectional play.

GRADE: A. I believe they have lost top pitcher Carly Murphy indefinitely and they have survived and prospered.

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

PORTAGE: The Indians are this high in the poll because of one win. Portage lost 5-1 to Chesterton and 4-0 to Crown Point last week, but they upset Class 4A No. 2 Lake Central 5-2.
Catcher Haley Hodges hit a two-run homer to hand LC their first DAC loss in seven games. The Portage losses are to Andrean (11-1), LaPorte (12-4), Chesterton (11-7), Crown Point (12-2) and 2A power Scecina (9-5) and they get a rematch with CP (5-3-2012) next week.

GRADE: B. I don't know what their expectations were but they should be happy with what they've done so far.
 

8. (3A) Kankakee Valley (9-3)
24-4 (2011), 14-15 (2010)

WHEATFIELD: KV defeated Lowell 4-0 Monday as Ashley Dobson pitched a three-hit shutout. I believe the Kougars have lost only once when Dobson has pitched the entire game. If you take away a 14-0 loss to Hanover Central where Dobson did not pitch, the Kougars have outscored the opposition 57-17. That's 17 runs allowed (1.5) in 11 games and you can't lose too many like that.

GRADE: B. The Hanover game was a nightmare for them but I think it was a fluke. The only thing standing between KV and the state finals in Andrean.

9. (2A) Bishop Noll (10-4)
21-8 (2011), 20-10 (2010), 20-14 (2009), 19-10 (2008)

HAMMOND: Senior Vanessa Hartzell keeps them in the game against everybody and they've been squeaking out some wins. The schedule has not been great as the Greater South Shore Conference is weak this year. Wheeler and Hanover may both have better teams in the field, but Hartzell is a big, strong senior pitcher who has faced almost everybody and beaten almost everybody.

GRADE: B. Noll is exactly what you thought they'd be at the start of the year. With Hanover moved out of Class 2A and Whiting (new to 2A) below .500, it's Noll vs. Wheeler (10-7) for the sectional title.

10. (2A) Hebron (9-3)
25-6 (2011), 20-10 (2010), 20-14 (2009), 20-14,(2008)

HEBRON: The Hawks won easily last week against Washington Township 13-1, Westville 17-1 and North Judson 12-1, all in five innings. Okay, that's not world class competition. They've lost to Portage, Chesterton and Hanover and that's not bad. Hebron has allowed just 18 runs in their first 11 games and that's very good. As far as I know, they're healthy.

GRADE: C. Hebron beat Hanover three times last season and lost to them this year. They could have beaten Portage, too. This is a defending 2A regional champ. I expected a little better than this so far.
 

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