2014 Northwest Indiana Top-7
Week-7, High School 'Renegade' Poll

5-13-2014

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
Crown Point (20-0) took the state's top ranking to Monticello where they won the
annual Twin Lakes Invitational on May 10. (Photo by Mark Smith)

CROWN POINT (5-12-2014) Heading into the final two weeks of the 2014 season, only two conference titles had not been decided. Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) leader Crown Point clinched the title before having to face Portage on May 14.

Greater South Shore Conference (GSSC) leader Hanover Central still has contenders Wheeler (May 13) and Whiting (May 22) left to meet. In the Northwest Crossroads Conference (NCC), Munster (13-8, 9-2 NCC) won the title Monday with a come-from-behind 3-1 win over Hobart. The Porter County Conference (PCC) decides everything like everybody should, in a league tournament on May 16-17.

Softball lends itself to league tournaments more so than any other team sport because it's easy to play three games in one day. The DAC is traditionally stubborn on change, but a one-day single-elimination tournament would not only greatly lift the profile of the sport in this area, it would allow teams to get three games in with limited travel.

Last week's rain-shortened Twin Lakes Invitational was a revelation as it showed how to run an eight or 16-team tournament in one day with everyone playing three times. Schools like Crown Point or Hanover Central, which have school fields and town fields with lights could host such a large one-day gathering easily.

It would be hard to get teams from the middle of the state to come out into Lake or Porter County, but this area badly needs a tournament like that for the good of the sport. Multiple team tournaments and conference tournaments are the essence of this sport and, other than the PCC playoffs, we really don't have any in NW Indiana.

The state tournament draw is Thursday, May 15 and we'll find out who gets a team they don't want in the first game.

1. (4A) Crown Point (20-0)
25-5 (2013), 25-8 (2012), 18-9 (2011), 27-2 (2010), 24-5 (2009)

CROWN POINT: Crown Point is the unquestioned No.1 team after topping 4A No. 4 Harrison (17-2) and Western (15-4) at the Twin Lakes Invitational. Freshman Alexis Holloway pitched the final 2 2/3 innings as CP won their first out-of-town showdown this year against a ranked non-region team. Miranda Elish (17-0), who was pulled from the game at a key point in the win over Harrison, pitched a complete game 6-0 shutout over Western (15-4). CP won the DAC with a tight 1-0 win over Lake Central Monday, scoring an unearned run and getting shutout pitching from Elish again. The 20-0 start is the best in school history. CP has some tough games remaining against Portage, Lowell and Penn (20-2). My question here is how the CP girls react to their status. Everybody tries to be the underdog, the poor little team that comes from nowhere and overcomes adversity. Crown Point can't honestly be that team anymore. Do the Lady Bulldogs want to be Godzilla? The unstoppable big scary monster. The undefeated, undisputed top dog. The No.1 team in the state that struts onto the field for every playoff game? There's power in that if you embrace it. CP has the rare chance to post a record that can only be equaled, never topped.

2. (4A) LAKE CENTRAL (16-8)
23-7 (2013), 26-3 (2012), 29-6 (2011), 21-11 (2010), 25-2 (2009)

St. JOHN: LC has won five in a row going into the final two weeks, but they lost 1-0 to Crown Point (20-0) on an unearned run Monday (5-12-2014). They can beat anyone with the pitching tandem of Lily Del Toro (10-3, 0.90 ERA) and Annabel Karberg (5-5. 1.83), who struck out nine against CP and 16 against Portage. But the Indians will only get a third chance to beat CP if they host the regional in three weeks. Lizzy Seymour (.440, 4 HR, 21 RBIs) has 17 extra base hits and Lauren Ladwig (34 of 74, .459) has four homers and 21 runs scored. LC's losses are to 4A No. 5 Penn, 4A No. 1 Crown Point, Harrison (18-2), 4A No. 4 Jennings County, 4A No. 9 Franklin Central, Portage and Chesterton. Their biggest advantage is that they are not in Class 4A Sectional 1 with top-ranked Crown Point and defending 4A state champ Portage (14-5) and they would host CP in the regional on June 3.


3. (4A) Portage (14-5)
25-6 (2013), 18-8 (2012), 19-7 (2011), 12-10 (2010), 14-14 (2009)

PORTAGE: The defending 4A state champions have lost to Andrean, Harrison (18-2), LC (16-7), Penn (20-2), Andrean and Crown Point (19-0) and they have wins over Lake Central and Munster.
Right-hander Kiley Jones pitched a complete game victory over 3A power Marian (15-2) last Saturday. I'm edging Portage up again, despite the five losses, as they've simply played a tougher schedule than Hanover to this point, even though the losses to CP 5-0, LC 7-0 and Penn 8-0 were not close enough for you to feel good about them. This team is obviously headed for a neutral site matchup with Crown Point at the 4A Chesterton Sectional. The No.1 team vs. the defending state champion.


4. (3A) Hanover Central (19-4)
18-10 (2013), 13-13 (2012), 13-13 (2011), 17-7 (2010), 22-5 (2009)

CEDAR LAKE: Hanover is still tough to judge. The four losses are to Crown Point (20-0), to Andrean in a 4-inning time limit game, to Harrison and Eastern when their upper classmen were at the prom. But when you look at their wins, other than the sweep of 2A Bishop Noll (16-4), the 3-0 road win over Wheeler and the 6-0 win over Lowell (16-6), how good are their wins? So how good are they? It's almost better that senior pitcher Ashley Yoways sat out the Twin Lakes Invitational. She has to pitch every inning in the post-season. Big matchup with Wheeler (13-2) coming up this week. You always have to look at HC's 'big' wins with some calm because how many 4A teams they beat does not matter in the long run. Hanover also has makeup games with 4As Munster and Chesterton, but eventually they'll have to beat Wheeler (13-2) again at sectional time. There's really no way around that.


5. (3A) Wheeler (13-2)
19-8 (2013), 19-11 (2012), 16-12 (2011), 31-2 (2010), 27-3 (2009)

UNION TOWNSHIP: Wheeler would be higher had they played more. They lost to KV when all-stater Nickole Finch did not pitch and they lost 3-0 in eight innings to Hanover Central in a game that could have gone either way. The Bearcats still have road games at Lowell (16-6) and Hanover (19-4) and it will be interesting to see if they pitch Finch (12-1. 0.55 ERA, 149 strikeouts in 77 innings) at Hanover in a rescheduled game that I believe will be concluded on May 13. Finch (22 of 49, .449) has four homers and 20 RBIs, while freshman Julia Taylor (18 of 44, .409) leads the Bearcats in runs scored. The pitching question may be. Since you can only tie for the GSSC title by defeating Hanover, how many at bats do you want to give HC's four starting freshmen against Finch before the inevitable sectional meeting at the end of the month? Wheeler is one game behind Hanover for the Greater South Shore Conference (GSSC) championship.


6. (4A) Lowell (16-6)
15-13 (2013), 10-19 (2012), 2-19 (2011), 18-9 (2010), 23-11 (2009)

LOWELL: Lowell won three times at the Twin Lakes Invitational including victories over ranked small schools Frontier 6-4 and Eastern 12-2. But should that count in these rankings? The Devils used their junior varsity in those games. Freshman Kendall Torrence batted clean up and went 2-for-4 against 2A power Eastern (16-4). Riley Schilling was 2-for-4 against Frontier (11-6), a game where Torrence pitched all seven innings. The Devils clearly have a bright future beyond this season as the JV is 16-1 in the season. Lowell's varsity had previously rolled up a 13-6 record and they're OK, too. In the final two weeks, Lowell hosts Wheeler (13-2) on May 15 and 4A No. 1 Crown Point (20-0) on May 21. They'll need to see top pitching before they face LC at sectional time. Lowell's hope is a one-time shot at LC in the sectional title game.


7. (4A) Chesterton (10-8)
22-5 (2013), 21-11 (2012), 19-8 (2011), 19-7 (2010)

CHESTERTON: Andrean and Bishop Noll have better won-loss records, but this team is on the rise after a 2-5 start. The Trojans led top-ranked Crown Point 3-2 before giving up two late runs in a 4-3 loss on April 29. Chesterton beat Valpo 5-1 and Michigan City 8-3 last week. They lost 6-4 to Lake Central earlier this month. The Trojans host 4A Sectional 2 and with hitters like senior Sydney Cooley, they have the kind of power to win games with one swing in their home ballpark where they have had significant post-season success.

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