Northwest Indiana Class 1A and 2A

Regional Previews

6-01-2009

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

2A at BOONE GROVE- Championship - May 28

BOONE GROVE 8, North Newton 0

2A at HANOVER CENTRAL - Championship - May 29

Wheeler 1, HANOVER CENTRAL 0

2A at Fairfield - Championship - May 28

Jimtown 4, Fairfield 3

2A at Garrett - Championship - May 28

Garrett 2, Eastside 1 (10 innings)

Class 2A Regional
June 6 (2A) LaVille - 11 a.m.- Semifinals
BOONE GROVE (23-7) vs. Jimtown (25-2)
Garrett (26-5) vs. Wheeler (25-2)

LAKEVILLE (6-6-2009) Wow. You want me to choose between these four teams? A total of 99 wins and 16 losses here. Far better than any of the four regionals involving Northwest Indiana teams. It's been a good year in NW Indiana for 2A schools, but it may come to an end here as arch-rivals Boone and Wheeler face stiff challenges before they even think about a regional title confrontation.

Wheeler's pitcher Lanay Parks is 18-1 with 15 shutouts this season.

Wheeler's Lanay Parks (18-1) has 15 shutouts. But Garrett, the two-time defending Class 2A regional basketball champ, has been a powerhouse all year and has won a school-record 26 games. Basketball point guard Madison Diederich, a .453 lifetime hitter, leads the offense with hoop teammate Lindsey Yarde, a four-year varsity starter in center field.

I think the Railroaders will confront Wheeler with a speed attack, with bunts and slaps, something Hanover Central and Bishop Noll did not do at the sectional.

Jimtown appears to be another issue. Pitcher and team captain Kayla Troyer (20-1) starts and wins every game, allowing two or three hits. The Jimmies have allowed just 28 runs in 27 games. They seem every much like Wheeler. You're lucky to get one run. You've got to get past the pitcher before you can even think about winning. Parks has only lost 1-0 to Crown Point (24-4) and she gets swinging strikes on low pitches, which makes her a low risk pitcher against teams she does not know.

Jimtown has won at least 20 for four years in a row and Troyer, a Purdue-North Central recruit who had an 0.28 ERA last year, is the reason why. The Jimmies also have Aubrie and Alicia Reed, two left-handed hitters with plus speed at the top of the order. Jimtown, like Wheeler, survived a deficit in the final inning at the sectional. The Jimmies scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to beat Fairfield 4-3 in the title game of the Fairfield sectional.

Boone has two pitchers in Taylor Johnson and Roxanne Miniuk and that will give them an advantage if they get to the finals. Wheeler and Jimtown will use the same pitcher every game because they've started the same pitcher 90% of the time all year.

This is the caliber of regional where all four teams will say they are the underdog, but secretly believe they are the best team. I tend to think that Jimtown, which is the 2007 regional champion (with a 3-1 semifinal win over Wheeler), is a very slight favorite here.

Class 1A

1A at Whiting - Championship - May 28
Whiting 6, Washington Township 0

1A at LaCrosse - Championship - May 27
LaCrosse 9, Morgan Township 2

1A at Fairfield - Championship - May 30
Lakewood Park Christian 14, Canterbury 0

1A at Caston - Championship - May 21
Pioneer 9, Caston 1

Class 1A Regional championship
June 6 (1A) Caston- 11 a.m. (EST) Semifinals
Pioneer (11-14) vs. LaCrosse (15-12)
Lakewood Park Christian (21-3) vs Whiting (23-4)

CASTON (6-6-2009) With all due respect to LaCrosse and Pioneer, it would be the upset of the decade if either reached the state finals. Whiting, with right-hander Mel Dumezich, is the 2006 and 2008 Class 1A state champ and one reason they didn't win in 2007 is because they lost to Lakewood Park Christian, which just won their fifth consecutive sectional title.

Logan Carnahan (12-2, 0.70 ERA, 96Ks, 15 walks in 87 innings) is a rare successful high school softball hurler who does is not a big strikeout pitcher.. She has played against Whiting in each of the last three years and she knows the batting order. You may see Chelsea Heibel (9-1, 1.83 ERA, 76 Ks in 65 innings) get in. Heibel pitched a two-hit, five-inning shutout in the sectional title game and Whiting has never seen her.

The question when you play Whiting is 'How do you score on Dumezich (13-2, 0.16 ERA, 222 Ks, 26 walks in 88 innings)? She struck out an incredible 22 batters in a seven inning game earlier this year and has allowed only 11 base hits all season. She is so overpowering that opponents have difficulty even getting bunts into fair territory. That job may fall to sophomore Alyssa Korrsen (38-78, .487, 3 HRs, 24 RBIs), Heibel (21-61, .344, 2 HRs, 18 RBIs) and Carnahan (37-78, .474, 25 RBIs) and freshman Annie Weaver (36-66, .394, 17 stolen bases) who brings some new speed this season.

Whiting's defense may be shaky, but no one will ever know because the ball is rarely hit to any of them when Dumezich, a 5-foot-9 right-hander, is pitching.

If Dumezich (24-43, .558, 9 HRs, 26 RBis) or Amanda Blackwell (29-68, .427, 4 HRs, 26 RBIs) can lay the smack down on a fat pitch early, this game is probably over because LPC is not a high scoring squad, despite the sectional title game score. But, other than Sarah Jansky (24-71, .338) and Emilie Lovasko (20-64, .313), Whiting doesn't have anyone who bats higher than .300 playing against a very weak schedule. I would think that LPC will simply walk Dumezich four times and play against the rest of the team. They do not appear to have the caliber of pitcher who can shut her down.

What is ominous is that Lakewood Park has lost only (a double-header) to undefeated 4A No. 1 Homestead (29-0) and 2A regional qualifier Garrett (26-5), two teams that are superior to anyone Whiting has defeated. LPC has also defeated 4A regional qualifier DeKalb.

Whiting by design, does not play any quality 3A or 4A schools. They dropped all good 3A and 4A programs from their non-conference schedule four years ago when Dumezich got to the school. Their apologists say that, all competitive ethics aside, Whiting doesn't have to defeat good teams in the 1A playoffs, so why should they play them during the regular season?

The 1A bracket in NW Indiana is almost nonexistent so the Oilers get a pass to the regional every year. It would be highly embarrassing for the Oilers to lose at the regional when they have promoted the philosophy that they don't need to play quality competition to have a quality program even though every other school does.

Whiting is always favored because Dumezich and senior catcher Adi Cruz can combine on a shutout against any 1A school. If LPC can find a way to hit the ball into the field, the Oilers could crumble defensively, because they simply have not played quality competition over the last four years. It will be interesting to see Lakewood's plan for putting the ball in play. The winner of the LPC-Whiting game will go to the state finals.

2009 Indiana State Softball Finals
Friday-Saturday, June 12-13, 2009
State Semifinal Games, Friday, 6:30/8:30 p.m.

Class 4A at Ben Davis
Pendleton Heights champion (#1 Homestead) vs. Floyd Central champ
(#5 East Central)
Winner at Center Grove (#2 Avon) vs. MERRILLVILLE champ (LOWELL or Penn)

Class 3A at Pike
Boonville winner (#5 Boonville) vs.
Twin Lakes champ (#10 ANDREAN)
Winner at Bellmont (#9 Blackford) vs. Mount Vernon champ (#1 New Palestine, #2 Edgewood, or #4 Gibson Southern or #6 Roncalli).

Class 2A at North Central (Indianapolis)
Winner at Forest Park (#5 So. Putnam or #9 Clarksville) vs. Winner at LaVille ( #2 Jimtown, #3 BOONE GROVE or No. 12 Wheeler).
Winner at Indianapolis Scecina (#1 Scecina) vs. Greentown champion (#4 Delphi).

Class 1A at Hamilton Southeastern
Winner at Indianapolis Lutheran vs. Winner at Clinton Prairie.
Winner at North Daviess vs. Winner at Caston (Whiting).

Indiana State Softball Championship Games
June 13, 2009 at Ben Davis in Indianapolis.
Class 1A championship - 10:30 am EST
Class 2A championship-     1:30 pm EST
Class 3A championship -    4:30 pm EST
Class 4A championship -    7:30 pm EST

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