Northwest Indiana Top-10 2004 High School Rankings: Week 9 5-28-2004
	A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

The first major confrontation of the state tournament saw Portage ousting Chesterton 1-0 in nine innings, establishing the Indians as the favorite at the 4A Valpo Sectional. Culver Academy almost lost a 1-0 win over South Bend St. Joseph's in 12 innings. Sectional scheduling varies widely with championship games scheduled anywhere from Thursday afternoon to Saturday night.  Some of the sectional quarterfinal scores 28-0, 24-0 cry out for a tourney with 32 teams in each class, one that teams must qualify for.

1.  ANDREAN (26-4)

MERRILLVILLE - Andrean split two games at a tournament in Castle over the weekend. The 59ers had a 28-0 walkover against winless Wirt (0-5) to start the playoffs. The 59ers have to find some value in the Andrean Sectional which will see them win two more games and take a virtually uncontested title. Andrean played the toughest schedule, did the most traveling and faced many of the teams they need to beat in June. But the goals are always high at Andrean. If you didn't reach the state finals, you didn't have the year you wanted to have. The 59ers are still on line to face Culver Academy and right-hander Jackie Lawrence (19-5) in the semifinals of the Twin Lakes Regional on June 6. Lawrence struck out 19 in a 1-0 win over St. Joseph's Monday.

2.  Lake Central (23-3)

ST. JOHN - Lake Central closed the regular schedule with wins over Chesterton 3-1, Lowell 5-0 and Griffith 1-0. Katie Holden (5-0) struck out seven in 2 1/3 innings of relief against Griffith. LC did not get any more games in last week and they had a first round bye so they have a week off before facing Munster on Friday (May 28) at 4:30 p.m.  LC has hit everyone this year but that gets another test against a Munster pitching staff that has 14 shutouts. The Indians did not pitch left-hander Beth Toyias (12-0) against Munster in the 6-3 LC win at Munster on April 14.

3.  Portage (24-3-2)

PORTAGE - Portage got a base hit from Cara Horner in the ninth inning to beat Chesterton 1-0. Freshman Meaghan Gutierrez (14-1) struck out only four in nine innings but allowed only five hits. The Indians now must take out Valparaiso and CP or Merrillville to win the sectional crown. Those are all teams Portage has defeated twice this year. Portage isn't a sure thing because the offense has been weak. The Indians last three games were a 2-1, 11-inning win over Highland, a 0-0 seven-inning tie with Munster and the 1-0 win Monday. They're going to need more offense than they have shown and there is word that infielder Nikki McDonald (broken hand) is out for the season.

4.  Chesterton (20-7)

CHESTERTON - The Trojans ended up 0-5 against Lake Central and Portage and 20-1 against everybody else. They never did hit Portage freshman right-hander Maria Martinez (14-1), who beat them three times. Junior Laura DeLeon (14-4, 0.58 ERA, 149Ks in 126 innings) pitched a three-hitter and retired 21 batters in a row, but ended up losing 1-0 in nine innings as the Trojans were eliminated in the sectional quarterfinals Monday. After nine errors in the season finale against Munster, Chesterton played errorless ball against Portage. The Trojans are well set for 2005 with DeLeon and Ashley Thomas both returning.

5.  Munster (23-2-1)

MUNSTER - Munster was lucky not to lose to Portage Saturday. The Lady Ponies allowed two runs in the eighth inning but rain reverted the score back to the end of the seventh and the game ended in a scoreless tie, Munster's 14th shutout of the season. Munster rolled over an outmanned East Chicago team 24-0 to start the state playoffs. They are going to have to get on the board early against Lake Central in Friday's Top-10 showdown Friday. In the earlier meeting, Munster led 3-0 and lost 6-3. But there's no way they'd lose another 3-0 lead.

6.  Lowell (19-8)

LOWELL - A big run to the wire for Lowell defeating Benton Central 8-3, Penn 2-0 and Pendleton Heights 2-1 in nine innings in the final four days of the year. To play four powerful teams in the final week (Lowell also lost 5-0 to LC) is a gamble but it's a gamble that the Red Devils won this year. RHP Cristin Just (8-4) will be ready to face Highland (19-5-1) Thursday (May 27) at 5 p.m. with senior Heather Stevens (3-2, one save) in the bullpen. Lowell has rebounded from an early season slump but they will face top pitchers at the LC Sectional and it's hard to know how their young players will react. Lowell is better than Highland but Highland is more experienced than Lowell. 

7.  Hanover Central (22-7)

CEDAR LAKE - Hanover stumbled into the playoffs, needing three unearned runs in the seventh inning to beat Boone Grove (6-22) in a Wheeler 2A Sectional semifinal. The 5-3 win after a 1-0 nine-inning loss to Whiting last Friday is unsettling. Junior RHP Amanda Wendlinger (16-4) struck out 13 against Whiting and 14 against Boone Grove. HC is in danger of being eliminated against Wheeler in the sectional title game. Not because Wheeler's so great but because the Lady Cats will probably overlook them like they did Boone Grove. Boone Grove almost beat Hanover twice in the last two weeks. Hanover Central appears to be looking ahead and waiting for the 'big' games. That happens a lot with teams that had great success the previous year. There might be a lineup or batting order change here as well because HC scored just 17 runs (just 12 earned runs) in their last six games.

8.  Highland (19-5-1)

HIGHLAND - Highland beat Crown Point 7-4 in the season finale last Friday and the Trojans had a week to get ready for Lowell (19-8) in the state tournament. Highland beat Lowell 6-2 in April but it's not the same Lowell team with freshman Kelly Johnson batting third and sophomore Whitney Magley in the outfield. Third baseman Nicole Fletcher will miss the sectional (and probably the rest of the season) with mononucleosis. Senior Highland RHP Stephanie Zimny (13-4-1) struck out 13 against Crown Point and 18 in an 11-inning 2-1 loss to Portage on May 19. Highland got the draw they needed to win this sectional. If the Trojans get three runs in two games starting Thursday, they'll still be playing next week.

9. South Central (21-6)

UNION MILLS - South Central won three of their last four games including a double-header split with 2A No. 6 Bremen (21-5).  Chantal Gross (16-5) pitched SC to a 3-2 win over Bremen and she was held out of the second game, won by Bremen 4-2. SC also beat Wheeler 1-0 in 11 innings on May 19.  Eight errors in the last five games is not to many for a team that does not have a big strikeout pitcher.  SC must deal with Marquette (18-7) in sectional play this week and the satellites will have to play twice Saturday in odd scheduling. But they cant blame anybody. It's the South Central Sectional.

10.  Merrillville (13-15)

MERRILLVILLE - This team appeared to get a good draw with a game against Crown Point and a title matchup with Portage on tap. Merrillville lost to portage just 2-1 on May 11 and they played the schedule to win this sectional. The Pirates have seen a few teams that are as good or better than Portage. You don't like to have a freshman pitcher here but Amy Vargas (6-9) has been effective against most teams.

What's going on.........?

Whiting (24-5)

WHITING - They were no hit for seven innings but beat Hanover 1-0. It appeared that the Oilers also played two different foes Saturday (May 22) defeating Kouts 7-4 and Westville 8-5. They did everything they could possibly do during the regular season to prepare for the state tournament. The 6-0 shutout of River Forest in the Whiting Sectional quarterfinals Monday was a little unnerving since the game was scoreless after four inning. Whiting is such a poor hitting team that they could go at almost any time. But, on their home field, the Oilers should advance beyond sectional play. There is no strong hitting team in the seven team Whiting Sectional to challenge RHP Maria Martinez (19-5), who pitched the Oilers to the state finals last year.

WEEK (8) NOTES:  Beecher, Ill, which beat Hanover Central 4-2, is 29-2 and in the Class A (2 classes in Illinois) round of 16 in the Illinois state tournament. Culver won their first-ever sectional game 14-1 over Triton Tuesday. Michigan City (3-24) was eliminated by Adams 6-4 at the Adams Sectional. LaPorte (3-25) was eliminated by Washington 2-0. Katie Boocher (13-5) pitched a no hit game for Washington (21-8), the sectional favorite. 3A West Lafayette (21-6) started down a path that could include a regional rematch with Andrean with an 11-1 win over Tipton Monday night. 2A Seeger (16-11) started down a path that could include a LaVille Regional matchup with Hanover Central when they stomped Clinton Central 11-0 Monday.

McCutcheon's Alicia Garza (54-104, .519) ended the regular season with 19 doubles, four home runs and 41 RBIs. Teammate Tiffany Dinsmore (43-100, .430) scored 39 runs and stole 17 bases for the Mavericks (26-5). Lafayette Central Catholic (22-4), a potential state finals foe of Whiting, beat Carroll 9-4 in the quarterfinals of the 1A Clinton Prairie Sectional Monday night.

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