Northwest Indiana Top-10 Pre-season 2005 High School Rankings 4-1-2005
	A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

A cat will come in second at the dog show before no region team reaches the softball state finals. It almost can't happen.

In each of the last two years, three local teams have reached the state semifinals. That could easily occur again and it is possible that the six county (Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton, Jasper and Starke) area we call Northwest Indiana could have the maximum of four state finalists.

Lake Central, Munster, Portage and Chesterton should battle it out for a berth in the 4A state finals as the South Bend-Elkhart area, from a distance, doesn't look as strong as it was in 2004.

3A Andrean is loaded up with pitching and catching and they play the best schedule of anyone in team sports in NW Indiana. The 59ers have been knocking on the 3A finals' door and this could be the year unless West Lafayette can say "No."

In 2A, Hanover Central will take some losses early (because of injury and new players), and they may have a better chance of returning to a third consecutive 2A state final than they do winning a 5^th consecutive PCC title.

South Central is a clear favorite for the 1A state berth out of NW Indiana but Hebron and Whiting won't let it go without a fight.

Teams like Boone Grove and Hebron may be on the rise and everybody forgets New Prairie, which was 26-4 last season.

This should be be another very good year although, to be honest, that's what Kobe Bryant said too.

1.) 4A Munster (1-0-1)

MUNSTER – I know Lake Central is the defending 4A state champion but Munster was 25-3-1 in 2004 and returns so much offense and two experienced pitchers in junior Jackie Yerga (14-1, 0.90) and senior Lori Andjelich (5-1, 0.25).

Yerga (.345, 5 Hrs, 28 RBIs) and sophomore third baseman Hallie Gibbs (.487, 5 Hrs, 15 RBIs) are solid corners of the infield and senior center fielder Nicole Enright (.304, 12 steals) adds speed.

Beth Vesa, a championship coach at Washington high in Chicago, returns after a one-year sabbatical and she has loaded up the Mustang schedule to the max.

The Lady Ponies play 4A state champ LC, 2A state champ Hanover Central and six teams (the top six) from the big school Duneland Athletic Conference.

Munster travels to a to-level tournament in Carmel (April 22-23), they host their own top-level tourney (May 14) including perennial Lafayette area powers Harrison and Jefferson. And the Mustangs will invade Indiana Beach on May 6-7 for the state's toughest in-season tournament, the 16-team 'pool play' Twin Lakes Invitational where you can pick up five wins in 24 hours if things go your way.

Munster now plays as tough a schedule as anyone in this part of the state and, while that's no guarantee of post-season success (ask Andrean), it is all you can do during the regular season to get ready.

Munster is 47-10 over the last two years. They started the season with an 8-0 win over Homewood-Flossmoor and a 0-0 six-inning tie with Lake Central that they sound to be itching to replay.

After getting beat 10-1 by LC in the sectional last year, there's no way this team won't be ready for the playoffs at the end of May.

2.) 4A Lake Central (0-0-1)

ST. JOHN – It's a step out to put defending 4A champ LC (28-3) in second place locally but this is the pre-season poll and LC needs to prove they can carry that championship tag around 31 times.

There should be no mistake that LC has plenty of pitching. The Indians have graduated two first team all-state pitchers the last two years but they are loaded up with the duo of senior Brittney Gard (5-3, 0.77 ERA, 56Ks in 44 innings) and junior Katie Golden (5-0, 0.83 ERA, 35 Ks in 33 innings).

LC always has pitching. The Indians have to CUT pitchers. You can't imagine how frustrating that is to other teams that struggle getting anybody out.

All-stater Katie Mitchell (.413, 46 hits ) will move to third base and there's not much question that everyone will pitch around her. The LC defense will improve with Mitchell at third instead of first because third base is the key position in a softball infield.

LC's schedule isn't quite as wide ranging as Munster and Andrean due to the 14-game Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) double round-robin but they still have three tournament trips. Two games each with Portage and Chesterton will be prime time for the team that was 14-0 in their DAC debut in 2004.

LC may look no better than the other top teams. But this is the number one program in NW Indiana (219-29) in the last eight years. Don't kid yourself. Mitchell, Alyssa Duncan (.233, 5 Hrs, 26 RBIs) and Angie Funston played 12 innings to win the 4A state title game 4-1

last June. Mitchell has played in three state title games. That's what they have that Munster, Andrean, Portage and Chesterton do not have and in head-to-head games, that experience matters.

3.) 4A Chesterton (0-0)

CHESTERTON – Here is a DAC co-favorite with powerhouse pitcher Laura DeLeon (14-6, 0.59 ERA, 11 shutouts, 162 strikeouts in 143 innings) and junior Ashley Thomas (6-0, 62 Ks in 60 innings).

D-1 catcher Kayla Vargo (.394), who will play for IU-Purdue-Fort Wayne, anchors the defense while 5-3 Amber Paz (.418) leads the attack. Outfielder Tara Hiteman (.418) who was injured much of last year, will add offense before she leaves to play at the D-1 University of Rhode Island..

Chesterton plays top nonconference foes in Hanover, Marquette and Munster and their host the first annual Chesterton Invitational on April 23. But the Trojans do not travel in the way Munster, Andrean and LC do. Travel tournaments are crucial because the regional is a one day travel tournament.

4.) 3A Andrean (0-0)

MERRILLVILLE – Andrean returns top pitchers Lori Knopf (17-2) and Katie Ivancich (12-1) from a 29-5 team and with catcher Samathna Markowski. The 59ers may not be a great hitting team as they'll need new blood in the leadoff and No. 3 slots. But the 59ers pitching is so strong (18 shutouts in 2004) that another 20-win season seems certain.

I would never say that Andrean does not need much hitting, though. The key games Andrean lost last season were 1-0 (Whiting), 3-2 (Munster) 2-0 (Eastern) and 3-1 (West Lafayette). games that were largely offensive failures. Coach Frank Podkul (232-61, 11 years at Andrean) has the state finals as his only goal. That's the way it always is at Andrean and that's the way it should be.

And that's why they play as good a schedule as Munster and LC. Andrean will travel to Dowagiac, Michigan, Valparaiso, Lakeville (LaVille high) and Twin Lakes for tournament action and they will head for Culver Military to meet junior right-hander Jackie Lawrence (20-6 last year) and Culver Academy.

The 59ers have question marks. But those questions can be answered in 31 games.

5.) 4A Portage (0-0)

PORTAGE – Here's a very difficult team to predict in the pre-season. Portage has reached the state finals with far lesser pitchers than sophomore Meagan Gutierrez (19-2, 0.44 ERA, 124 Ks, 3 walks in 105 innings). Since Hanover Central's Beth Wendlinger was 20-2 (including a 3-0, 10-inning, 21-strikeout sectional loss to eventual state champion Morgan Township) with 15 shutouts as a freshman in 1999, no one has come on the prep softball scene like Gutierrez. The right-hander shut out three DAC teams at the sectional. Throw in the fact that both of her losses were to the state champion Lake Central and you wonder how good this girl is.

We will now find out. Portage must replace nine seniors off last season's 27-4-2 (3 losses to LC) team. It will be difficult for the Indians in the four head-to-head meetings with Chesterton and Lake Central because the defense is filled with first time starters. But remember what I said about Andrean. Question marks can also be answered in the affirmative. Portage pitching was a question mark last season before they handed Gutierrez the ball.

6.) 4A Lowell (0-0)

LOWELL – Like Munster, here's a team that returns almost everybody. Junior pitcher Cristin Just (9-5) is a power pitcher who simply needs to ride through trouble a little better.

She knows that Lowell, a 20-9 team in 2004, will have a relentless attack led by left-handed second baseman Carrie Shalhart (.350) and right-handed shortstop Kelly Johnson (.427).

Courtney Austgen is a solid catcher and outfielders Michelle Johnson (CF) and Ashley Cicillian (RF) are very fast. Left field is a question after Whitney Magley had back surgery but Nicole Fletcher, who missed last year's playoffs with an injury, can be the kind of hitter that prevents the opposition from simply walking Kelly Johnson every time up.

Lowell typically turns a few right-handed hitters into left-handed slap hitters but this team may not have to do that. The Devils have hitters and speedsters. Here's another team that believes in the toughest possible schedule. Like Munster, Lowell plays the six top teams in the big school DAC. The Devils travel to 2A state finalist West Lafayette and 1A heavy hitter Pioneer, both new to the LHS schedule. Lowell also has a slot in the 16-team Twin Lakes Invitational on May 6-7. The Devils also play 2A state champ Hanover (April 20) and 4A superpower Penn in a season-ending double-header on May 21.

Nobody's going to get overconfident against this schedule but Lowell wont see any level of play in the sectional or regional that they wont have seen during the season.

If they do not have to play both LC and Munster at sectional time, Lowell can win that championship.

7.) 2A HANOVER CENTRAL (0-0)

CEDAR LAKE – Hanover joins Lake Central in signing up for the ultimate challenge. No Indiana team has ever won back-to-back titles in softball.

The Lady Cats have five new starters off a 27-7 state championship team and two of them, Amanda Wendlinger (21-4, 0.83 ERA, 237 strikeouts in 177 innings) and Kelly Lapota (6-3, 1.87 ERA, .373 batting average, 1 HR, 21 RBIs) are solid team leaders.

Wendlinger won 21 games last season coming off a torn ACL and reconstructive knee surgery and the only question about her now is how she could possibly have been only second team all-state when she was 6-0 in the state playoffs including a perfect game in the 1-0 state title win over Clarksville.

Lapota a four year varsity player, anchors an all-new infield. 2004 third baseman Andria Trock (.322) moves to shortstop where she could become an all-area player. Two key newcomers are junior third baseman Danielle Hill and junior catcher Jill Sjoerdsma (15-43, .349).

Center fielder Rachel Williams (28-55, .309) returns to lead off and her speed is crucial to HC attack. Williams must lead the outfield that will include first time fly catchers sophomore Samantha Plant in left and former pinch hit specialist Heather Rebenack (10-30, 333) in right. Rebenack is crucial as a right-handed cleanup hitter with starting right fielder Christie Wick (25-90, .277) out until May with a torn ACL.

HC's schedule got tougher without their help. HC will see 1A region favorite South Central twice and they could face Munster and Lowell twice since the Mustangs have entered the Twin Lakes Invitational in Monticello. Hanover plays 4As Chesterton, and Crown Point and they will be hard pressed to hang with Class A Illinois state champion Beecher on April 21. PCC rivals Boone Grove and Hebron are much improved teams and wont be easy wins anymore.

But the Lady Cats started the season 5-5 last year and then won 22 of their last 24. Hanover is 143-33-1 over the last seven seasons and 14-2 in their last 16 playoff games. They have a two-time 20-game winner pitching, a .300 hitter leading off and a four-year starter and lifetime .350 hitter batting third.

You'd better beat them early in the season because this team may have traded experience for some more athletic ability. You need to beat them in April because, by Mid-May, this team could again be ready to head down I-65.

8.) 1A South Central (1-0)

UNION MILLS - Here's the 1A region favorite. South Central, which opened with a 13-0 win over River Forest (3-30) Tuesday, returned every single varsity player off 23-7 team.

Pitcher Chantal Gross (18-7, 1.52 ERA) is not a strikeout pitcher (89 Ks in 161 innings) but she keeps her team in the game. The Satellites, who have won at least 20 four years (94-26) in a row, hurt you with speed in the 1-2 combination of Angela Ward (.468, 36 stolen bases) and Chelsie Rowe (.262, 26 steals).

What they lack is a true No. 4 hitter. Gross (.413, 38 hits) bats third but there's not a lot of lead in that fourth gun.

Senior first baseman Amy Bolanowski (.343, 16 RBIs) wants to knock in 50 runs this season and she'll get that chance. This teams stole 111 bases last year and they will test your catcher.

South Central's schedule is good, but not at the level of Hanover's and that could be a problem. LaPorte (3-26 in 2004), Michigan City and South Bend schools Adams and Washington (22-9 last year) are the only 4As they play. The other tests are tough with New Prairie (26-4 in 2004), 2A Bremen (23-7) and Culver Academy .

The Satellites shouldn't get caught up with winning the Porter County Conference (PCC) tournament in May. The goal is to reach the state finals and six senior starters have paid their dues.

9.) 4A Merrillville (0-1)

MERRILLVILLE - The Pirates will try to move into the top half of the DAC behind soph pitcher Amy Vargas (7-10, 4 shutouts), who no-hit Crown Point in the state tournament last year before losing 3-0 to Portage. Clearly, with only one senior (CF Brittany Huish), this is a team on the rise. But with seven juniors, this team should hit better than they did in 2004 when the Pirates were shut out six times.

The schedule is tough with certain 20-game winners Munster and Lowell plus reservations at the Penn Invitational and that loaded Twin Lakes Invitational.

Here's another team loaded with question marks except at No. 1 pitcher where Vargas is among the four or five best in the DAC. The schedule might keep them from wining 20 but they wont be under .500.

10.) 3A New Prairie (0-0)

NEW CARLISLE – New Prairie ended the 100-game Northern State's Conference wining streak of Bremen last year on the way to an undefeated (14-0) NSC title and a 26-4 record. They wont be overlooked any longer.

Senior Shaina Smith was 17-4 last season and No. 2 pitcher Becky Sheedy was 9-0. The Cougars have won 20 for three years in a row and, despite a shaky offense, expectations area again high.

The Cougars were upset at the sectional last year which, often, is the best thing that can happen to a young team. The Cougars have just two seniors but eight returning players.

New Prairie should be playing Andrean and West Lafayette because those are the teams they must eventually conquer. The Cougars playa small-school schedule with only Washington (22-9) and Culver Military (May 5) and South Central as top-level foes.

This team may be totally dependent on the starting pitcher but that worked for 26 wins in 2004.

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