Northwest Indiana Top-10

Week-2, 2005 High School Rankings

4-6-2005

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

CROWN POINT (4-6-2005) The top teams have started well in NW Indiana, losing only to other top teams. The only significant injury (that I know of – see New Prairie) is to Autumn Blankenbaker, Valpo's pitcher, who is out for the season with a knee injury. She joins Hanover outfielder Christie Wick, who is out until mid-May with the same ACL-style knee injury. In Elkhart, powerful Memorial lost Allison Sears for the season, also with an ACL tear. Lake Central did a good job sweeping a season opening road trip to southern Indiana. Chesterton had the best first two weeks, tying 2A No.1 Hanover and beating rival Portage. Munster's six-inning tie with Lake Central on March 30 is unlikely to be replayed.

Portage and Valparaiso take on No. 10 Martinsville and Perry Meridian in a two-way double-header Saturday, April 9. There are apparently a lot of problems with the Twin Lakes Invitational on May 6-7 because that is the day of mandatory college entrance exams for juniors. More than one coach has mentioned the conflict on that Saturday. There's going to be a lot of subs playing that morning in Monticello.

1.) 4A Munster (2-0-1)

25-3-1 (2004), 22-7 (2003), 15-12 (2002), 23-10 (2001), 22-8 (2000)

MUNSTER – Munster turned back 2A No. 1 Hanover Central 1-0 Saturday as senior Lori Andjelich (1-0) stuck out 15. The Lady Ponies beat Hanover 5-0 last year so I don't know how big a win it is.

The Mustangs have not hit as well (9 runs in 19 innings) but that's irrelevant this early in the season. The Mustangs want to replay the scoreless tie with LC but there's no reason why LC should give Munster another shot till the playoffs. Deep down, that's a compliment to Munster. LC would probably give Hebron a rematch.

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

29-3 (2004), 32-3-1 (2003), 28-1 (2002), 32-4 (2001), 23-6 (2000)

ST. JOHN – LC turned back 3A No. 7 Evansville Memorial 2-1 last Friday (4-1-5) and smoked out Evansville Harrison 7-2 and host Castle 8-0 on LC's annual weekend in southern Indiana.

Katie Mitchell's home run gave LC the win over Memorial. Junior Katie Golden pitched two complete games before Angie Funston struck out 10 against obviously over-matched Castle. LC did not commit an error in five games and, from a distance, Golden looks like she will emerge as the No.1 pitcher. No one seriously believed that LC would not have a top-caliber pitcher, did they?

Mitchell's three-run home run helped beat LaPorte 11-0 Tuesday (4-4-5) in the DAC opener. LC was 14-0 in the DAC last year.

The LC record (222-29-1) in the last eight years is incredible. Can you be 200 games over .500 in eight years???

3.) 4A Chesterton (3-0-1)

20-7 (2004), 22-5 (2003), 21-4 (2002), 14-14 (2001) 18-10 (2000)

CHESTERTON – Chesterton took advantage of seven Portage errors to bomb arch-rival Portage 10-0 Tuesday completing a near-perfect first four games. The Trojans jolted Gavit 7-0 and Boone Grove 4-0 before a 0-0 rain-ended tie with 2A No. 1 Hanover Central.

Chesterton appears very solid defensively and they have three quality pitchers, although that is more than you actually need. As long as leadoff girl Amber Paz can get on base, everybody will have trouble with the Trojans.

4.) 3A Andrean (3-0)

29-5 (2004), 27-2 (2003), 30-3 (2002), 26-7 (2001), 28-3 (2000)

MERRILLVILLE – Andrean roared out of the gate, smoking St. Joseph's 9-1 and 6-1 before blowing out Wheeler 11-0 Wednesday (April 5). Lori Knopf (2-0) pitched a five-inning no-hitter against the BearCats. The 59ers take on 3A No. 12 Culver Academy and ace pitcher Jackie Lawrence this weekend.

The 59ers have not truly been challenged yet, but with their schedule, that's something they won't have to worry about much longer.

5.) 4A Portage (1-1)

27-4-3 (2004), 19-9 (2003), 23-9 (2002),

26-4 (2001), 30-4 (2000), 30-2 (1999), 31-4 (1998)

PORTAGE – I believe I commented on how unpredictable Portage would be this season. That certainly evidenced itself in week one where Portage looked strong in a 3-0 win over highly-regarded Lowell and then got bombed 10-0 by 4A No. 8 Chesterton.

Soph pitching star Meagan Gutierrez (1-1) was overwhelming against Lowell, but she gave up most of the runs against Chesterton. To be fair, the youthful Portage defense may have sabotaged the pitching in that game.

Portage, with a regular infielder out on a 12-game suspension, will not make excuses and will not take this lying down. Gutierrez is still a stifling control pitcher and the Indians figure to be in every game.

But they are not a dominant offensive team and the defense is certainly a question after game two of the season.

6.) 4A Lowell (2-1)

20-7 (2004), 13-15 (2003), 14-15 (2002),

21-9 (2001), 24-10-1 (2000)

LOWELL – Lowell made three infield errors that cost them a 3-0 loss at Portage Monday (4-4-5) but I don't think they'll lose many on infield errors. The Devils have not hit the ball well, beating Valpo 3-1 in the season opener) and bombing Lake Station 10-0 in five innings (that doesn't really count).

Junior Cristin Just has not allowed an earned run in nine innings and she appears to have improved. Coach Pete Iussig will be shuffling the batting order until runs are produced.

As Lowell plays more, they should put the ball in play more and that's all they have to do. With sectional rivals LC and Munster still unbeaten, Lowell knows what they're up against. The Devils figure to create runs against good pitchers but, to be honest, it hasn't happened yet.

7.) 2A HANOVER CENTRAL (1-1-1)

27-7 (2004), 25-8 (2003), 24-5 (2002)

28-3 (2001), 16-9-1 (2000), 23-2 (1999)

CEDAR LAKE – Hanover's 1-0 loss to Munster and their 0-0 seven-inning tie with Chesterton were good results for a 2A against 4A school showdown.

Munster and Chesterton are better teams player-for-player and HC was even with both of them. Ties are ties unless you finish or replay them. HC-Chesterton will definitely not be replayed.

With that said, the Hanover offensive problems of 2004 have resurfaced. They struck out 27 times against Munster's Lori Andjelich and Chesterton's Laura DeLeon in 14 innings. That's not getting it done.

The Lady Cats are scheduled to get middle-of-the-order hitter Heather Rebenack back off spring break suspension (if you go on vacation, you have to sit out some games) next week and that will juice up the attack.

HC has four first-time varsity starters and third baseman Andria Trock (.322) moves to shortstop. They probably need 10 games to get settled and that's good news for Bishop Noll righthander Kristen Chico, who pitched a no-hitter last week and will face Hanover Saturday (4-9-5). HC then has four games they should win (North Newton, Morgan Township, Clark and Hebron) before they confront two teams (Lowell and Illinois Class A 2004 state champ Beecher) that beat the Lady Cats last year. The Lady Cats are shorthanded and still very much under construction, which explains their position in this poll.

8.) 1A South Central (3-0)

23-7 (2004), 20-9 (2003), 26-5 (2002),

25-5 (2001), 16-11 (2000)

UNION MILLS - South Central outscored three foes 47-0, proving only that they are far too good for local 1A competition (River Forest, Culver and Hebron) right now.

Senior pitcher Chantal Gross started and won all three games, which lasted only five innings each. When the next rating comes out, the 1A No. 9 Satellites will orbit up in the poll. No matter what's up between now and then, the first big game of the season is Tuesday, May 3 when SC hosts No. 1 Hanover Central.

Is it possible that SC has won 97 (78.8%) of their last 123 games?

9.) 3A Griffith (4-1)

16-15 (2004), 18-14 (2003), 15-13 (2002)

19-12 (2001), 20-13 (2000)

GRIFFITH - Griffith has charged out of the gate with four wins in five games and, the only loss is 1-0 to 4A No. 8 Chesterton. This was not a highly-regarded team in the pre-season, but the 1-0 loss to Chesterton is more impressive than the four wins. Panther pitching has four shutouts, with Brittney Bridges (2-1) and Lisa Worley (2-0, one save) sharing the time. Griffith beat Gavit 10-0 but they have scored just 16 times in five games and the schedule will get tougher.

Still, wins over Merrillville and Valparaiso are very encouraging for a team that is breaking in an entirely new pitching staff..

10.) 4A CROWN POINT (3-1)

8-20 (2004), 16-16 (2003), 12-16 (2002)

11-16 (2001), 13-15 (2000), 19-9 (1999)

CROWN POINT – The Bulldogs return to the poll for the first time in two years. After giving up 10 unearned runs (8 in the first two innings) in a 10-3 loss to Hobart, Crown Point has rallied for wins over North Newton, Morton and arch-rival Merrillville. Senior pitcher Melissa Ferrara (3-0) has been strong and the CP defense is improved over last year's 8-20 season.

SS Lauren Mishevich has nine (of CP's 41) hits in four games and second baseman Lauren Stovall helps create a strong middle infield. There is new speed in the outfield and experience at catcher.

The schedule has been weak so far and, to be honest, if New Prairie didn't have injuries that have changed their situation, CP would not be in the top-10.

But since the first two innings of the first game, the Bulldogs have outscored the opposition 26-8. Last June, Merrillville's Amy Vargas no-hit CP. Last Tuesday (4-5-5), CP got 11 hits off her. That's the kind of improvement you hope to make.

Outsider No. 1 ...

3A New Prairie (2-2)

NEW CARLISLE – New Prairie got off to a big start with a 6-1 win over 1A No. 12 Marquette, but ace pitcher Sarah Grams, who struck out 10 against Marquette, has not pitched since then.

The Cougars, who have won 20 games three years in a row, have lost 2-0 to St. Joseph's and 6-2 to 4A No. 16 Washington. With Grams, they are a regional contender. Without her, well... that's not some thing we want to talk about.

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