Northwest Indiana Top-10

Week-2, 2006 High School Rankings

4-7-2006

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

ST. JOHN (4-6-2006) - Very quickly in the girls softball season we've seen some clear cut realizations that were not expected. Outside of NW Indiana, Bremen 20-game winner Val Bollenbacher (20-7) chose not to play her senior year, taking the defending Class 2A regional champion out of the mix for 2006. That will be of interest to teams like Bishop Noll, Boone Grove and Hanover Central which hope to be Lake County's 2A sectional champ.

Also, at McCutcheon, the only returning starting pitcher then had off the 2005 Class 4A state final team, left-hander Tori Collins, moved to the Clinton Prairie school district in January, leaving the Mavericks with only sophomore rookie Kendra Julian. McCutcheon departed for a southern Indiana tournament to start the year and came home with an 0-3 record. Its too soon to write them off. Early season road tournaments tend to put mud on your won-lost record but clearly McCutcheon, now 0-4, is not what they were in 2005 and that may change Class 4A a bit.

In NW Indiana, Lake Central, which lost just four times in the last two years, has lost four times already, but all to good teams on the road. Some of the other teams have been slowed by the weather. The focus will be on Andrean, which had two games canceled at St. Joseph's Saturday. The 59ers travel to the LaVille Invitational where they figure to see highly-regarded Culver Academy Saturday. Then they ride the big yellow bus to Munster (6-0) Tuesday, where the loss of Dani Blair, a top hitter in 2005 who did not return to the team by choice in 2005, has not affected them yet. We don't have any tournaments in NW Indiana in the first month of the year.

The trick is not to get carried away when someone has played an easy early schedule and to throw out the results of any one game. During the regular season, it's not about who you beat. It's about who you play. That's why Munster's undefeated record means more than South Central or Whiting's undefeated record.

Some other teams (some of the PCC) didn't schedule any games until after the advent of Daylight Savings time last weekend so they don't have to worry about the game being called because of darkness. But the rains held off and everybody played this week. All players are back off spring break and we get a true reading of what everybody has.

1.) ANDREAN (3-0)

32-3 in 2005, 29-5 in 2004, 27-2 in 2003, 30-3 in 2002, 26-7 in 2001

MERRILLVILLE - The 59ers are off to another quick start with pitcher Katie Ivancich striking out 13 in an 8-0 win over Noll Tuesday (4-5-6). The Niners beat Highland 4-0 to start the year and they stopped Lowell 7-1 Tuesday. Ivancich is pitching every game and liking it so far. It's the run creation that is encouraging, because the 59ers should have been confident they had good pitching. The 59ers haven't faced a top pitcher yet, but that will change.

Andrean gets going on the 59er softball "World Tour' which sees them travel to Dowagiac, Michigan (April 15), the strong LaVille Invitational (April 8), the Valparaiso Invitational (April 29), Monticello's Twin Lakes Invitational (May 5-6), and something called the "Bishop's Cup" at Mishawaka Marian on May 20. The big game may be versus Culver with all-stater Jackie Lawrence on the mound.

New catcher Christina Caldwell hit a home run against Bishop Noll. She's a big key to this team and so far, so good. But nobody needs to get a big head. The 59ers need to concentrate on winning the many tournaments they are entered in. That means more than winning the always-overrated Lake Athletic Conference. Remember last year when everybody was sure the 59ers would win the 3A state title? How'd that work out? Up here in NW Indiana, we have four state champions every year in April. Trouble is, the finals are played in June.

2.) Munster (6-0)

25-3-1 in 2005, 25-3-1 in 2004, 22-7 in 2003, 15-12 in 2002, 23-10 in 2001

MUNSTER - Munster edged Hobart 2-1 on Tuesday and slipped by Griffith 3-1 Thursday in games where you wonder about run production after the Lady Ponies rolled over out manned Hanover Central 12-1 and and overmatched Bishop Noll 10-0. With LC's early road losses, the state's top 4A ranking went to Munster for the first time. But remember, Andrean is No. 2 in 3A. The Mustangs committed three errors in a game twice, which is too many. But when you're averaging 6.9 runs a game in softball, you can get away with that. Munster does not have the players they did last season, but they didn't stumble out of the gate like LC has.

In the long run, the Munster pitching and defense are still a question, although pitcher Jackie Yerga was 14-1 two years ago and she should get back to that total of wins. Munster has always started fast in recent years and they are another Lake County team which is annually inundated with a steady stream of adulation in the local media. Right now, you don't look too far ahead. The Mustangs have Andrean in the next 10 days. Remember last year when the winner of the Munster-LC sectional game was supposed to be the state champ? How'd that work out?

3.) Lake Central (3-4)

32-1 in 2005, 29-3 in 2004, 32-3-1 in 2003, 28-1 in 2002, 30-4 in 2001

St. JOHN - Lake Central's four losses to Chesterton, Munster, Penn and Castle, all on the road, are more than the 32-1 team lost all last season. The LC pitching staff, thought to be NW Indiana's strongest, gave up 18 runs in the four losses. But the Indians will play four times in sevens day and since they still have the top team overall player-for-player, it is prudent to wait a week and see if the struggles continue. Angie Funston struck out 10 in a 5-0 win over Evansville Memorial Friday (3-31-2006) and she also got the win as LC dominated Valpo 11-0 Tuesday (4-5-2006). Hard-throwing Katie Golden (0-3) has gotten off to a rocky start, but it is unlikely she will continue to struggle. LC has been errorless in two wins and has made six errors in four losses.

The 3-0 loss to Chesterton Thursday was LC's first DAC loss in the three years they've been in the league. It's probably time to remind you that this poll does not roller-coaster up and down depending on single game results, especially March spring break games. Don't write off the Yankees in April... McCutcheon went to the state finals with nine losses last year. If anybody thinks they are better than LC, they should say so now... before the wind starts blowing the other way.

4.) LOWELL (5-1)

21-10 in 2005, 20-9 in 2004, 13-16 in 2003, 14-15 in 2002, 21-9 in 2001

LOWELL - Lowell has gotten off to one of their best starts ever with wins over Valpo 12-0 and Portage 9-2. The Portage game was noteworthy as shortstop Kelly Johnson had three hits and freshman Katherine Allert hit a home run off Portage star Meghan Gutierrez, making her probably just the second batter to hit a homer off Gutierrez in her three year career. Andrean turned down Lowell 7-1 but you don't need to be undefeated.

The Red Devils have hit well as expected... stomping KV 6-0, edging Chesterton 3-2 and Highland 7-5. Pitchers Ryssa Nord (1-1) and Kaitlyn Bolanowski (4-0) have done as well as could be expected and they will have the benefit of an offense that can never be shut out. This team clearly does not have the powerful No. 1 pitcher like Andrean's Katie Ivancich, Munster's Jackie Yerga or the LC duo of Angie Funston and Katie Golden so any errors in the field are more crucial to them than to the other top teams. The Devils are very good in the field, but because of the situation (no strikeout pitchers), very good isn't good enough. I'm not sure this team can play up to the level of Lake Central, Andrean and Munster but we'll have a lot more info on that before the end of the month.

5.) Portage (2-1)

20-9 in 2005, 27-4-3 in 2004, 19-9 in 2003

PORTAGE - Portage shut out Crown Point and then gave up five unearned runs in a 9-2 loss at Lowell. They have NW Indiana's No. 1 pitcher in junior right-hander Meghan Gutierrez (18-5, 0.48, 119 strikeouts, nine walks in 2005), although she gave up eight runs (4 earned) at Lowell Wednesday and four more against undefeated LaPorte Thursday. Portage starts two freshmen and four sophomores and that's hard to make work in the Duneland Athletic Conference where freshmen starters are somewhat scarce. They are again a very young squad. The Indians are going to have defensive problems in the early going and Gutierrez and catcher Sammy Griffith are going to have to be very good and somebody's going to have to drive in some runs. But this team started late, Gutierrez is healthy and we may not have seen everything they can do yet.

6.) Chesterton (4-1)

27-3-1 in 2005, 20-7 in 2004, 22-5 in 2003, 21-4 in 2002

CHESTERTON - Chesterton beat Lake Central for the first time in many years 3-0 Thursday as Dawn McClellan pitched a two-hitter. The Trojans dropped the big one on Merrillville 19-1 Tuesday and reports of their demise may be premature. The loss was 3-2 to Lowell and the Trojans are a couple of defensive plays away from being unbeaten. Emma Lawson struck out seven against the Pirates and Dawn McClellan struck out seven in an 11-1 win over Hanover Central. The Trojans also jacked up Gavit 15-0.

The offense looks surprisingly strong and the pitching has been good, as expected. Chesterton hurlers are inexperienced but all you heard in 2005 was how many good pitchers they had behind now-graduated Laura DeLeon. The Trojans' schedule will get much tougher than it has been. Here's another young team, but they have been producing runs. Chesterton should be 5-0 but this is a very good start for a revamped team.

7.) Bishop Noll (1-3)

17-12 in 2005, 17-14 in 2004, 18-13 in 2003

HAMMOND - I think it would be a mistake to pass judgment here. Noll lost 8-0 to Andrean, 10-0 to Munster and 6-1 to LaPorte. All three teams were undefeated as of the start of this week. Pitcher Kristen Chicago is 1-3, but the Warriors had just two base hits in three games before stopping Hobart 6-1 Thursday. They've been no-hit by both Munster's Jackie Yerga and Andrean's Katie Ivancich.

This does not bode well for Noll having a winning record. The Warriors must play Lowell, Highland, Andrean and Munster all twice. When you do a poll, you have two choices. You can either rank a winning team that has played a cupcake schedule or you can rank a team that is .500 or below against a difficult schedule. This poll rewards the tough schedule more than the winning record. I'll say it again. With core hitter Allison Rokosz (.494), this team can be a sectional and regional champion in 2A. It has to be now. Chico is a senior and five-time defending sectional champ Hanover, which will be down from their top-10 form this year, has top pitching on the way. I'll say it again. Bishop Noll plays bigger, tougher schools all year and then slide down for the playoffs. The Warriors will be .500 or below when the season ends.
The Warriors need to worry about that double-header with Hanover Central Saturday. Hanover is the 5-time Class 2A champ of Lake County and Noll needs to establish that they can beat the Lady Cats.

8.) Griffith (4-1)

19-15 in 2005, 16-15 in 2004, 18-14 in 2003

GRIFFITH - The schedule has been weak so far, but the Panthers jumped out to a 4-0 record after a 5-3 survival against winless Kankakee Valley Wednesday. Munster stopped Griffith 3-1 Thursday, but that was expected. Griffith isn't at that level. Soph Brittany Bridges and junior Lisa Worley have worked a tag team pitching force like Chesterton and Lowell have established so far. But lets be honest... a 5-3 win over KV and a 5-4 win over Boone Grove is not two tickets to paradise. This team hasn't scored more than five runs in any game and they haven't played a team that presently has a winning record. Now that they have no illusions, we can find out how good Griffith is. This team has major offensive problems, but they have bought some time to get better.

9.) LaPorte (3-1)

2005 (13-16), 2004 (3-21)

LaPORTE - Junior pitcher Bre Smith was 10-11 last season and she's won three in a row to start the new year. The Slicers have defeated Hobart 10-0, Bishop Noll 6-1 and Michigan City 5-2 and, while all three of those teams have questions, Smith had allowed just six hits in 19 innings before she gave up 11 at Portage. It might show how weak the area is, but MC would probably beat Whiting or South Central, the other contenders here. Obviously, they will see tougher teams and that started with a 6-4 loss to Portage Thursday. The record will drift towards the .500 mark, but a it's .500 DAC record and that's a big school league where even the sub. 500 teams are dangerous. But LaPorte steps out of the DAC again at state tournament time so here's a sub-.500 team with sectional possibilities.

10.) Highland (1-3)

20-9 in 2005, 19-6-1 in 2004, 22-8 in 2003

HIGHLAND - Okay, this is a down year in NW Indiana. It shows how bad a level of play we have this year when a sub-.500 Highland squad is the 10th best team. The Trojans didn't look good in a 7-5 loss to Lowell Tuesday, and they looked even worse in a 7-2 loss to winless Kankakee Valley Thursday. The Trojans made four errors and it just didn't go well. But I'm going to write off a couple of bad days so far. I still think the Highland pitching is good enough to finish above .500. This is a bad offensive team, but they should be able to keep these games close.

Before you ask, Highland is better than everybody in the Porter County Conference, including South Central (4-0). CP and Merrillville may be better than Highland, but they are so young overall there's nothing to base that on. Whiting may eventually pass all three, but the Oilers' schedule is very weak. The Trojans have two pitchers in Beth Haley (9-6, 1.74 ERA) and Breanne LaPlante (7-2, 0.13 ERA) and they did win 20 games last year. Obviously though, if you keep referring to last year, it means you haven't done much this season.

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