High School Baseball Sectional 1
Tournament Preview

MUNSTER - Everyone in Class 4A Sectional 1 got a pass except Munster. Because it was Munster (12-11) that drew 4A No. 1 Lake Central (24-1) in the opening game of the sectional on Friday, May 25. Everybody wanted a bye in the seven team sectional here and Highland (7-14) got it, which makes them a contender to upset the favored teams.

Highland is a problem for everybody because they have 6-foot-3 left-handed flamethrower Jordan Minch, who can beat anyone. The Trojan star does not have a winning record, but that's very deceptive. Minch struck out 16 in a 5-1 win over Lowell on May 8, 13 in a 7-6 loss to Kankakee Valley on May 14 and 11 in a 5-2 win over Griffith on April 16.

Minch, the No. 2 ranked senior player in the state of Indiana, and a Purdue recruit, had 143 strikeouts in 107 innings as a junior and senior. He probably leads NW Indiana in strikeouts if all the totals were collected. To be fair, Lake Central has three of the state's Top-50 players in pitchers Jimmy McNamara and Taylor Lehnert plus outfielder Chase Fieldhouse, who hit 10 home runs in 2011.

So, the bracket seems tilted to match Highland against LC in Monday night's final game. But there are several roadblocks and one is Munster, which has a solid lefty in Anthony Gomez who will probably face LC. On the surface, it seems unlikely that Munster will beat LC. Munster has four left-handed hitters in the starting lineup and LC is certain to pitch McNamara, a lefty who can throw 90 miles an hour and has lost only two games in two years.

Lowell got all they could ask for in the draw. The Devils didn't want LC or Highland because of the starting pitchers they'd see. The Red Devils lost 16-0 to LC on a cold April day when McNamara struck out all 15 batters in five innings. There is almost no way McNamara faces Lowell in the semifinals although Lehnert is no vacation for batters.

The Devils almost certainly will go with hard throwing righty Danny DeBoer, who was not available the first time the Devils played LC. Lowell also has a solid right-hander in freshman Myles Siedentopf, who will probably be matched against East Chicago in the quarterfinals.

It's risky to not start your best pitcher in the opening playoff game, but it might be even more dangerous to use up your veteran pitcher on a sub-.500 team in a quarterfinal and then face the state's top-ranked team with a freshman.

Lowell has some freshmen on the roster themselves and it will serve them well to open against a pitcher they can hit. Also, the Devils' quarterfinal game will be at night and they didn't want to see McNamara or Minch after dark.

There is a stamina factor here as many baseball teams have not played two games in one day. Lake Central did, two weeks ago, when they topped Franklin Central and Indianapolis Cathedral in the same day. To win two playoff games in one day, you need to be in peak condition. Boys can't run out of gas mentally and physically at 9 p.m. Monday night.

LC, rated No. 1 in the latest state poll, is an obvious favorite. But if Highland gets past Morton (9-9), reaches the finals and throws Jordan Minch in a 7:30 night game, they have a 50-50 chance for an upset.