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High
School Baseball Sectional 2
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A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith 5-18-2012 (Posted to website late on 7-15-2012) |
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High
School Baseball Sectional 2
|
|
|
A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith 5-18-2012 (Posted to website late on 7-15-2012) |
 |
| LaPorte infielder Francis Silfa (3) will have to be a key player if LaPorte is to make run in the Class 4A Sectional 2 playoffs at Merrillville. (Photo by Mark Smith) |
46th Indiana
State Baseball playoffs
Class 4A Sectional 1 at Munster
Quarterfinals - Thursday, May 24
Gary West Side (4-2) vs. Morton - 5 p.m.
Friday, May 26
Munster (12-11) vs. Lake Central (23-1) 5 p.m.
East Chicago (12-12) vs. LOWELL (6-17) 7 p.m.
Semifinals - Monday, May 29
Highland (7-17) vs. Morton - 12 noon
LC/Munster vs. LOWELL - 2 p.m.
Championship
Monday, May 28 - 7:30 p.m.
Class 4A Sectional 2 at MERRILLVILLE
Quarterfinals - Wednesday, May 23
Chesterton (12-12) vs. Valparaiso (14-7) 4:30 p.m.
Michigan City (10-12) vs. CROWN POINT (22-4) 6 p.m.
Quarterfinals - Thursday, May 24
Portage (20-5) vs. MERRILLVILLE (5-20) 4:30 p.m.
Hobart (18-7) vs. LaPorte (10-16) 6 p.m.
Semifinals - Friday, May 25
Chesterton/Valpo vs. CROWN POINT - 4:30 p.m.
Hobart/LaPorte vs. Portage - 6 p.m.
Championship
Monday, May 28 - 11 a.m.
MERRILLVILLE -
The sectionals that suffer most because of the hurry-up Indiana High
School Athletic Association (IHSAA) baseball ands softball
tournament formats are the ones with eight teams. The new format,
which began four years ago, which crams six playoffs games into 10
days for any team in an eight team sectional which hopes to win the
regional championship.
The quality of baseball suffers, especially if there's any ran, but
the format, which begins the state tournament in the middle of the
week, is designed to get the tournament over as fast as possible.
You'll notice that the state championship Saturday is scheduled for
June 16, ending the prep sports spring season with two weeks
remaining in June. Until coaches speak up about this, it will
continue.
The hurry up format is the reason that most sectionals in the state
differ in some way. For example, Class 4A Sectional 1 plays games
Thursday, Friday and day and night Monday while 4A Sectional 2 plays
games Wednesday, Thursday and Monday morning.
Anyone who's going to win Sectional one, and must play a Friday
night quarterfinal game, is probably going to need three starting
pitchers. Since IHSAA rules state that you can only pitch 10 innings
in a three day span, Friday night's starter won't be able to pitch
another complete game Monday. The semifinals and Finals in 4A
Sectional 1 are both set for Monday.
The practical manifestation of the problem here is that Lake Central
star Jimmy McNamara (7-1) who will surely pitch in the quarterfinal
against Munster at 5:30 p.m. Friday, May 25, will be ineligible to
do anything but pitch relief in the Monday afternoon May 28
semifinals and barely eligible to come back for the Monday night,
May 28 title game, if he physically can pitch just 72 hours later.
In 4A Sectional 2 at Merrillville, it's much easier. If Zach Plesac
(7-1), for example, starts Crown Point's quarterfinal game
Wednesday, May 23, he could come back and pitch three innings of
relief two nights later in the Friday evening semifinals and still
be able to come back and pitch seven innings (if physically able) in
the Monday morning championship game.
Bottom line. You are going to need more pitching in Sectional one
than you will in Sectional two.
You've got to like Crown Point's chances. The Bulldogs (24-4) face a
Michigan City team they have defeated twice this season and would
face a team in the semifinals (either Chesterton or Valparaiso) that
they have also defeated twice.
Class 4A No. 9 Portage (20-5) drew
a weak Merrillville team in the quarterfinals, but they must face Valpo or
Hobart in the Friday night semifinals, a tough assignment.
CP has a solid No. 2 starter in Jake Lindeman (5-1) and he would certainly get
his chance in the semifinals. The team best suited for this format is probably
Chesterton, which has two strong starting pitchers in Jake Post and Bobby
Humphreys.
The Trojans are not a good offensive team, but they'd have a chance to upset CP in the Friday semifinals if Humphreys could start with Post in relief. CP's wins over Chesterton are 4-2 over Post and 3-2 over Humphreys. Post and Humphreys had great success holding down the Bulldogs' bats. On April 11, Plesac hit a three run home run with two out in the seventh inning to top the Trojans at CP.
Plesac, CP's top junior
right-hander, pitched a no-hitter in that game and three weeks later, Plesac
pitched a five-hit complete game in the 3-2 win.
I don't think Michigan City will defeat Crown Point and there are not a lot of
reasons to believe that Merrillville can hold down Portage's potent offense, led
by big hitting third baseman Gabe Acevedo.
So, if there is a first round surprise, it might be LaPorte over Hobart (18-7). The Slicers, who suffered a school-record nine-game losing streak this season, have plugged three sophomores into the lineup and they have a soft-tossing curve-balling lefty in Ben Saliwanchik (2-4), who struck out 13 in a 2-1 win over Lowell last week.
Crown Point might not say this out loud, but they love the sectional being at Merrillville. CP will get just as much fan support at Merrillville as they would if they hosted the sectional. They don't have to worry about the details of hosting, which can be significant and CP won't be too relaxed as they would be on their home field.
Being relaxed can blow up on you in an eight-team single-elimination playoff. The 10-minute bus ride can get CP in the mood and Merrillville is not an hour away from Crown Point like it is for LaPorte and Michigan City.
Hobart is the only non-Duneland Conference school here and they have not met Crown Point this season. Portage defeated Hobart 7-6 two weeks ago. Merrillville has a slightly larger than average ballpark and that's going to work for the pitching-heavy teams like CP and Chesterton. One downside for CP is that regular center fielder Kevin Brunski was lost at mid-season to a knee injury and he almost certainly will not be back.
Crown Point is the defending Class 4A Sectional 2 NW Indiana regional champion and they were 5-1 in playoff games last year. Most of that team is still here. Of CP's four losses, two are to Lake Central and LC isn't here.
The draw gave Portage and Crown Point favored paths to the Monday morning championship game. CP won 10-1 at Portage in April behind Plesac (Portage was 9-0 going into that game) while the Indians rallied to win 6-5 at CP earlier this month on a seventh inning home run by Acevedo.
If Crown Point, which will be the home team in the quarterfinals and semifinals, can get to the championship game without using Plesac in the semifinals, the would have an edge over a Portage squad that will be the home team in the championship game.
