Northwest Indiana Top-10

Week 6 High School Rankings

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

Before the season began we predicted Lake County could send three teams to the state finals. Here are our (5-5-2003) picks for the USA-365.com Week #6 High School Girls Softball Top-10 teams for Northwest Indiana:

1. LAKE CENTRAL (17-2-1)

LC again defeated all comers last week. Pitcher Brooke Baker (10-2) struck out 16 in a 10-1 rout of Snider and she no-hit Carmel 4-1 with nine strikeouts. The only flaw was three errors in the no-hitter against the Greyhounds. No one in the state that I know of has played anywhere near the schedule that Lake Central plays. It's not about who you beat, it's all about who you play.

2. ANDREAN (16-0-1)

Andrean is a close second to LC with wins over Elkhart Memorial (13-3) and Valparaiso (11-7). Pitcher Katie Sheaks is 11-0 after a 5-hitter against Memorial and a 3-hitter against the Vikings. The 59ers also dominated Crown Point 8-1. The 59ers are dragged down by the weak LAC competition. If you're Andrean, you just can't play Lake Station and Whiting. You just can't. The 59ers need this week's Twin Lakes Invitational where they face Class 3A No. 1 McCutcheon (20-1). Andrean usually rises to the occasion in Monticello. They are a two-time champ of that tournament.

3. Portage (10-3)

Portage ran their win streak to six last week but they may have lost games to the weather. Pitcher Cristin Zaragoza had a 20-inning scoreless streak late last week. The Indians get a rematch with Chesterton this week. Portage lost 1-0 in 11 innings at Chesterton in early April.

4. Chesterton (12-2)

The Trojans lost the CP game to the weather last week so they had a break in the schedule. Laura Langendorfer ended the week with a 16-inning scoreless streak. An errorless game against Hobart was encouraging. The series of battles between Valpo, Chesterton and Portage is of great benefit to all three.

5. Valparaiso (11-7)

Valparaiso had a seven-game winning streak but they didn't have much when it came time to meet Andrean in the finals of the Valpo Invitational last Saturday. The 4-1 59er win was aided by three Viking errors. When you consider that four of Valpo's losses are to Penn, Lake Central and Andrean, their record is actually pretty good. And nobody is really excited about facing Ashlee Blankenbaker (8-6).

6. Highland (15-3)

The competition in the Highland Invitational is not that strong but the trick is to win six games in two days. Highland won the eight-team marathon last weekend and defeated a solid team in Harrison (12-5) in the championship game. Junior Stephanie Zimny (14-3) leads northwest Indiana in victories but six walks in the 3-2 win over Harrison is too many. To play this much in a short time (win or lose) usually has long term benefits.

7. Hobart (9-4)

All four Hobart losses are by shutout and that's not good. But the head-to-head series with Valpo, Portage and Chesterton can only be good for them. Hobart has scored only 47 runs all season and that's not nearly enough for a team that hopes to win the sectional title.

8. Griffith (11-8)

Games in the Highland Invitational sometimes get lost but apparently Griffith played five times and won three. The Panthers hit rock bottom in a 13-8 loss to Morton, a game where they made six errors. But this is still a quality team and they're schedule is one of the toughest in the area.

9. Munster (13-2)

Munster is coasting. They need more tests than they are receiving. The only two times they were really tested, the Lady Ponies were shut out. They beat backup pitchers against Jefferson and Clinton Prairie. Could they beat the aces from those teams? The most significant win is a 2-0 win over Hobart and three other teams have shut out Hobart. The suspicion is that Munster is overrated at 10th in the state.

10. Hanover Central (10-5)

Hanover was on their way to a big week, with a 5-0 shutout of Class 1A No. 11 Whiting and Amanda Wendlinger's 7-inning perfect game at Kouts. But they fell down with a 4-2 loss to a sub. 500 Crown Point team. The Lady Cats still cant scratch out runs against good pitching and that's what wins in the playoffs. Hanover needs a good showing in this week's Twin Lakes tourney. A win over Lafayette Jefferson (10-6) or Pioneer (11-2) would be a big lift to them.

Others to watch

*** Lowell (7-9)

Lowell is mounting a late season charge. They were 2-8 at one time. The two freshmen, Carrie Shelhart and Liz Martin, at the top of the lineup are always on base. Lowell won 5-of-6 in the last two weeks and the loss was to Lake Central. They still make too many errors (13 in the last 6 games after the April 29 win at Hammond) but this team shows vast improvement.

*** Crown Point (8-9)

This team loses the close ones, or at least they did, until last Saturday's 4-2 win over Hanover in Cedar Lake. Senior Lacy Holevis (4-8) has an ERA of 1.60. in 83 innings. Holevis also has a batting average of over .400. The defense has horrible breakdowns like in the 8-1 loss to Andrean Friday where they gave up eight errors. But the schedule has prepared them. Portage, Valpo, Hobart, Chesterton, Lake Central, Andrean. The draw for the Merrillville Sectional is crucial but the nine seniors could get hot when the time is right.

*** South Central (12-2)

The biggest win of the season was the 5-4 win over undefeated Bremen Saturday. Never mind that Bremen (13-1) smoked the Satellites 7-1 in game two of the double-header. Sophomore Chantal Gross (9-1) struck out 10 in the win but gave up 10 hits. the defense broke down (4 errors) without Gross on the mound in game two. Who is Molly Cuff? She had five hits in the two games.

SOFT NOTES: The state polls will change after Friday night as No.1 (2A) Andrean faces No. 1 (3A) McCutcheon in the feature 1st round game at the Twin Lakes Invitational in Monticello. McCutcheon had won 19 in a row at the end of the week but the 59ers are the defending champions of this 16-team elite tournament. The 59ers play Highland (15-3) at Highland Wednesday.

Hanover (10-5) is eyeing the 10:30 a.m. Saturday game with superpower Lafayette Jefferson (10-6).The Lady Cats open at 5 p.m. Friday night in Monticello against North White. It's hard to find results on North White but they lost a double-header Saturday 6-5 and 4-0 to South Newton, a team Hanover beat 10-4.

Penn improved to 14-2 over the weekend with a 3-2 win over Carmel and an 3-0 win over Hamilton Southeastern. Clark is 0-13 after a 19-0 loss to New Prairie and a 13-3 loss to LaPorte Saturday.
More than one team may have played without key players Saturday due to SAT tests (college entrance exams) for juniors. Hanover went without junior shortstop Bess Copak in the 4-2 loss to Crown Point.