Northwest Indiana 2004 Top-10

High School Baseball Poll: Week 9

5-29-2004

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

Lake Central and Munster won league titles over the weekend. Crown point played two ranked teams and Boone Grove continued a late season revival. Rain postponed a canceled a few gams lass weekend and more will be axed this week is forecasts are accurate. With the draw out, what's the best chance to reach the state finals from Lake, Porter, Jasper, Newton and LaPorte counties? Bishop Noll in Class 2A.

1. Andrean (20-6)

MERRILLVILLE - The 59ers won three of four in the LAC tourney, losing to Munster 4-2 Monday (May 25) night. Stockwell (23-51, .451), Finn (29-66, .439) and Mike Staehle (24-55, .436) continued to hit well. Stockwell was 3-for-4 in an 11-1 quarterfinal win over Wheeler and he hit a leadoff homerun in a 3-2 semifinal win over Bishop Noll. The 3A 59ers remain undefeated against 3A teams. Munster beat Andrean 2-out-of-3 but Munster was able to use lefty Brian Bokowy (7-0) all three times. Andrean has more pitching depth. They're still No. 1. The 59ers lost 4-2 to improving Merrillville Tuesday and look for them to add a game or two in the final week to compensate for a soft sectional schedule. They do not play LaPorte or Lake Central.

2. LaPORTE (20-5)

LaPORTE - The Slicers lost the DAC title when LC scored three times against Andy Weeks (7-2) in the seventh inning last Thursday (May 21), breaking a 1-1 tie for a 4-1 win. The Slicers beat Goshen 5-2 Friday and Clark 7-1 Tuesday to win 20 for the 38th year in a row. Clark, amazingly, was ranked No.1 in Class 3A when the Slicers buried them 7-1 Tuesday night. That speaks to the difference between the Lake Athletic Conference and the Duneland Athletic Conference. Any way you figure it, whoever goes downstate in Class 4A is going to have to beat LaPorte.

3. Lake Central (18-6)

ST. JOHN - LC won the games they had to win to take the DAC title, rallying to beat Crown Point 5-4 and LaPorte 4-1. John Babinski (8-1) was 6-0 against the DAC. Mike Couwenhoven (24-53, .453, 4 HRs, 9 doubles, 23 RBIs), who announced he had signed with Northern Illinois University and Josh Kauffman (26-59, .441, 3 HRs, 16 RBIs) have good numbers but Ian Figuly was 5-of-7 in those two games. Brett Summers (7-2) dominated DeKalb 10-0 Saturday in a six-inning game. Like I said last week when they had lost 4-of-6, I don't think anything is wrong with Lake Central. They were just going through a streak that baseball people understand. With the new, crazy Tuesday regionals (that require a staff to have three starting pitchers), LC may come up a little short unless Josh Kaufman has another big game in him. You don't want to play them now.

4. Munster (21-3)

MUNSTER - The Mustangs, who have outscored 24 foes 212-90, beating Highland 8-6 and Griffith 12-6 before shutting down Andrean's offense for a 4-2 win Monday night. Brian Bokowy (7-0) has two wins over Andrean this season and nobody else will. Munster won the LAC for the first time since the new league started a tournament five years ago. This team is constructed similarly to the state finals team in 2002. But that team got on a very hot ride and roared home. They'll go as long as they can keep pitching Bokowy one day and scoring 10 runs the next. The new state tourney format seriously hurts this chances of teams like Washington Township, Clark and Munster, who have one dominant pitcher.

5. Crown Point (16-9)

CROWN POINT - Not a great week for the Bulldogs who lost 11-9 to Merrillville, beat Lawrence Central 11-5 and lost to Class 4A No. 4 Terre Haute North 10-0 in five innings. CP's pitching is in a down cycle after Lake Central scored five in the seventh to beat them 5-4. That's 31 runs allowed in the last 20 innings for a squad with a team ERA of less that 2.50 going in. The Bulldogs got a tough draw in sectional play needing to win three games. CP's 7-1 win over Lowell Tuesday began a big week which includes a Thursday game at Clark (21-4), a Friday home game against Jefferson (15-10) and a Saturday game with Washington Township. A four-game final week is good for a team that will need all their pitchers in the sectional tournament.

6. Merrillville (13-9)

MERRILLVILLE - The Pirates held off Crown Point 11-9 as Darryl Evans had three more hits. Pirate pitching was shaky, except for a 2-1 loss to LaPorte (20-5). Darryl Evans (31-70, .442, 9 HRs, 39 RBIs) has 14 stolen bases and 21 extra base hits. Has anybody stopped him? Evans and Bo McLendon add a lot of speed and, despite pitching shortcomings, this team is formidable. Since the IHSAA has blown up the state tourney pitching-wise anyway, Merrillville might want to consider a half game rotation. In other words, play on two pitchers for three or four innings every game. Keep showing hitters a different look.

7. Chesterton (16-7)

CHESTERTON - Who is Alex Montagano and how did he lift up two home runs in the 9-7 win over Portage Thursday? The pitching is still a serious worry, but as I keep reminding, the Trojans were 9-19 last season. Chesterton drew the long straw; three sectional games stating with a difficult Crown Point team. It's very hard to see this team surviving the new IHSAA format, which requires four games in nine days to win the sectional and the regional. The Trojans might also attempt to go half-and-half with their pitching, using someone like Tom Albano (7-2) to close every game.

8. Bishop Noll (14-11)

HAMMOND - Noll finished third in the LAC tournament with a 2-1 win over Griffith. Ryan Bobos (6-1) struck out seven and allowed four hits in a complete game win over the hard-hitting Panthers. Noll's Andy Loomis (5-3) allowed just six hits in a 3-2 loss to Andrean. Danny Faulkner (3-1) allowed five hits in the 5-2 win over Highland. And if you notice, that's the three starting pitchers that Noll needs to get through the sectional and regional in seven days. Since a 3-8 start, Bishop Noll is 11-3.

9. Griffith (15-12)

GRIFFITH - The Panthers did lose to Munster 12-6 and Noll 2-1, but freshman Matt Kuna (5-4) allowed only five hits against Noll. Griffth is still 2-1 vs. Noll and 0-2 against Munster and Andrean. Noll beat Munster 11-1 and Andrean 4-2. Don't ask me to explain that. Todd Polgar, injured most of the year, struck out the side against Noll in a one-inning assignment. The Panther's 4-3 win over 3A No. 1 Clark dimmed a tad when Clark lost 7-1 at LaPorte. For the record, Griffith was 17-12 last year.

10. Clark (22-4)

HAMMOND - Okay, so they got whipped 7-1 at LaPorte. They were supposed to get beat there. That speaks to the ocean of difference between LaPorte's Duneland Conference and Clark's Lake Athletic Conference. Steve Polak (34-58, .586) and Drew Polak (38-78, .487) have numbers that are a tad inflated. But one game means nothing. Let's see if Clark can rebound and take out Crown Point (16-9) Thursday.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH..............?

BOONE GROVE (15-10)

PORTER TOWNSHIP - Since getting smoked by Hanover Central 9-3 on April 26, Boone is 11-2. By the time you read this, they've probably spanked Morgan Township for another PCC title. Boone's big asset is strength of schedule. The Wolves are a 2A team that has beaten 4A Highland 14-10, 4A Merrillville 8-4, 4A Lowell 5-4 and 4A Michigan City 5-4. Senior Sean Bishop (5-3) stopped Kouts 4-1 in the PCC semifinals. Danny Borys had two doubles, 3 RBIs and the save in a 13-7 win over South Central. This could be the only team capable of stopping Bishop Noll in Class 2A.

Judgment Day is coming for ...............

Kankakee Valley (14-13)

DeMOTTE - This team has ridden a roller coaster all season, starting 8-0, falling to 9-9 and then circling to 14-13 after a 10-9 win over West Central. Here's another good offensive team that lacks pitching. After 24 games, freshman Matt Dobin led with a .358 (24 of 67) batting average. Dobin had struck out only eight times. Zach Prairie (24 of 78, .308) had five homers and 23 RBIs. Pitching success was confined to John Cusack (3-4, 2.64 ERA) and Gentry Brown (5-3, 2.52 ERA) with Cusack collecting five saves. For the next few years until the state tourney is realigned again, KV's baseball season will come down to one game against Andrean. The 59ers (20-6) swamped KV 6-2 on May 10 and 16-4 on April 21. It is not impossible that KV could win a third match, and if they do, no one will care about their .500 record.

BASE NOTES: The LAC championship game, won by Munster (21-3) over Andrean (20-5) Monday bumped Munster's second attempt to play rival and neighbor Lake Central. The game was rained out earlier. Another attempt probably will be made to play since the game is scheduled to be LC's 'Senior Night'. Perennial state baseball superpower Plymouth, a stunning 4-14 two weeks ago, won a fourth consecutive game last Thursday, a 4-1 upset of Northridge (19-5).

State home run leader Mike Pratt hit his 13th and 14th HRs of the year Saturday (May 22) for Concord, in a 10-1 win over Riley. Pratt, a senior catcher, is not the all-time single season HR king of Concord (16-6-2), a 4A Elkhart school.

Indiana's only undefeated team, Class 1A No.1 Riverton Parke rejected Class 3A No, 5 Crawfordsville (19-5) in a double-header Saturday (May 22) 3-2 and 14-9. Riverton Parke, which is in the Wabash River Conference in Montezuma, Indiana, must know by now that only one undefeated team (Evansville Memorial - 1978) has ever won the Indiana State baseball title.

Return to Top