Northwest Indiana 2004 Top-10

High School Baseball Poll: Week 10

6-2-2004

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

Almost all the top teams in northwest Indian took a loss in the final week, which is annually the most deceptive week of the year. Once again, if your opinion of a team changes from week to week, then it was a weak opinion. You can check back here and see 75% of the teams that were ranked at the start of the year are all pretty much still here and have had big winning seasons. Rain caused major problems with the first week of the state tournament which was compressed due to the new 'hurry up' IHSAA format that crams the sectional and regional level into eight days. Only Merrillville got more than one game in on Monday (May 31) among sectionals in Lake, Porter, LaPorte and St. Joseph's counties. Any coaches who read this are asked to please press the coaches association to rescind this very weather vulnerable format which has little chance or working properly any year. Another unwanted product of the mid- week regional is that a pitching-challenged team is encouraged to use their No. 1 starter four times in 12 days. You will see that happen. There have been few playoff surprises because the schedule is being delayed.

1. Andrean (21-7)

MERRILLVILLE - If you play 28 games of a difficult schedule and win 75%, you had a good enough year. Nobody cares what you do until the playoffs anyway. Stockwell (27-61, .443, 8 HRs), Finn (39-79, .494, 11 doubles), Steve Walsh (32-69, .464, 32 RBIs) and Mike Staehle (27-65, .415) have had the seasons they wanted to have. I believe that Andrean ended the year undefeated against 3A teams. The final week against Bishop Noll, Merrillville, Marquette and Clay was strong. Good close games all decided by two runs or less. The 59ers should beat Gary Roosevelt and face hard-charging Kankakee Valley (17-13) in Friday's 3A Andrean Sectional title game. I'm certain the expectations are high at Andrean and they should be. They have at least a half dozen college players in the starting lineup. It's state finals or bust.

2. LaPORTE (21-7)

LaPORTE - The Slicers beat South Central 7-3 and Lowell 6-0 to close the season after giving up four in the seventh and losing 6-3 to Benton Central. The biggest note from the final week was left-handed junior Andy Weeks (9-2) shutting down Clark 7-1 and striking out 11 in six innings of a 7-1 win against Lowell. Coach Steve Upp did not allow Weeks to finish either game, clearly saving the arm of his top pitcher. The Slicers scored 29 runs (5.8) in their final five games. The Slicers need Nolan Weeks (4-3) or Nate Metheney, who pitched late season victories over Merrillville and South Central, to get the Slicers past South Bend Washington so Andy Weeks can battle tough South Bend Clay (20-8) in the South Bend Sectional title game Friday night in Covaleski Stadium in South Bend. With Andy Weeks pitching, this team is better than Lake Central, Andrean or Munster because they are very strong defensively.

3. Lake Central (21-6)

ST. JOHN - LC bombed Lowell 21-2 in the Highland Class 4A Sectional semifinals so there's not much question they're ready for the state tournament. I would expect the Indians to use curve-baller Jon Babinski (9-1) against Munster (22-5) in the sectional title game Friday at 4:30 p.m. The Injuns closed the regular season with a 16-4 rout of Griffith. Has anybody else noticed that since they scored five runs in the seventh to beat Crown Point 5-4 on May 22, LC has not lost and has outscored the opposition 59-8 in five wins? The fact that LC advanced to the state finals last year comes into play here. No one appears more ready for the playoffs than Lake Central.

4. Munster (21-3)

MUNSTER - Munster took a jolt on the final day of the season, dropping a double-header 8-7 and 10-4 to Merrillville. But I don't think anybody coach Bob Shinkan pitched in those games is going to be on the mound when Munster faces Lake Central on Friday. Fans of the wild horses won't be too upset with the double loss last Friday.

On May 24, 2002, Merrillville swept a double-header from Munster 3-1, and 2-1, ending Munster's regular season at 18-9. The Mustangs then won seven playoff games in a row to give the school their first state championship.

All you need to know about Munster is that left-hander Brian Bokowy is 7-0 (1.36 ERA, 80 Ks, in 47 innings) and the Mustangs outscored 27 foes by a combined score of 237-112, averaging over nine (9.0) runs a game. The problem Munster will have, even if they beat LC, is that they would host a regional title game just three days later on June 8. They would then play a semistate double-header (hopefully) on June 12. How much can Bokowy pitch and which game can Brian Hayes (5-0) win?

5. Chesterton (18-8)

CHESTERTON - So much for momentum. The Trojans were crushed by Munster 15-4 at home on the final day of the season. But in the state playoffs, Chesterton smoked Crown Point 9-3 and Portage 9-1. Josh Malone and Alex Montagano had two home runs each in the first 13 innings of sectional play. Here's a 9-19 team that turned 10 games around and is playing for the sectional championship Friday (June 4).

I would pick Daryl Evans of Merrillville, but Casey Martin (40-81, .494 5 HRs, 23 RBIs) could be the DAC MVP. The key man is Tom Albano (7-2), the Trojans' submarine style relief pitcher who can be the MVP of the playoffs because he can defy any format by pitching everyday. You're going to need left-handed hitters to beat Albano, who has a win over Lake Central and didn't face Munster. Josh Malone (5-4), who defeated Crown Point in the sectional quarterfinals Monday, has a victory over LaPorte this year. The pitching staff seems a bit thin, but, if they keep hitting like they did in the 11-1 rout of Portage in the sectional semifinals Tuesday, it won't matter. You do not have to have the best team to get to the baseball state finals. You just need a short winning streak.

6. Crown Point (17-11)

CROWN POINT - CP's 9-3 loss to Chesterton ended a season that numerically was good, but in reality, was somewhat disappointing. CP was 4-0 at one point, 6-5 seven games later, 14-6 with a four run seventh inning lead against Lake Central (21-6) on May 23 and then 17-11. In retrospect, the 5-4 loss to Lake Central when senior pitcher Mike Schultz had a four run lead and two out in the final inning, broke the confidence of the Bulldogs who lost four of their final seven. CP returns 75% of the playoff roster including four of the top five pitchers. True, this was a rebuilding season, but the Bulldogs had hoped to be rebuilding for another two weeks. The only beneficiary here will be Tony Samano, manager of CP's American legion team which will inherit most of the CP team (and a feeling of unfinished business) for the Legion tournaments and playoffs this summer.

7. Merrillville (16-11)

MERRILLVILLE - It was surprising that Valparaiso shut out Merrillville 5-0 and eliminated the Pirates in the Merrillville 4A Sectional quarterfinals. Not only had the Pirates beaten Valpo twice during the regular season, Merrillville had a big time offense all year. But a young team sometimes chokes up during the playoffs. No matter. This was a team that was 7-20 last year. Coach Zac Wells graduates only hard-hitting SS Jason Plys. The Pirates need to develop pitching. No one pitched well consistently but a lot of young pitchers had moments like Kevin Marsh beating Andrean 4-2 and Caleb Douglas stopping Munster 11-4. The final numbers for Daryl Evans will put him on most all-area teams before he takes the field for the Hammond Seminoles traveling team this summer.

8. Bishop Noll (15-11)

HAMMOND - Noll beat Griffith 2-1 and Merrillville 6-0 in the final days of the season. I don't believe they got in any Friday-Saturday games so they entered a mismatch game against Lake Station (9-21) as a big favorite in the Class 2A Boone Grove Sectional. With defending champion Boone Grove losing 13-12 to Wheeler, Bishop Noll's chances appear very good. Power pitcher Ryan Bobos (6-1, 1.98 ERA) figures to take on either Wheeler or Hanover Central (17-10) and they will almost certainly see the No.2 pitcher from either team. Left-hander Andy Loomis (6-3) should be more than ready to help Noll host the regional on June 8. Hanover Central has won as many games (17) as they have in the 34-year history of that school, but for this team to lose before the semistate would be a major upset.

9. Griffith (17-13)

GRIFFITH - The Panthers closed the season with a 6-1 win over Penn (23-5) and a 16-4 loss to Lake Central (20-6). The outcomes didn't matter. It doesn't matter who you beat during the regular season, it matters who you play. Griffith took on all comers and that's why they're favored to beat Clark (25-3) in the Griffith Sectional Thursday. You don't think this was a roller coaster season for Griffith? The Panthers allowed a high total of 173 runs and scored an even higher total of 220 (7.1). In the final week, freshman star Matt Kuna (6-3) pitched all seven innings to beat Penn, which used six pitchers in what, for them was a warmup game for the playoffs. Todd Polgar, a 6-6 right-hander, pitched in three of the final four games so he'll be ready. It's a tall order to beat Clark (25-4) and Andrean (21-7) in a six-day span but the Panthers have defeated both teams. They have the talent. They just don't have the experience.

10. Valparaiso (16-12)

VALPARAISO - Clint Krysa shut down Merrillville 5-0 to push the streaking Vikings into the Merrillville 4A Sectional championship game. Since a 10-7 loss to Merrillville on May 13, Valparaiso has won eight games in a row. After searching for a second starter behind John Charlson (6-7), the VHS nation has found one in Krysa who has pitched consecutive complete game victories over Mishawaka, Boone Grove and Merrillville. In the eight-game winning streak, the Vikings have outscored the opposition 76-21. Tim Blaine (31-69, .449, 19 RBIs) has had a big second half including 3-for-4 against Morton. Tim Kucharski (30-81, .370) has 11 stolen bases while Brian McMillan (33-78, .441, 8 HRs, 41 RBIs) and Kyle Batholomew (26-74, 5 HRs) have added a lot of power. Getting a first round bye at the sectional helped but Valparaiso is very used to winning and they have a deep, talented squad. It's up to the pitching to give them a chance to win.

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

Clark (24-4)

HAMMOND - Clark got a big boost with a 2-0 no-hit win over Crown Point (17-11) last Thursday in the season finale. Steve Polak (11-0) struck out 15 and walked only four as the home team beat a winning team for just the fifth time all season on the 'Pioneer Ponderosa' off Calumet Ave near Wolf Lake. In the final six games as Clark got away from LAC Blue Division play, their offense dried up. The Pioneers scored just 18 runs in their last six games. Polak will have to dominate if Clark is to turn around an earlier 4-3 loss to Griffith last month. Clark has won 45 of their last 57 games, but Griffith plays much tougher teams on a regular basis. Have they been fooling us all season or do they have a surprise for the rest of the state?

Out of town...................

1A No. 6 Lafayette Catholic (20-8)

LAFAYETTE - Catholic has two wins over McCutcheon (20-9) and a double-header split with Valparaiso (16-12), so it's a good bet they're stronger than their record. Nathan Riggle (9-2) had a 1.15 ERA through 55 innings after going 10-2 last year. Collin Arnold (31-76, .408) has four homers and 30 RBIs during the regular season after bating .319 in 2003. Of the Knights eight losses, only one has come against a Class A team. This team lost in the state semifinals the last two seasons, finishing 27-6 last year. Seven full-time starters return from last year's team. Expectations are very, very high which means that anyone seeing them at the semistate level better be ready. On paper, this is the 1A state champion.

BASE NOTES: If Hanover Central defeats Wheeler Thursday, they will have 18 varsity baseball wins for the first time in the 35-year history of the school. Then, they'd get to play powerful Bishop Noll Saturday at the Boone Grove sectional. Boone Grove trailed Wheeler 12-4 when rain and lightning stopped play Monday in the Boone 2A quarterfinals. The next day (June 1) Boone rallied but lost 13-12. Washington Township's Dan Gianguilio won his 10th game of the season as the Senators beat LaCrosse 10-2 at the Washington Township Sectional.

Friday's championship game at the Elkhart Sectional should match superpower Penn (24-5) against Class 4A No. 1 Elkhart Memorial (26-2) on Memorial's home field. The winner of the Elkhart Sectional faces the winner of the South Bend Sectional which eventually must match LaPorte (21-7) against Clay (20-8).

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