| Team (Record) / Inning | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| LOWELL Post 101 (9-20) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 4 |
| Remington Post 280 (14-7) | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 2 |
CP
Sectional opener - July 22, 2003 - at Teagle Field, Crown Point
WP - Jeremy Rodibaugh (Rensselaer) 9Ks, 2 walks
LP - Brian Stamper (Lowell) 1K, 1 walk (2 inn.)
LOWELL (7 singles, double, triple)
Mike Stoner (Lowell) Triple, 2 singles
Danny Kozlowski (Hanover) 2 singles, RBI
Like Besse (Hanover) Double, walk
Remington (8 singles)
Bobby Susek (Twin Lakes)2 singles, RBI
Ryan Finn (Delphi) 2 singles, 3 RBIs
Matt Joseph (Rensselaer) 2 singles, 2 walks
Jeremy Rodibaugh (Rensselaer) Single,
HBP
CROWN POINT (7-23-2003) - Sometimes in the American legion playoffs, you see something you haven't seen all year. Unfortunately for Lowell, that was the case on opening night of the 2003 Crown Point Sectional.
"We played them three times," said Lowell Post 101 manager Greg Ford. "And we never saw him. Crown Point's going to have a problem. They're a little short of pitching and I don't know if they're going to hit him."
'Him' was Rensselaer high right-hander Jeremy Rodibaugh, a virtual unknown in Lake County but a three-sport start for the Bombers. Playing for Remington Post 280, Rodibaugh struck out nine and allowed only one earned run in a 12-2 victory over Lowell Post 101 Tuesday night.
Rodibaugh, who was 7-4 in 2003 for Rensselaer and 9-1 in 2002, blanked Lowell for the first four innings while Post 280 was built up a 10-0 lead. Lowell errors gave Remington a lot of the runs but Rodibaugh, who will be a formidable foe for any of the other three squads on Saturday or Sunday, gives Post 280 a real chance to win their first sectional title.
"They're pretty good," said Ford. "We made a lot of mistakes and they were ready to play. I think they could win it all here."
Lowell appeared ready to jump all over the visitors from Jasper County when Mike Stoner sliced a ball into deep right center field on which center fielder Matt Joseph and right fielder Ryan Finn had a partial collision. Stoner got a three-base hit and Post 101 seemed about to take the lead until Rodibaugh, a curve-balling right-hander, retired the next three batters without Stoner scoring.
In the bottom of the first inning, Bobby Susek, from Twin Lakes high school, slapped a single to deep short. Rensselaer's Matt Joseph laid down a sacrifice bunt that started a chain reaction play. Third baseman Nate Oaf overran the bunt and Susek tried to race to third. Pitcher Brian Stamper picked up the ball but his throw carried down the left field line into foul territory. Susek and Joseph both scored to make it 2-0.
In the second inning, Post 101 got walks from Hanover Central varsity players Luke Besse and Adam Suarez after two out. But Rodibaugh struck out ninth place batter Mike Beier.
Things went downhill for POst 101 from there. Six singles created a six-run second inning against Stamper, as Remington forced some more mistakes. Jess Hahn and Mike Sheetz led off with singles and Bo Barrett sacrificed them to second and third. Ninth place batter Adam Kourtz walked and Susek pulled a line drive to left for a two-run hit to make it 4-0. After the runners moved up on the throw home, another bizarre play broke the game open. Remington tried a suicide squeeze bunt. As Kurtz raced up the third base line, Joseph, another three-sport Rensselaer high star bunted the pitch, popping it over the head of first baseman Stoner. Both runners kept coming, scoring on a rare two-run bunt single to make it 6-0. Lowell never recovered.
The game was over after three innings and the cool July evening ended when Rensselaer scored their 12th run on a hit by Tri-County's Ryan Finn in the seventh inning. The 10-run rule comes into play after seven innings in nine-inning American Legion playoff games.
"We just had a bad game," said Oaf. "I never saw him (Rodibaugh) when we played them before. But we didn't play well enough to win."
"We're just going to have to come back Friday," said Ford of the consolation round in this double-elimination tournament where they will probably see Hobart Post 54 (4-8). "And Hobart can be tough. They've got a pitcher named (John) Stephens. He doesn't seem to throw that hard but he gets a lot of strikeouts. Hobart won't be that easy."
Lowell's John Cusack continued his good pitching. Cusack, a Kankakee Valley high senior, who picked up two victories in the final week of the season, pitched five innings against Remington, allowing two earned runs and three hits.
Remington, with players from Tri-County, Twin Lakes, Benton Central, Delphi and Rensselaer, advanced to Thursday's winner's bracket title game against Crown Point Post 20 (15-3). CP beat Remington 10-5 on July 16.
"I wouldn't be tat surprised to see Remington win, " said Ford.
POST NOTES: Lowell's Scott Denton, a fine center fielder and leadoff man from Hebron, suffered an ankle injury at the Crown Point Invitational two weeks ago, and was lost for the season. Outfielder Mike Beier, who just ended his playoff time with Lowell's Senior Little League (age 16 and under) joined Post 101 and played three innings Tuesday.
On April 10, Rensselaer beat Lowell 1-0 in high school action. In that game Nate Amsler, who played for Remington Tuesday night, pitched a complete-game shutout. Rensselaer was 20-11 during the high school season.
The crowd was about 120 at Tuesday's game despite the 50-mile commute for Post 280 from Remington. The 'slaughter' rule in American Legion playoffs is 15 runs after five innings and 10 runs after seven innings.
CROWN
POINT American Legion SECTIONAL
7-22-3:
Remington 12, LOWELL 2
7-23-3 (W) CROWN POINT vs. Hobart - 7 p.m.
7-24-3 (Th) Winner's bracket final - 7 p.m.
7-25-3 (F) Loser's bracket semifinal - 7 p.m.
7-26-3 (S) Loser's bracket final game - 6:30 p.m.
7-27-3 (Sun) Championship game one - 2:30 p.m.
7-27-3 (Sun) Championship game two (if necessary) after game one.
Lafayette
Regional
double-elimination
at Loeb Stadium in Lafayette
8-1 (F) 2 first round games
8-2 (Sat.) 3 second round games
8-3 (Sun) championship round
2003 State
Finals in Madison, Ind.
at
Madison Shawe high school in Madison
8-7 (Th) first round game
8-8 (F) 2 first round games
8-9 (Sat.) 3 second round games
8-10 (Sun) championship round
AMERICAN
LEGION State Champions
2002: Evansville
Post 265
2001: Evansville Post 265
2000: Madison Post 9
1999: Terre Haute Post 346
1998: Anderson Post 127
1997: Terre Haute Post 346
1996: South Bend Post 357
1995: Evansville Post 265
1994: Terre Haute Post 346
1993: Lafayette Post 11
1992: Evansville Newburgh Post 44
1991: Highland
Post 180
1990: Muncie Post 11
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Revised: June 08, 2004.