Red Devils split double-header with Rensselaer
	A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith 5-02-2011

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
LOWELL (1-10)	2	1	2	0	3	0	1	9	7	0
Rensselaer (8-5)	0	0	4	1	0	8	-	13	14	5

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Rensselaer (8-6)	0	1	0	0	4	1	0	6	10	2
LOWELL (2-10)	0	0	0	10	0	0	-	10	7	0

LOWELL (04-30-2011) At the start of the day, the idea for Lowell was to win twice and take home the trophy for the second consecutive season at the annual Boone Grove Invitational. In the end, the Devils couldn't have taken home the trophy. They could have won two games. But the sun was shining figuratively and literally at the end of the day and maybe Lowell gets a little lift for the second half of the season.

When a muddy field forced Boone to postpone their tournament, Lowell and Rensselaer decided to drive over to Lowell to play two games anyway. Lowell led 5-0 and 8-5 before losing game one, 13-9 and they scored 10 runs in the fourth inning to win game two, 10-6.

"We should have won two," said Lowell rookie coach Bobby Wong. "We definitely had the opportunity to win the first game. But they didn't give up. They were down five early, but they battled back and we didn't respond."

"Coming into the season, we thought pitching might be our downfall. Up to this point, it actually has been really good. Starters have been going deep into game. But when you play three times in two days, you run short."

Despite the disparity in the records this season, Lowell (2-10) should beat Rensselaer (8-6) most of the time. But things have been so rough for this years' Devils that Lowell was happy to post the first home win of the season with the promise of more.

"I hope so," Wong said. "Hopefully, this will give us some confidence. We'd need scoring runs the last couple of days. Nine yesterday. Nine in the first game today. But I'm waiting for us to play a solid offensive game AND a solid defensive game. It seems like sometimes when we have a good offensive game, the other team does, too."

But Saturday, in 30-mile-an-hour winds, the glass was half full.

Lowell was not charged with an official error in either game, but that's just being nice. Conservatively, as many as 10 Rensselaer fly balls were misplayed into base hits. The Bombers stole game one with five two-out base hits that pushed seven sixth-inning runs that erased an 8-5 lead.

"The wind may have had something to do with it," Wong said. "But I don't think anybody had a good jump. We've got to make some of those plays."

In game two, Lowell busted out their biggest inning of the season, scoring 10 runs in the bottom of the fourth, including home runs by Matt Hilbrich and wining pitcher Danny DeBoer. The Devils sent 13 batters to the plate against two Rensselaer pitchers and scored more runs in 20 minutes than they had in any of the previous 11 games.

DeBoer, the sophomore right-hander who struck out six in six innings, had two hits in the fourth inning alone.

"We've got a tough schedule," said Hilbrich, who batted leadoff in both games. "Andrean, Lake Central, Crown Point. Merrillville's good this year. And then when we get to a little lighter part of the schedule, all five games get rained out."

Things definitely worked out for Lowell on this day since it was better for them to split two games than not play at all.

"The field at Boone was a mess," said Wong. "It was more of a safety move than anything else. We could have just said 'forget it,' but we talked to the Rensselaer coaches and they agreed. The umpires agreed to come here. It was a nice day. It worked out and we got a win."

DEVIL NOTES: Lowell's May 14 game at LaPorte has been made into a double-header because of nonconference games that have been postponed for both schools.

"We'll play a double-header against LaPorte on Saturday and then we'll play Valparaiso on Monday," said Lowell coach Bobby Wong. "But hopefully that'll get us ready for the sectional."

"We're down three games. We might have lost two for sure and Griffith; we'll definitely make that up. We're not as bad as some other teams."

A couple of Lowell seniors were pulled out of the second game Saturday double-header so they could get ready for the school prom, which was Saturday night. The original starting times of the Boone Grove Invitational would have completed the game by 3 p.m. but the rescheduled double-header-header extended near the 4 o'clock hour.

Boone Grove (9-4) played East Chicago twice Saturday at the Boone Grove Middle school, winning 15-4 and 8-3.

Lowell right-hander Josh Henshilwood, who came on in relief in the third inning of game one Saturday, took the loss. But he indicated that he could help out Lowell's bullpen the rest of the way. A 6-foot-4 junior, Henshilwood struck out the side in the fourth inning before falling in Rensselaer's eight-run sixth.

In three innings, Henshilwood, who was a catcher in youth leagues, struck out eight and allowed five walks, but only three base hits. He actually left the game leading 8-7 but the winning runs were charged to him.

"We've found that Josh can be good for two or 2-1/3 innings," said Wong. "Then he loses it. But for a couple of innings he can be good."

"I think we always have a shot at sectional," said senior Matt Hilbrich. "I think we'll start getting some wins here soon. We've started to hit the ball and that's the big thing. Three games in a row we've had 10-12 hits. Before, it was just three or four. I think we'll be all right."

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Revised: May 04, 2011.