The Out of Town Scoreboard

GREENCASTLE, IN (3-17-2006) Crown Point grad Cassie Pruzin (2005) and DePauw came up one win short at the NCAA Division III women's basketball regional this month. DePauw, which had 27 consecutive victories heading into sectional play, won the toughest sectional in the nation as Washington (25-2) was ranked fifth in the nation and Hope College (29-1), which carried a 26-game winning streak, was rated sixth Washington is the only team to defeat DePauw this season, a 72-61 win on Nov. 19. DePauw (29-2) made it 28 in a row before losing 74-60 to Hope College, the only home loss of the season.

Pruzin had a nice debut, playing in 28 games and staring 10 of them. Pruzin, a 5-7 guard, averaged 7.6 points,4.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists. She was 70 of 191 (.366) from the field, 32 of 95 (.337) from three-point range and 40 of 49 (.816) from the line. Pruzin missed two games with a broken left hand but she was a major contributor to a Top-10 team as a freshman, another lesson for high school
seniors. You sometimes need to decide whether you want to get certain college playing time at the Division II or Division III or take a chance on riding the bench as a D-1 player.

Division II Oakland City, Indiana, placed second in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) women's basketball national championship, winning two out of three at the eight-team single-elimination finals this month. It's been a big year for Boone Grove graduates Kim Sliwa (2003) and Karissa Walter (2005) at Division II Oakland City University, a 121-year-old liberal arts Christian school of 1,800 in southern Indiana Walter ended the season averaging 13.8 points, six rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. The Boone left-hander was 116-261 (.444) from the field and 166-212 (.783) from the foul line, playing (there's that word again) in all 30 games.

Sliwa averaged 11.4 points per game and 2.1 steals, playing the wing to Walter's point guard role. The 5-8 left-hander sank 32 of 108 from the three-point line and her 94 turnovers might be attributable to the fact that she played very little in two seasons at Lewis College before transferring to Oakland City. Sliwa, a junior, was Oakland's third leading scorer behind Walter (13.8 ppg) and Chelsea Miler (13.4 ppg.).

The St. Joseph's College softball team opened the season the weekend of Feb. 25-26 in the Cougar Classic, hosted by Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. SJC opened the weekend with a 4-2 victory over Ferris State, then lost to seventh-ranked SIUE, 2-0. On Saturday, the Pumas defeated Nebraska-Omaha, 4-1, then lost to Missouri Western, 3-0. Andrean grad Ashley Emmett (2004) batting leadoff for the Pumas, had three hits in her first eight at bats for the Pumas (2-2).

As they were for Hanover Central coach Larry McMillan in 2003, Cedar Lake's Beth and Amanda Wendlinger are the pitching staff for the Division II University of Indianapolis (6-4). After 10 games, the Wendlingers, both former Hanover all-staters, have started five games. Senior Beth Wendlinger (4-1) has a 0.77 ERA after 35 innings, allowing 14 base hits and 11 walks while striking out 37. Freshman Amanda Wendlinger (2-3) has a 1.36 ERA after 33 innings allowing 33 hits, but just five walks while striking out 23. Andrean grad Lindsey Mishevich (2002) is batting .241 after 10 games with seven hits in 29 at bats. Beth Wendlinger (2002) is also batting .320 as a designated hitter with eight hits in 25 at bats.

Stats are slow coming in, but after a 10-day spring break trip UIndy was 11-9 with good pitching, but light hitting. UIndy has been boosted by freshman Lauren Booten, who is batting .517 (16 of 28) after 10 games.

Andrean grad Tommy Finn (2005) is off to a tough start at Northwestern University, but that is not unusual for a freshman. Finn, who started all of the Wildcats' first 11 games at shortstop, had 11 hits in his first 40 at-bats for a .175 batting average. Finn, an all-area baseball and football players for the 59ers in 2004 and 2005, had seven errors in the first 11 Northwestern games. Finn is obviously pressing in the early going. He had a similar streak after his junior Andrean season when he joined American Legion Post 20's summer team. Couldn't hit. Couldn't field. The former 59er bounced back from that to not only quarterback his team to the 2004 state football crown, he then batted .491 for Andrean as they won the 3A state baseball title in June of 2005.

Lowell star Ryan Basham (2003) was under .200 at the plate in the first month when he got to Michigan State as a freshman. This month, Basham was the Big-10 player of the week for March 1-5, and was hitting .419 (13 of 31) after eight games with three doubles and a home run and eight RBIs for the Spartans (3-5). Basham is doing nothing to discourage the thought that he might be selected
in the June pro baseball draft.

Andrean grad Nick Stockwell (2004) isn't getting much playing time at the University of Illinois (4-6) in his debut season. After 10 games, Stockwell, a speedy outfielder who was red-shirted last year at Illinois, has one at-bat, an RBI single. Stockwell hit .432 for Andrean in 2004 and helped boost them to the state finals two years in a row. He also caught 37 passes for 948 yards as a wide receiver for Andrean in 2003.

At Southern Illinois University, Crown Point's Adam Vetter (2003) is off to the best start of his three-year college career. Vetter, a tall right-hander, is 2-0 in two starts for SIU (4-4) with a 1.64 ERA. Fellow junior Adam Summers, SIU's top pitcher in 2005, allowed four runs in 8 2/3 innings in his first start.

Crown Point's Adam Quinn (2005) has pitched three innings and allowed a run for Ball State (5-8) in Muncie. Hanover Central's Larry Pempek (2005), who was originally going to be redshirted, has played in two games this month for the Cardinals. Pempek has not batted and could still be red-shirted, saving four full years of eligibility.

I don't know if Crown Point graduate Jimmy Wilson (2005) expected this, but he came out of the bullpen in his first game as a freshman for Millikin University in Decatur. In Millikin's season debut in Greenville South Carolina, Wilson, a curve-balling right-hander for CP coach Steve Strayer in 2005, gave up three runs in one inning. But the fact that he is being used this early in his freshman year indicates the Division II school has plans for him. On March 15, Wilson walked two but pitched three scoreless innings in a 5-1 Millikin loss to Aurora College.

Lake Central star Katie Mitchell (2005) is off to a good start at Division I Purdue University. Mitchell was 11 for 39 after 15 games batting .282 with four walks and seven strikeouts. Mitchell batted .393 for Lake Central last season and .423 in 2004, but odds are against anyone batting .400 as a freshman in Division I softball. The level of pitching you face is far too good for that. Mitchell is going against nonconference foes now and her job will get tougher once the Big-10 schedule begins. But a batting average of .282 and only seven strikeouts in 46 at bats is an excellent freshman start.

LC grad Brooke Baker (2003) continues to struggle. Baker (5-5) has seven complete games in 11 starts and 16 appearances. The right-hander has 57 strikeouts and 32 walks in 77 innings and she has allowed 80 hits, including 20-extra base hits. Brooke's ERA is 2.17, which is high for Division I softball. Baker may still be paying for a virtual free ride she got in her younger days. The powerful right-hander was rarely challenged in high school (20-2, 282 strikeouts as a senior in 2003) playing for a dominant team and that may have held her back. It is not unusual for college athletes to have 'breakthrough' years as juniors. Baker still has time to develop into a top college pitcher.