2006 - Week-1, Top-10

High School Baseball Teams in

Northwest Indiana

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

4-1-2006

CROWN POINT (4-1-2006) This won't be quite as good a season overall as last year was in NW Indiana. Andrean won the state title and LaPorte and Crown Point both reached the semistate in Class 4A. Not to mention the sentimental value of long-suffering Lake Station reaching the regional in Class 2A.

Obviously, with LaPorte, Andrean and Lake Central graduating some very significant players, NW Indiana is unlikely to see three semistate teams and almost certain not to see three in Class 3A and 4A. But just as Lawrence North's state 4A domination probably ended with the Wildcats third straight title this month, Brownsburg's 4A domination figures to end after this spring after three consecutive state finals appearances and a 35-0 season last year. Seven Brownsburg seniors graduated last June and while they return one of the top 10 teams state wide and have won the first three games this year, they do not appear to be significantly better than everyone else in the state as they were last year.

Andrean also will take a dip from the 2005 3A state title team after graduating most of their top players and pitchers. The 59ers will be a 3A contender but regional champ Norwell (23-11), which graduated only two seniors, is probably the early favorite. So a lot of teams are back in play and with the state finals moving back to Victory Field this year (they played the title games in Lafayette in 2005), a lot of teams are looking to take the big trip.

But this could be the year of the individual in NW Indiana. Merrillville's Darryl Evans has athletic ability that most good baseball players do not have. He will be selected in the June pro baseball draft. It's just a matter of how high. There is also a chance that Rensselaer football star Jacob Kiger (.477, 7 HRs, 39 RBIs) will be drafted as a shortstop and that Gary Roosevelt's powerful Michael Lunn (.545) may be asked to skip college and try pro baseball.

But the junior class may be as good as it has ever been in NW Indiana with Kankakee Valley's Matt Dobin (.411, 9 HRs, 17 walks, 50 runs scored, 34 RBIs), Griffith's Ryan Bridges (.500, 3 HRs, 26 RBIs) and Matt Kuna (4-4, 3.27 ERA, 56 Ks in 56 innings), Crown Point's Matt Ernest (.340, 18 steals), Valparaiso's Charles (Chooch) Sizemore (.384, 9 steals, 18 RBIs), South Central's Wes Bucher (8-1, 2.83 ERA, 13 doubles 22 RBIs) and Clark twins Mike (.484, 19 steals, 15 walks, 39 runs) and Albert (.375, 39 RBIs, 7 triples, 14 walks ) Carpen.

The highlights of the season will be tournaments in the Lake Athletic Conference (LAC) and Porter County Conference (PCC), some of Crown Point's non-conference games against Andrean, Griffith, 4A No. 5 Lafayette Jefferson and Rensselaer and some of Andrean's games against Illinois superpower Providence (5-11-2006), and Northern Indiana Conference (NIC) dominator Penn (4-8-2006). Here is our week-1, Top-10.

CROWN POINT - Crown Point has been building with two sectional titles in the last three years but they are pointed talent-wise towards 2006 and 2007. The Bulldogs return six starters off a 21-12 team that lost to LaPorte in the semistate semifinals. Nobody else has four proven starting pitchers in left-hander Matt Jansen (9-1, 1.57 ERA, 96 Ks, in 76 innings), returning right-handers Matt Ernest and Chris Saroff and senior Tommy Wise, a starting pitcher who did not play baseball at CPHS in 2004 by his own choice. Ernest was used largely in relief in 2005 because he is CP's starting shortstop. Saroff was 10-1 and batted .500 on Crown Point Post 20's American Legion age 17-and-under state title team last summer. Center fielder Jon Sertich and sophomore lefty Blake Mascarello may not get much chance in a very deep bullpen.

The Bulldogs need to score more runs than they did in 2005 and they will with SS Nick Ullman (.394, 4 HRS, 22 RBIs, 15 steals) leading off in front of Jansen (.330, 15 extra base hits), Sertich (.284), Saroff (.290) and new right-handed power prospects Tommy Parks and Joe Patrick. The core of this team played on the CP Little League team that advanced to the state final game before losing to Brownsburg in 2001 and last year's 17-and-under Legion squad that was undefeated in state tournament play.

What can go wrong? Creating runs. In the final two state tourney games last year, CP scored two runs against Munster and just one against LaPorte. CP has good hitters but not a lot of power. The Bulldogs have to walk a fine line between playing for a run at a time and letting some improving hitters swing away. Plus, Crown Point is not used to being a highly-ranked team and that will make them a target. Make no mistake, CP's Class 4A No. 3 state ranking (No. 2 Snider has already lost, the Bulldogs will be No. 2 next week) will be a heavy load to carry.

It's risky to predict any team to win 25-30 games in a high school season where you can only play 31 times. But this team is capable of that. The Bulldogs should never lose two in a row and CP should be looking across the diamond at Brownsburg at semistate time.

GRIFFITH - The Panthers are in a very similar situation to Crown Point. They have an experienced team of good seniors with an elite junior class. Pitchers Matt Kuna (4-4, 3.27 ERA) and Matt Nelleman (5-1, 4.45 ERA, 60 Ks in 50 innings) will combine with senior catcher Trent Bierman (.329, 3 HR, 14 RBIs) to keep those crooked numbers off the board. The offense is built around junior Ryan Bridges (.500, 26 RBIs) a life long hitting star, who will stay at shortstop between second baseman Brian Bell (.288), who will probably up his average, and third baseman Jarrod Macak (.352). The infield appears very solid.

The athletes on this team are exceptional. Bell is the leading scorer on the basketball team. Nelleman was the starting football QB on an undefeated team. Kuna and Bridges played on the Hammond Seminoles age 17-and-under state and Midwest regional championship Babe Ruth all-stars last summer. The first two games... a 4-1 win over Merrillville and a 17-3 bombing of outmanned Lake Station, are probably just the beginning. This team could record more hits than a full season of "The Sopranos."

What can go wrong? Pitching. The Panthers have two solid starters but, in a crowded playoff schedule, coach Brian Jennings may have to use unproven pitchers in relief. Outfield defense. The Panthers have to maximize the pitching by catching every ball they should and a few that they shouldn't. There's a two-year window of opportunity here. This is the other NW Indiana team that could win 25-30. If the Panthers have a third pitcher and a couple of flycatchers, this could be the year that Clark and Andrean can't stop them.

MERRILLVILLE - I've said this many times. Observers look at what a team has lost and not what they have returning. There is an assumption that Andrean will not be strong because Andrean graduated 10 seniors off a 33-2 team. The 59ers won the 3A state title last year without great pitching. They'll be better this season with Nick Murphy (9-0, 2.75 ERA, 44 Ks in 40 innings), Kellen Mackin (4-0, 2.04 ERA, 37Ks, in 35 innings) and soph right-hander Austin Sutter, a former elite Munster little League star. Andrean has the No. 3 hitter other teams wish for in first baseman Joe Mack (.431, 6 HRs, 41 RBIs) and they have a solid center fielder Chris Skinner (.367, 24 stolen bases).

The Niners may start a freshman shortstop and catcher but those will be talented players. Nobody starts at Andrean just because they show up every day. Mike Arvin (.267, 19 steals) will be counted on to stabilize the infield. Watch out for junior Anthony Pulver (4-of-11, 3 RBIs) a youth league star who hasn't gotten a chance yet. This is a very talented team that will get good pitching and will score runs as the 14-0 season opening win over Gavit Saturday suggests.

What can go wrong? Everything. When you start freshman and sophomores at the varsity level, anything can happen. But this pitching staff is very talented, Skinner will get on base and Mack will drive him in. Others will follow suit. If the 59er program was any more solid and established, Gov. Mitch Daniels would rent it out to balance the budget.

The 59ers and Griffith seem destined to meet four times this year and that last matchup at the regional in June will be the big one. Look for the 59ers to win 20-25 games again.

30-5 in 2005, 25-7 in 2004, 22-10 in 2003, 20-9 in 2002, 28-2 in 2001, 30-5 in 2002

LaPORTE - LaPorte blew out Penn 6-0 to start the season Friday and wiped out neighbor New Prairie 12-2 Saturday (4-1-2006). Don't lose track of who we're talking about here. This is the eight-time state champ. This is the team that's won 20 games for 36 years in a row. LaPorte graduated four starters and ace left-hander Andy Weeks (15-1) but the dugout is not at all empty. Leadoff man Nick Overmeyer (.455, 7 HRs, 37 RBIs, 17 steals) may be dropped down in the order to max his production while outfielder Jason Bede (.305, 11 steals) will join 3B Jimmy Gillilund (.371, 3 HRs, 27 RBIs) in the center of the batting order.

On the mound, senior Matt Antos (10-3, 3.30 ERA) can keep his team in the game. One key may be Nolan Weeks, a senior pitcher who has missed almost two years with injuries and soph pitcher Ian Nielsen (3-0, 2.42), who only pitched 18 innings last year. LaPorte set team records for runs scored (360), home runs (38) and batting average (.390) in 2005 and they can't do that again. But if Nielsen can fill the No. 2 pitcher role, this team doesn't have that many holes to fill.

What can go wrong? Antos didn't pitch the biggest games last year but now he will. The Slicers also have no experience at catcher, a key post with new pitchers. But a lot of boys have had their progress retarded by the 10 seniors who graduated last year and they have waited for 2006. LaPorte always wins 20 and this team figures to be back in the regional again in June.

ST. JOHN - Here's another school that has a lot of young players below the varsity level who varsity baseball watchers don't see. But the batting order will produce runs with catcher Brett Clark (.387, 33 RBIs), outfielders Ryan Frost (.337, 3 HRs, 16 RBIs) and Ben Stepanian (.328, 6 HRs, 26 RBIs) and shortstop Troy Russell (.311). Clark is a very good catcher and he'll lead the infield defense.

Lake Central has no returning pitchers who won more than a game or two last year, but they have a load of mound move-ups including youth league stars Stepanian, Nick Koricanic and Brad Gerlach, who will get a pitching chance late in their careers.

Some of LC's best ever Little League teams have reached the high school level and some of those JV pitchers like 6-foot-4 Danny Mannick and 6-foot-6 Eric Summers may come to the varsity later in the season, but the older pitchers get a chance first. You will be surprised with the pitching LC gets and the offense is experienced. The Indians have nine seniors and seven juniors on the varsity and I don't see any holes in the field. LC opened with a 6-0 win over Highland, a 15-1 win over Lowell and a 4-1 spanking of Morton so those two teams didn't see any either. 2A champ North Posey is on the schedule next week but LC has a lot of older players and a heavy schedule will actually benefit them.

What could go wrong? Pitching. There is not a proven varsity pitcher here. But that is misleading. LC has 2,832 students and sometimes you don't get to play on the varsity before your senior year no matter how good you are. That's just the way it is. The records the last three years are not flukes. The Indians will win 20 again. LC, the two-time DAC champ, will start slowly but will hit up a storm and they'll be favored when the sectional comes around.

VALPARAISO - Valpo will come back strong this season with pitchers Clint Krysa (1-10) and Chooch Sizemore (4-7, 3.64 ERA), who suffered from lack of support last year with a very young team. Krysa was 8-4 as a varsity sophomore in 2004. Valparaiso returns eight starters including Sizemore (.384, 18 RBIs), a natural No. 3 hitter. Junior catcher Nate Windsor (.250) should do much better at the plate and third baseman Jamie Smith (.267) also will up his numbers.

Krysa (.294) and sophomore Jerry Vasile (.365) will also be offensive trouble-makers. What isn't obvious is that Valpo was 0-10 last year before rebounding in the second half largely against DAC teams. Valpo defeated sectional and regional champ Crown Point last May and they beat Merrillville in the state tournament.

What can go wrong? Offense. I think a lot of the Viking returning players will up their average. But I thought Mark Prior was going to pitch for the Cubs this season, too. Valpo scored 22 runs in the first two wins, but there are still doubts. I think Valpo will be in position to win a lot of times, but they've got to get the runs across the plate against god teams. I think they will. Last year was a fluke and Sizemore and Windsor anchor a good junior class. Nothing in high school baseball motivates like a 20-loss season. With LaPorte and Lake Central down a notch, Valpo will be a first division player in the DAC.

MERRILLVILLE - Merrillville has lacked the pitching they've needed the last few years and that is again where the questions are in 2006. Senior lefty Adam Farag shut out Hobart 8-0 on opening day this week and he has a lot of promise. The Pirates will have to piece it together on the mound, but whoever goes out there to pitch will have a lot of support.

Merrillville is going to score with Bo McClendon (.354, 14 steals) and Darryl Evans (.427, 27 RBIs, 16 steals) at the top of the order. McClendon, who batted .303 with 18 steals in 2004, could be primed for a big senior year at the plate and he has top base stealing speed. Evans, who batted .429 with nine home runs, 32 RBIs and 23 stolen bases in 2004, is probably the only 5-tool player in NW Indiana. He is above average is speed, average, power, fielding and throwing and will be a pro draft choice in June. Once the weather warms up, most teams will pitch around him which make veterans like Jose Ponce (.364, 18 RBIs) and Alfredo Arredondo (.311) key factors because they will have to drive in runs. Ponce hit .329 with 20 RBIs in 2004.

Merrillville had a 3-0 lead on Valparaiso after five innings in the sectional semifinals last year before losing 4-3 in nine innings. It mirrored a season where the Pirates probably should have done better than they did. This could be coach Zac Wells last season as he was just hired to coach Merrillville football. The boys might want to send him out with a sectional upset of Merrillville's arch-rival, Crown Point.

What could go wrong? Pitching. The candidates are unproven after Farag. The Pirates will go up or down as the pitching goes. Merrillville has a very good outfield and nine seniors. With LC and LaPorte graduating stars last June, the Pirates will be one of the more experienced teams in the DAC. It will go well for them and 18-20 wins is a realistic forecast.

CHESTERTON - The Trojans are better than a 12-12 team with left-hander John Lambert (5-3, 2.63 ERA) and right-hander Sean Green. Basketball star Zack Novak (.393, 2 HRs, 18 RBIs) will try his hand at pitching this year and, at 6-foot-5, he may open some eyes. I'm not sure coach Jack Campbell has all of the positions filled, but if the Trojans have three big, hard-throwing pitchers, that may not matter. Remember, this is short season baseball and three big guys throwing hard can get you through six weeks.

What can go wrong? Offense. This team may have a lot of trouble scoring at times. The Trojans will play every good team in Lake County and several outside of the area so they are unlikely to win 20. But don't bet on that. Chesterton appears to be deep in pitching and two left-handers can throw the opposition off stride. Watch the start of this team. If the pitchers establish themselves early, Chesterton could have a very good year.

MUNSTER - Munster has four senior pitchers who played last year in Tim Lukoshus (4-2, 2.69 ERA), Mike Sealy (2-4, 37 Ks in 43 innings), Chris Baker and football QB Jake Ernd, who began the season with a 10-3 victory over Clark, a fairly good offensive team. The Mustangs always have a lot of offensive players, but they do not appear to have natural No. 3 and No. 4 hitters. In the double round-robin, this team can roll up some numbers, but they do not play LaPorte or Crown Point and they only see LC once so I don't know how tough the schedule is.

Still, it's rare you have four senior pitchers. Even if none of them are outstanding, you don't need more than four good pitchers. The Mustangs lost 6-2 Friday (3-31-2006) at Terre Haute South, but that's not a bad loss.

What can go wrong? Offense. Andrean and LC are a little short on hurlers and the LAC won't be a pitchers' league in 2006. You're going to have to win some 12-10 games and I'm not sure this Munster team can do that against league rivals. But this is a deep program and they consistently find hitters. I'm just not sure who they'll be this year. I like Munster to win 20 games and then try to figure out how to get by neighbor LC at sectional time.

HAMMOND - I know they play in the weak LAC Blue Division and I know they don't leave NW Indiana for any telling road games but 20 wins for four consecutive years is hard to ignore. Clarks' numbers are insanely high: Drew Polak (.465, 30 RBIs, 15 steals), Mike Carpen (.484, 39 runs scored, 19 steals), Al Carpen (.375, seven triples, 39 RBIs) and a lot of it is rolled up against very soft foes. But for two more years until the LAC breaks up , that's who they play. Polak (6-2, 2.36 ERA) and soph Trent Howard (10-1, 1.63 ERA) are a strong 1-2 punch. There are some holes, but they may not show up against Lake Station, Gavit, Morton, Calumet and other weak squads.

What can go wrong? Defense. This is a below average defensive team largely because they play on a very poor field. The picturesque "Pioneer Ponderosa" near Wolf Lake rivals the dark side of the moon for smoothness of playing surface. Clark made five errors in the season opening 10-3 loss to Munster (3-29-2006) and that won't be the last time that happens. Don't blame the players. When you practice on a mine field, your infield defense is going to blow up occasionally. Plus Clark does not play anything approaching the schedule of the other nine teams listed above them here. Still, this team is solid on offense and experienced everywhere. Clark is a near lock to win 20, but the sectional title will be a tall order with Griffith in the house.

PORTER TOWNSHIP - Boone Grove appears to have a very good chance to win the Porter County Conference (PCC) again and I'm not sure they don't belong in the top-10. If Ryan Cupp played at Munster instead of Boone, he'd have been an all-area player in 2005 after batting .440 with 13 stolen bases and 46 RBIs. Joe Johnson (.305, 27 RBIs) is a good shortstop and Danny Prochno (.267, 17 RBIs) returns for a third year at catcher. The Wolves have a rebuilt outfield that includes some surprises including 6-foot-4 PCC basketball MVP Bryce Palleson in right field.

The rest of the PCC has improved and arch-rival Hebron, with a strong senior class, won't forget that Boone beat them three times in basketball this year. But the Wolves appear to have speed and that No. 3 hitter in Cupp. They should challenge Bishop Noll for the sectional title that both schools lost last year to George Mason (I mean, Lake Station) last June.

What can go wrong? Pitching. It is assumed they have the pitchers. Nobody has seen most of them except Johnson (3-1, 2.33) in varsity games yet. Hebron, Hanover and South Central return good offensive teams and Boone could have some problems in high scoring contests. But Boone is going to be very athletic and I would guess the pitching will be adequate. That means 20 more wins for the Wolves.

HAMMOND - You're going to have to not believe what you see here because Noll won't go 12-19 again even though it may appear that they will. Senior pitcher Dan Faulkner (1-8, 4.55 ERA) struck out 48 in 47 innings and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him turn that record all the way around. Fellow senior Jimmy Flores (3-3, 2.75) won three on a team that only won 12. Jimmy Bowers (2-2, 4.38 ERA) gives them the third pitcher they need. Catcher Josh Pelletier (.364) will be a key. They are touting center fielder Chad Bolanos and shortstop Jon Cardenas must make the plays for a team that has had defensive troubles.

What can go wrong? Offense. Faulkner (.389) and Bowers (.308) return with proven bats but this is going to be an offensive league and Noll is going to have to produce runs because they play only larger teams in league play. Noll was defeated by Boone Grove at the sectional last season, but those two teams will have to meet again this June.

HEBRON - This will be a good offensive team with experienced catcher Andy Stalbaum (.571, 5 HRs, 32 RBIs), first baseman Steve Owen (.420, 6 HRs) and outfielder Henry Hamman (.340 3 HRs). Junior Andrew Higgins can be a very effective right-hander. These boys all played on the same 17-and-under American Legion state and Midwest regional championship team that Crown Point's younger players played on last summer. Clean up hitter Ryan Davis (5 HRs, 38 RBIs) adds extra punch. Left-hander Robbie Bramlet didn't play last year but he is needed. The Hawks also need defense at second and short but this program is on the rise.

What can go wrong? Pitching. There isn't a lot of it here. Hebron will have to win some games 15-12. The Hawks need to navigate the regular season and get to the point in the season where you only need two pitchers. This will be a very entertaining team, especially on warm days. The Hawks want to have sectional fun, but Hebron also is targeting Boone at the PCC tournament in May.