| Team (Record) / Inning | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| HANOVER CENTRAL (1-0) | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 4 | - | 12 | 13 | 0 |
| River Forest (0-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Season
opener 4-3-3 in Hobart Township - foggy, 51 degrees
WP -
Amanda Wendlinger (1-0) 12Ks, 0 walks
LP - Kathy Minurich (0-1) 3Ks, 4 walks, HBP, CG
River Forest (1 hit, 12Ks, 0 walks)
Kathy Minurich (RF) single
HANOVER
CENTRAL (13 hits, 4Ks, 3 walks, 4 stolen bases, 11 earned runs)
Megan Myers (HC) 2 doubles, single, 4 RBIs
Amanda Wendlinger (HC) 3 singles, RBI
Bess Copak (HC) 2 singles, sac. bunt, stolen base
Kelly LaPota (HC) Single, 2 walks, HBP, RBI
Christie Wick (HC) Single, 2 RBIs, stolen base
Stephanie Sharwecki (HC) Single, RBI, 2 stolen bases
Rachel Williams (HC) Single, walk, stolen base
HOBART TOWNSHIP (4-2-2003) To say that a 12-0 six-inning season opening victory over a school that was 2-21 last year had any lasting significance at all would be lying.
But
there was a lot of 'feel good' for Hanover Central in the Lady Cats' 2003 road
debut
on a foggy, damp diamond far from home.
Pitching in her first season opener, sophomore Amanda Wendlinger overpowered the weak hitting Ingots, allowing just a soft, swinging bunt single by losing pitcher Kathy Minurich.
But the big smiles were created by junior hitters Bess Copak and Megan Myers who combined for five hits and four RBIs. If Hanover, which was 52-8 the last two seasons, is to continue to excel, it will not only be because of a continuation of the strong pitching they've had for nearly a decade, it will be because the Cats' bats do a little more talking on game day.
"Nobody complained about their hands hurting today," said longtime coach Larry McMillen. "It was cold and nobody's hand hurt. We did hit the ball today. We all did. And we had some hard outs. And some ground ball outs. As opposed to flyball outs. They've got to keep the ball out of the air."
Hanover led 1-0 when they broke the game open with five runs in the third inning. After a bunt single by Wendlinger and a slicing single by junior Trisha Sheehy. Copak laid down a bunt that Minurich picked up and looked at third base before she realized her only possible play had been first.
With the bases now loaded, Kelly LaPota was hit on the foot with a pitch, forcing in the 2-0 run. Cathy Holmoka bounced into a force play at the plate but Myers, HC's new catcher, sliced a two-run double down the right field line. When sophomore Christie Wick followed with a base hit to center, Hanover led 6-0 and had begun to record a 13-hit attack.
"I had to prove to him (McMillen) that I can do it," Myers said after the game, of her replacing graduated Lynn Molnar. "We have to hit better. That's what we need. That's going to be the key to our success."
While almost everything in softball is about the pitcher, the focus on Wendlinger replacing her graduated sister Beth Wendlinger (68-24 in four years) may fade away quickly. Most of Hanover's personnel have played behind Amanda in spring or summer competition. She was 9-1 on the mound and batted leadoff for Hanover last year. Very little has changed.
"We played four or five games together last year," Myers said. "And we worked in practice together all last year. We got together a few times before the season started. We knew we'd be working together sooner or later."
Copak, who played shortstop as a freshman and moved to first base as a sophomore, celebrated her move back to shortstop with two hits and a stolen base. Her third inning, two-on, none out bunt was a sacrifice and a fielders' choice but it could have been ruled a hit if the hometown scorer wanted to do that.
"We DO want to do that," said Copak, "who showed off her 'speed' by stealing a fourth inning base and going from first to third on LaPota's sixth inning single. "I thought I was never going to get there," she said.
Freshman Jill Sjordsema made her varsity debut and drove in a sixth inning run. Sophomore Stephanie Sjarwecki also played her first varsity game, lining an RBI-single and stealing two bases.
With Class 3A No. 7 Chesterton (2-0), the defending champion of the big school Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) on the schedule next Thursday, this game was little more than a warm-up. Hanover gave every indication they are ready.
CAT NOTES: Hanover's game with River Forest was postponed last year and never rescheduled. The Cats won their first seven games last season before losing 5-0 to Lowell. The Ingots did not get the ball out of the infield Thursday against Wendlinger, who has a pitch for every situation.
"She has a fastball, drop, rise, two change-ups, a curve and a screw ball," said Myers. "She just invented a new change up. She just invented this new pitch."
While Wendlinger is a hard-throwing pitcher for a 5-6 sophomore, she's more unpredictable than overpowering. "I caught her during our indoor workouts," McMillen has said. "And I can't catch her. The ball moves that much."
4-3:
12-0 (6) River Forest (0-1)
4-8 (Tu) Gavit (0-0)
4-10 (Th) Chesterton (2-0) 4:30 p.m.
4-12 (S) Bishop Noll (2) 11 a.m.
4-15 (Tu) at North Newton (0-0) 4:30 p.m.
4-16 (W) MORGAN TOWNSHIP (0-0) 4:30 p.m.
4-18 (F) Clark (0-0) 4:30 p.m.
4-19 (S) at HEBRON (0-0) 1 p.m.
4-21 (M) at WHEELER (0-0)
4-23 (W) at Lowell (0-1)
4-24 (Th) Beecher, Ill - 4:30 p.m.
4-26 (S) LaCROSSE (0-0) - 11 a.m.
4-30 (W) Morton (1-1) 4:30 p.m.
5-1 (Th) South Newton (0-0) 4:30 p.m.
5-2 (F) at KOUTS (0-0) 4:30 p.m.
5-3 (S) Crown Point (0-0) 10 a.m.
5-5 (M) at Renssealer (0-0) 4:30 p.m...
5-8 (Th) at BOONE GROVE (0-0) 4:30 p.m.
Twin
Lakes Invitational (16 teams)
5-9 (F)
1st round game - 5:30 p.m.
5-10 (S) 1st round game - 9 a.m.
5-10 (S) 1st round game - 12 noon.
5-13 (Tu) at WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP (0-0) 4:30 p.m.
5-15 (Th) at Griffith (1-0) - 4:30 p.m.
Porter
County Conference (PCC) championship (at LaCrosse)
5-16 (F) quarterfinals - 4:30 p.m.
5-17 (S) semifinals- 9 a.m.
5-17 (S) championship - 2 p.m
5-22 (Th) at Whiting - 7 p.m.
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Revised: July 10, 2004.