2016 Renegade HS Baseball 'Magnificent-7'
Week-2 Poll for Northwest Indiana

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

4-11-2016

Lake Central isn't Northwest Indiana's top-ranked team, but at the end of the
day, Lake Central has played the most games in the first two weeks. The renovated
school's artificial turf field has something to do with that. (Photo by Mark Smith)

MERRILLVILLE (4-11-2016) The 2016 season was going to highlight Andean anyway as they tried to become Northwest Indiana’s first back-to-back-to-back class baseball champs.

Jasper won the 1996 and 1997 state titles in the old one-class tournament and took the 1998 Class 3A championship. Lafayette Catholic won five consecutive 1A championships from 2009 to 2013.

But here’s the intrigue about Andrean. Jasper won two one class tourneys and then went ‘down’ to 3A to win the third. Nothing wrong with a 3A title certainly, but that’s not what’s being asked of Andrean. The 59ers have to move ‘up’ in class to win the third crown. And they move into the same sectional with 4A power Crown Point and highly-regarded Hobart. And the regional could include 4A No. 4 Penn and 4A No. 5 Lake Central.

I’m reading about two rule changes for 2016.

The IHSAA wants umpires to deliver ‘warnings’ to coaches before ejecting them for any reason. They are calling this ‘preventive officiating’. While coaches can be ejected for something ‘major’, the rules now insist that bad coaches be given a warning or confined to the bench BEFORE they are ejected.

The other rule change is that anyone on the bench can be ejected for any physical act made against an umpire's call. This includes things like kicking dirt, throwing equipment or slamming a gate and it includes everyone all the way down to the batboy. It will be very interesting to see how hard line this on field discipline level goes.

The ‘global warming’ new age April rain and snow parade of snow flurries has kept a lot of teams off the field in early April. But the weather clears out soon (hopefully) and the temperatures are predicted to rise to playable levels by April 15 or so.

When we finally play regularly, the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) has joined the Northwest Crossroads Conference (NCC) in playing back-to-back league games. For example, Lake Central plays Crown Point on April 19 at LC and April 20 at CP.

The idea for the back-to-backs is so teams can't save their best pitcher for every meeting with their biggest rival. Griffith again likes the nighttime. They play East Chicago at 7 p.m. on May 3. Lowell at Griffith on May 16 is a 7 p.m. game. May 20 has Whiting at Griffith at 7 p.m.

I’d like to see Friday night night games just like during the football season. Munster hosts Crown Point on Friday night, May 6 at 7 p.m. Looks like Whiting will be the kings of the night with 7 p.m. home games against Bishop Noll on May 5, Boone Grove on May 17 and May 19 (both at Whiting according to the schedule) road night games at Griffith on May 6 and Boone Grove on May 19. And the road night game at Griffith.

Boys. Don’t play in the snow. You may see Major league players playing in snow storms on TV, but they don’t have a choice. You guys actually do. If you are playing a game and it starts to snow, walk over to your coach and say “Coach, this doesn’t make sense. We look like idiots out here.” Have an intervention. Most times he thinks it's insane to play in the snow, too, and he’s just waiting for you guys to realize it.

MERRILLVILLE: Here’s the test of 2016. After back-to-back state championships, the 59ers move up to Class 4A to try to make it three in a row. It’s a good year for them to be making the jump. Lefthander Luke Jaksich (9-2, 1.54 ERA) and right-hander Kevin McCune (7-2, 2.02 ERA) are back with Jake O'Donnell (3-0, 3.69 ERA in 34 innings) and Justin Ruthrauff (4-2. 2.31 in 36 innings). If they can stay healthy, pitching won't be a be a problem. I don’t even know who Jake O’Donnell is, but he was 3-0 with 24 strikeouts in 25 innings for the 59ers last season. Third baseman Kevin McCune (.436) had 51 RBIs and 17 doubles in 2015, his sophomore season. After ending up as the winning pitcher in the state title game, McCune had 52 strikeouts in 55 innings and a 7-2 record in 2015. Outfielder Clay Thompson (26 of 68, .382) got the game winning hit in the state championship game against Jasper. First baseman Noah Davis (29 of 81, .358) is another starter back off the state winners.

Catcher Evan Hylek may play a key role. Sophomore Jacob Sweeney, a 6-foot-6 left-handed pitcher, is highly regarded even though he hasn’t done anything yet. Andrean’s back-to-back Northwest Crossroads Conference (NCC) games with undefeated Hobart (4-0) are at the end of the year on May 16 and 17. The 59ers opened the season on April 4 with a 4-1 win over Lowell. I don’t think the move up in class affects Andrean much in 2016. They have too many regulars returning. The 59ers will be sectional and regional favorites, even in 4A. For years, I have wondered what Andrean would do in the Class 4A playoffs. In June, we all find out.

2. (4A) LAKE CENTRAL (4-1)
25-5-1 (2015), 23-10 (2014), 23-9 (2013), 32-1 (2012), 26-5 (2011)

ST. JOHN: Lake Central is back and on the winning track led by pre-season all-stater Matt Litwicki (7-0. 0.93 ERA in 50 innings) and 6-foot-2 lefty Joe Graziano (5-1) will be strong again in 2016.
The Indians topped Bishop Noll 10-2 and swept a double header at DeKalb 11-1 and 13-0 on April 4. Back on the attack are Zack Turnbaugh (.386, 36 RBIs), who cracked out a state record 14 triples in 2015. Junior Jarrett Lopez is considered a good catching prospect. Jake Wisniewski lifted a two-run homer and Graziano pitched a three-hit shutout April 5 in LC’s 3-0 win at Chesterton in 40-degree weather. LC is the only NWI team with artificial turf so they have an edge on all other schools when it comes to getting on the field during stretches of bad weather.

Lake Central, which did lose in the cold at home Saturday to Marian Catholic in Chicago Heights is going to get more games played than most teams because they have artificial turf. The Indians will do very well in the DAC, but rival Munster will challenge them in 4A Sectional 1. LC travels to LC (Lawrence Central) for an April 18 double-header. But once again this year, my mythical Andrean-Lake Central Saturday double-header is not on the schedule.

GRIFFITH: It's Griffith’s time and I’m sure they all know it. Senior shortstop Kody Hoese (43 of 87, .494, 26 RBIs) and junior outfielder Amir Wright (48 of 104, .462, 28 RBIs, 15 steals), sophomore second baseman Julian Rutherford (28 of 94, .298, 20 RBIs) return to a speedy squad that stole 62 bases last year. Lefty Troy Cullen (6-2, 2.62 ERA, 41 Ks in 48 innings) leads the pitching staff. Cullen (1-1) has already pitched a 5-inning shutout over Kankakee Valley.

I’d ignore the first week results in bad weather on the road against Charlestown and Castle. This should be a strong team when they start playing regularly again. And the big note. After years of battling Andrean in Class 3A, the Panthers' path is not as crowded. Andrean moving up to Class 4A makes Griffith a sectional and regional favorite. So I’d ignore the entire regular season, to be honest. The Panthers are in a 5-team sectional with Hammond Calumet, Clark and Gavit. There’s nobody there they can't handle and, in the four sectionals that feed into the 3A regional, only 3A No. 7 Peru is ranked. The Griffith ‘window of opportunity’ is open, even as cold as it is outside.

HOBART: No doubt that Hobart has more horses than the Kentucky Derby coming into 2016. Junior Alex Batistatos (34 of 95, .358) scored 34 runs in 28 games last season. Junior Luke Budzielek (26 of 80, .325) had nine doubles among 26 hits and junior Brock Buzielek (11 of 37, .407) showed promise. Junior Tyler Kenjik (29 of 85, .341) scored 29 runs in 26 games. Juniors Batistatos (5-3, 2.28 ERA) and Braden Niksich (5-1, 1.64 ERA) are both back and Nicksich, who will play at Illinois State University next season, has 16 strikeouts already in 12 shutout innings. Batistatos has a five inning shutout with seven strikeouts. The Brickies start with wins over Highland 10-0, Washington Township 2-0 and Merrillville 13-0. Catcher Josh Uhles had five hits and five RBIs in his first 10 at bats. Hobart stole 15 bases in the first three games.

The bad news: Hobart is in 4A Sectional 2, the new home of two-time 3A state champ Andrean. In the new world baseball order it no longer matters how good Hobart and Andrean are. Only one of them can get out of Sectional 2.

MUNSTER: The Mustangs did some traveling early so they got four games played before the snow started to fly in Northwest Indiana. In a 6-0 win over Clark, Kyle Polomo pitched four shutout innings. Conner and Garret Manous combined for five hits in a 20-7 victory over New Haven. Right-hander Connor Manous (6-2, 1.48 ERA) and Franklin College-bound catcher Alex Mis (.394 in 2015) create a top pitcher-catcher pair for the Mustangs. In his first start of the season, Conner Manous, ranked in the Top-10 among senior players state wide, struck out 10 and gave up two runs in a 5-3 loss at New Haven. Hard throwing Mike Madura will shut down many as well. The junior right-hander was hit hard in the 20-7 win over New Haven but he’s a good prospect. Munster plays a good nonconference schedule with with state-rated Andrean and Hobart in the NCC, though they really don’t need to.

6.(4A) LaPorte (2-1)
25-6 (2015), 17-13 (2014), 7-17 (2013), 12-19 (2012), 20-10-1 (2011)

LaPORTE: At this point in the poll, I always try to balance to the bigger school with the lesser number of returning regulars against the smaller school with more starters coming back. Morgan Township is highly regarded. Washington Township is rated 6th in Class 1A. LaPorte isn’t ranked anywhere and they lost seven starters from last season’s 25-win team. So am I supposed to believe that LaPorte’s guys who couldn’t play ahead of the stars on a 25-win team are better than Washington, which has key players returning, albeit at a 1A school?

That’s why I like to wait until they’ve played a few games. WT is 0-2 and LaPorte improved to 2-1 with a nine-inning 1-0 win over Michigan City last week. Shortstop Jon Williams made his 2016 debut as a pitcher and tossed seven shutout innings. The Slicers did lose 18-8 at Logansport, but that game was played in 30-mile-an-hour winds and there was a snow delay in the fifth inning. It probably shouldn’t have been played at all.

Jake Watterson will be one of the main line starting pitchers. Watterson and Brogan Briggs tossed complete game wins over Lowell late last season. Senior Travis Upp will man first base before he heads east to play at Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne (IPFW) this fall. LaPorte had their annual home tournament postponed over the April 8-9 weekend and I doubt they can make those games up.
Look for the Slicers to do some ad-lib scheduling late in the year to play extra games.

CROWN POINT: The Bulldogs lost to Chicago power Mount Carmel and then rallied to top Portage 9-7 in the two games they could get in between rain and snow storms in the first two weeks. The Bulldogs in 2015 won the Duneland Athletic Conference, the McCutcheon Invitational and the Noblesville Invitational, so it was a good season. Crown Point’s string of 20-win seasons (11 in a row) may be in jeopardy here, but not if the senior class led at the plate by Mark Mazure (.374, 22 RBIs) has anything to say about it. Junior leadoff man Charlie Patrick (.395 in limited duty last year) scored four runs in the first two games. Junior Brandon Haczynski has pitched six innings in two games and senior outfielder/pitcher Alex Ruiz (.281 last year) was on base four times. Senior Mike Wathier (.324) will be needed to produce again.

But I don't know how the pitching rotation is going to go after Mazure and Haczynski (6-2). Newcomer Luke Adams, a breaking ball throwing right-hander, will probably get a chance. The Bulldogs should score runs, but CP committed nine ‘official’ errors in the first two games. CP pitching allowed 10 runs in the first two games. Nine of them were unearned runs. Some of that can be written off to bad weather or playing just twice in two weeks. Most of it can't.

CP plays in tournaments at Class 4A No. 7 Noblesville and McCutcheon along with an April 16 game at 4A No. 4 Penn and a rained out match to be rescheduled at (New Lenox, Ill.) Lincoln-Way North. The Bulldogs face 4A No. 5 Lake Central twice. CP has about six weeks to get their defensive act together. The new souped-up Class 4A Sectional 2 includes Andrean and Hobart. There seems to be good players here, but most are not not proven at the varsity level. I’m going to have to put the Bulldogs on the 15-game plan and check back with them in the first week of May.

2016 Renegade HS Baseball 'Magnificent-7' Week-2 Poll for Northwest Indiana

2016 Renegade HS Baseball 'Magnificent-7'
Week-2 Poll for Northwest Indiana