Crown Point Post 20 'B' Team wins 11-straight, captures Great Lakes Regional Championship 

in American Legion Baseball

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

7-31-2005

American Legion Junior = 'B' team Region '5' finals 

Lancaster, Ohio

Pool Play (7-28 thru 7-30-2005)

CP (20) 7, Urbana, IL 5 

CP 16, Bowling Green, KY 3 

CP 16, Marysville, OH 11 

Finals (7-31-2005)

CP 8, Kirkersville 2 

Marysville 9, Lakeville, MN 

CP 9, Marysville, OH 6

 

CROWN POINT (20) 7 , Urbana, IL  (71) 4 

7-28-2005  - Pool Play - Lancaster, Ohio

Team (Record) / Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Urbana, IL Post 71 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 4 8 1
Crown Point Post 20 0 2 0 0 0 5 - 7 7 0

 

WP - Tommy Wise (2-2)  5K, 3 walks, CG 

 

CROWN POINT (21-10) 

Chris Saroff (SS)  Single, 2 RBIs 

Matt Dobin (LF) Double, RBI 

Adam Kennedy (C) triple, RBI 

Tommy Wise (P) Double, RBI 

Jack Stanley (RF) Single, RBI 

 

 

CROWN POINT (20) 16 , Bowling Green, KY  (107) 3 

7-29-2005  - Pool Play - Lancaster, OH

Team (Record) / Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Crown Point Post 20 3 0 1 6 6 - - 16 11 0
Bowling Green, KY Post 107 0 0 0 3 0 - - 3 8 0

 

WP - Chris Saroff (9-2)  3K, 2 walks, (4 innings - 70 pitches) 

 

CROWN POINT (22-10) 

Chris Saroff (SS)  Single, double, triple, 2 RBIs 

Matt Dobin (LF) 2 doubles, RBI 

Andy Stalbaum (1B) Single, HR, 3 RBIs 

Matt Schweitzer (RF) Double, single, 2 RBIs 

 

 

CROWN POINT (20) 16 , Marysville (79) 11 

7-30-2005  - Pool Play - Lancaster, Ohio

Team (Record) / Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Crown Point Post 20 6 1 4 1 2 2 0 16 11 0
Bowling Green, KY Post 107 0 5 4 0 0 2 0 11 3 4

 

WP - Andrew Higgins (5-2)  3K, 3 walks (5 innings) 

(SP) Matt Hakola -(BG) 3K, 4 walks (2 innings) 

 

CROWN POINT (23-10)

Chris Saroff (SS)  HR, 2 RBIs 

Matt Dobin (LF) Double, 3 runs scored 

Andy Stalbaum (1B) Walk, 2 RBIs 

Adam Kennedy (C) Single,  double 2 walks, HBP, 2 RBIs 

Matt Schweitzer (RF) 2 singles,  double, walk, 2 RBIs 

Tommy Wise (2B) Double, triple, HR, 8 RBIs 

 

 

CROWN POINT (20) 8 , Kirkersville, OH (107) 2 

7-30-2005  Semifinal game

Team (Record) / Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 R H E
Kirkersville, OH Post 107 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 6 4
Crown Point Post 20 0 0 6 1 1 0 8 6 4

 

WP - Tommy Wise (3-2) CG, 5K, 1 walk 

LP (Sp) - Johnny LaCorte (K) 3K, 3 walks (6 inn.) 

 

Kirkersville

Pat Fraley (LF)  Double, single, walk 

 

CROWN POINT (24-10) 

Chris Saroff (SS) 2 doubles 

Tommy Parks (3B) Double, 2 RBIs 

Adam Kennedy (C) 2 singles, RBI 

Andrew Higgins (2B) Double, RBI

 

 

CROWN POINT (20) 9 , Marysville, OH (79) 6 

7-31-2005  Great Lakes Regional title game 

Team (Record) / Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 R H E
Marysville, OH Post 79 0 0 0 3 3 0 6 8 3
Crown Point Post 20 1 0 4 3 1 0 9 13 3

 

WP - Chris Saroff (10-2) 4K, 2 walks (6 inn.) 

(SP) Andrew Higgins (Save #2) 1K, 1 walk (1 inn.) 

LP - Landon Clayford (M) CG, 5k, 1 walk 

 

Marysville (31-14) 

Brad Fox (1B) 2 singles 

Jerod Guy (3B) Double, single 

Kyle Feucht (DH) Double, walk, 2 runs scored 

 

CROWN POINT (25-10) 

Chris Saroff (P-SS) Double, 2 singles, 2 RBI 

Tommy Parks (3B) 2 singles, RBI 

Matt Dobin (LF) Double, single, RBI 


LANCASTER, OHIO  (7-31-2005) Crown Point's American Legion 'B' team won't ever know if they could have competed in the national finals or the American Legion World Series.

 But they don't have to ask if they had a good team. Not after 11 post-season wins in a row. Especially not after winning the Great Lakes Regional Sunday with championship round wins over Kirkersville, Ohio 8-2 and Marysville, Ohio 9-6.

 

The Post 20 'B' team (ages 17 and under) won five times in four days to take the title and the only reason they won't play for the national championship is, there is no national finals for the 'junior' bracket of American Legion play.

 

"We put it all together and we never looked back," Samano said. "The state title was our goal. There was talk about how we might not go to the regional (in Ohio) but the boys wanted to go and 15 of the 16 did go." 

 

CP (25-10) found a formidable foe in Marysville, Ohio Post 70 (31-14), a team that was 3-2 at the regional, losing twice to Post 20.

Crown Point trailed only 1-0 and 4-2 in the opener against Urbana, IL. After that 7-4 victory Post 20 was the frontrunner, scoring 56 runs in five games. At the state finals in Evansville from July 22-24, Post 20 had outscored three foes 39-8.

 

Samano knew his team got hot at the right time. 

 

"In the last two tournaments," he reports, "I  had coaches coming up me and saying, 'We haven't had anybody hit us like that all year.'"

 

"I thought we were the best team in each tournament. I really did," radiated Samano. "We won 15 of our last 16. We lost 11-0 to Mishawaka but we came back and beat them twice. I thought we were the better team."

Crown Point high school junior Chris Saroff (10-2) pitched six innings for the championship victory Sunday evening after Tommy Wise (3-2) had pitched a complete game 8-2 victory over Kirkersville in a mid-day semifinal.

Saroff, who batted in the leadoff position, had five hits Sunday in seven at-bats to finish the season with a team leading batting average of (61-122) .500.  Wise, who didn't play for the CPHS varsity this past season, drove in eight runs Saturday with three extra base hits in a 16-11 pool play victory over Marysville, which had opened their tourney with a 5-0 win over Bowling Green, Kentucky and an 8-2 victory over Urbana, Illinois.

 

Wise did not pitch much of the summer with a sore arm but rest and treatment got him  ready to win three games at the state and national regional level. His manager didn't know what he'd get after Wise chose not to play for Crown Point high school this spring. 

 

"He's always played well for me," said Samano, who completed his fifth year as 'B' team manager with his first state title. "He's quiet and unemotional but all the other kids like him. He really had a great tournament for us."

Crown Point rallied with six runs in the sixth inning to take down Urbana in the pivotal opening game Thursday, July 28. Trailing 4-2, Matt Dobin doubled and Andy Stalbaum drove him in with an RBI single. One out later, Adam Kennedy walked and Wise tied the game with an RBI double.

 

After an intentional walk to Jeff Strbjak, little used 15-year-old Jack Standley, one of two Munster players on the Post 20 roster, put CP ahead with a two-out RBI single. Saroff followed with a two-run single increasing the lead to 7-4.

Stalbaum hit a three-run homer in Friday's (July 29) 16-3, five-inning win over Bowling Green, Kentucky. This was a crucial win because it saved innings for pitcher Saroff, who left after four frames with a 10-3 lead.

 

Stalbaum was a key player for Post 20 because he adjusted to a new position.

"After we lost twice to the 'A'; team (Post 20's 19-and-under squad), I changed the lineup around," said Samano. "I moved Matthew Schweitzer to right and Andy Stalbaum to first. And I put Andy Langbehn in center and Tommy Parks in at third."

 

"I didn't know he could play third but the kids told me he does a pretty good job. But when Adam Kennedy was catching, we didn't have a first baseman. So, I put Andy there and we had to work with him because he'd never played the position before."

"But he turned into one of the best first baseman I've had." 

 

Samano also dropped Kennedy from fourth to sixth in the order and the right-handed hitting catcher responded with all kinds of base hits, finishing with a .330 batting average.

"He saw a lot of breaking balls batting fourth," Samano said. "They threw him a lot of junk. Hitting sixth, he saw a lot more fastballs and Adam has no problem hitting fastballs." 

It's ironic that this was the year that CP won. In the first three years of the 'B' team, Crown Point advanced directly to the state finals because there were no other 'B' teams in NW Indiana.

In 2005, CP had to defeat both Hammond Post 168 and Mishawaka Post 161 (twice) just to advance out of regional play. 

 

"This was the toughest year to get to the finals and this is the year we finally won state," said Samano. "That's always been my goal since I started coaching. Now, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Almost all these guys are going to be playing for the 'A' team next year and I don't know who's coming up."

"I'm not even sure we're going to have a 'B' team next year. We'll just have to wait and see who signs up. There are some folks at the post who don't like the expense of having two teams," noted Samano. "But Post 20 baseball is at a peak right now. We have to be right up at the top of all the American Legion posts in the state."



REGIONAL NOTES: Crown Point high school coach Steve Strayer traveled to Lancaster, Ohio to watch the 'B' team win last Thursday (July 28) even though only seven of the 15-man roster is from Crown Point.

There is a hope that Wise, who was a top pitching prospect as a sophomore, will be back on the CPHS varsity in 2006, but that is not at all certain.

There is more of a chance that Schweitzer, who also chose not to play for Strayer in 2005, will return to the CPHS ball diamond next year as a junior.

The Post 20 success bodes especially well for Hebron high. Top pitcher Andrew Higgings (5-2) and speedy center fielder Ryan Langbehn are Hawks for two more years. Andy Stalbaum has a senior season yet at Hebron.

It is not certain whether anyone has ever batted .500 or better over a 35-game season (.515 on base percentage) as Chris Saroff did for Post 20 this summer. Matt Dobin, who split time between Post 20 and KV's summer team, came on late to hit .336 but he struck out only nine times in 134 at-bats.



Crown Point Post 20  (25-10)
'B' team  -  2005 - Final Statistics

Batting Leaders
Chris Saroff (CP) 61-122 (.500) 16 doubles 
Matt Schweitzer (CP) 20-45 (.444), 10 doubles
Tommy Wise (CP) 30-79 (.380) 3 HRs
Andy Stalbaum (Hebron) 34-96 (.354), 21 walks 
Matt Dobin (KV) 39-116 (.336) , 15 doubles
Adam Kennedy (CP) 31-94 (.330) 3 HRs
Tommy Parks (CP) 22-70 (.314) 
Henry Hamman (Hebron) 11-40 (.275)
Andrew Higgins (Hebron) 18-67 (.269) 27 runs 

Pitching Leaders
Chris Saroff  (10-2) 74Ks, 39 W (67 innings)
Andrew Higgins (5-2, 2 saves)  29K, 19 W (48 innings) 
Dustin Gibbon (1-2) 19 Ks, 24 innings
Tommy Wise (3-2) 18K, 14 walks (23 inn.)
Matt Dobin (4-0) 22K, 23 W (23 innings)
 

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Revised: August 11, 2005.