Bulldogs remain unbeaten and atop DAC with 9-4 win over perennial power LaPorte

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

4-22-2007

Team (Record) / Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
LaPORTE (8-3) 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 4 5 2
CROWN POINT (9-0) 0 1 4 0 0 4 - 9 8 2

Friday, 4-20-2007  -  65 degrees, Duneland Athletic Conference in CROWN POINT, IN

WP - Blake Mascarello (2-0) 8K, 5 walks, 2 earned runs (5 innings)
    (CP) Chris Saroff (SAVE) 3K, 1 walk (2 innings)
LP - Mike Walls (2-2) 0K, 3 walks, 5 earned runs (2 innings)
Neal Hackett (LaP) 3k, 1 walk (4 innings)

LaPORTE (8-3, 5-1)
Brad Phillips (SS) 2 singles, 2 walks, RBI
Darren Kincaid (C) Single, walk, RBI

CROWN POINT (9-0, 6-0)
Mike Kozlowski (2B) Double, single, 2 RBIs
Matt Ernest (SS) Triple, single, 2 RBIs, stolen base
Nick Hladek (C) Triple, single  2 RBIs
Vince Dawson (DH) Triple, walk, run scored
Tim Mummery (2B-1B) HBP, Sac. Fly, RBI
Chris Saroff (3B-P) Single, stolen base, RBI

Team (Record) / Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
MERRILLVILLE (7-3) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 6 3
CROWN POINT (8-0) 4 0 1 3 0 1 - 9 12 1

Wednesday, 4-18-2007  -  51 degrees, Duneland Athletic Conference in CROWN POINT, IN

WP - Matt Ernest (1-0) 1K, 4 walks (4 innings)
(CP) Eric Clayton (SAVE) 3K, 1 walk (2 innings)
  LP - Patrick Nawracaj (3-1) 0K, 1 walk (4 innings)

MERRILLVILLE (7-3, 3-2)
RJ Zambrano (OF) Double, RBI

CROWN POINT (8-0, 5-0)
Tommy Parks (3B-LF) Triple, single, 2 RBIs
Nick Hladek (C) 2 singles, 3 RBIs
Tim Mummery (2B) 2 triples, single, 2 RBIs


CROWN POINT (4-20-2007) - This isn't how you want to perform in an important game.  This wasn't championship quality.  Neither one of these highly-regarded teams is going anywhere playing like this.  But it was entertaining.  Crown Point fell behind immediately, rallied once, faltered on defense and then rallied again to beat LaPorte 9-4 Friday night in a match up of two teams that were undefeated in the Duneland Athletic Conference.

Four different players launched extra base hits for the home team, which overcame some shaky glove work to take a decisive victory on the first of three potential meetings between two of the three DAC favorites.  CP's prime time win in front of about 250 fans on a near-perfect spring night, pushed the Bulldogs into undisputed possession of first place for the first time this season.

"It's early," said LaPorte coach Scott Upp.  "The last four years you can go 10-4 in this conference and not win it.  But I'll tell you what.  That's a pretty good team over there and they're going to get better because they're all seniors.  They're not going to stop."

Coach Steve Strayer wasn't thrilled with the win.

"We're happy we can get thorough this stretch of league games," he said.  "But we made a lot of mistakes tonight.  It's nice that we got the win because our defense let us down."

Crown Point (9-0) fell behind immediately when starting pitcher Blake Mascarello walked the first two batters of the game.  CP then got a break when Ian Nielsen's popup fell in short centerfield when center fielder Jon Sertich and second baseman Mike Kozlowski ran each other off the ball.  Luckily for CP, Sertich was able to pick up the ball and fire accurately to second base for a force play.

That prevented a big inning, but with two out, back-to-back RBI singles by Adam McIntyre and Darren Kincaid gave the Slicers (8-3) a 2-0 lead.  After CP left three runners on base in the first inning against LaPorte right-hander Mike Walls, the Slicers threatened to score again.  With two out, Kyle Rosenbaum walked and went to second base on a balk by Mascarello. Phillips singled to left field, but CP's Tommy Parks threw out Rosenbaum at home plate to end the inning.

CP began to rally in the bottom of the second inning when Vince Dawson tripled to right and Kozlowski doubled off the left field fence to cut the lead to 2-1.

In the third inning, Tim Mummery was hit by a pitch, he moved up on a wild pitch and scored on Chris Saroff's single.  Walls walked Tommy Parks before Nick Hladek drove a line drive to the fence in right center for a two-run triple and a 4-2 CP lead.  Dawson walked and Upp replaced Walls with lefty starter Neal Hackett, who had pitched five innings in a 12-2 win over Lake Central Wednesday (4-18-2007).  Kozlowski pulled a ground ball single to left to score Hladek and make it 5-2.

The game settled down at that point.  Mascarello struck out four in a row in the fourth and fifth innings while Hackett retired nine CP batters in a row.  In the LaPorte sixth inning, CP's defense broke down.  An error by shortstop Matt Ernest, a walk, Brandon Goers' single, a wild pitch and a passed ball allowed the Slicers to score twice.  Mascarello, who threw 103 pitches, was replaced by right-hander Chris Saroff, who struck out pinch hitter Wyatt Warren and Rosenbaum to end the sixth inning.

But CP rallied in the bottom of the sixth after LaPorte's shortstop Brad Phillips fumbled an inning opening ground ball.  Sertich walked and Ernest, after faking a bunt, hit a 3-1 pitch to the left field fence for a two-run triple to give CP a 7-4 lead.  Tim Mummery's sacrifice fly made it 8-4.  Saroff reached first on a dropped third strike, stole second after being picked off base, moved to third on a wild throw by first baseman Ian Nielsen and scored the Bulldogs' ninth run on a wild pitch.

CP chose not to bunt with runners at first and second and nobody out, probably because Ernest came into the game with 11 hits in 19 at bats.

"When we're 2-0 and 3-1 in the count," said Strayer, "we're a pretty good hitting team.  You've got to play by some rules, but when you are ahead, you can take some chances.  But he (Ernest) has been hitting well so we let him swing away."

But Strayer was not pleased with the fact that LaPorte's runs were all the result of walks or errors, not Slicer base hits.

"It was nice for our offense to step up," said Strayer.  "I told the whole team about it.  We did some things wrong.  We got a pretty solid win after giving them some runs.  Blake's a better pitcher than that.  We cannot afford to walk the first two batters of the game against a team like LaPorte at the beginning of the game.  I'm sure nerves had something to do with it.  This was a big game.  He's got to get out there and he's got to get it done from the start.  If he can't, we're going to have to put someone else out there.  I don't know if it was a mental thing or a physical thing.  You saw what he could do after he got loose."

LaPorte appears to have a couple of top prospects in Rosenbaum, the sophomore center fielder who was 12 for 35 through 10 games, and sophomore designated hitter Tyler Overmeyer, who was 10-of-21 after 10 games.  Third place hitter Ian Nielsen, who batted .476 last season, was 0-for-4 and grounded into a seventh inning double play.

Ernest began the game batting .579 in the seven games he'd played before going 2-for-4 against LaPorte.  Nick Hladek, who came in batting .379, was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

DOG NOTES:  Crown Point's April 21 Saturday afternoon game with (West Lafayette) Harrison was canceled on Friday morning when the Harrison athletic office left a message for Crown Point athletic director Bill Dorulla saying they had scheduled too many games (the limit is 28) and they needed to cancel this game with CP.

The Bulldogs could not contact anyone at Harrison later Friday and, being unable to find anyone else who would play, had to sit idle on the first 70-degree Saturday afternoon of the season.  To say they were unhappy with this was a massive understatement.

Harrison had two games scheduled Saturday in Lake County against Lake Central and Crown Point.  They did come north and played Lake Central, losing 13-11.  Crown Point always wants to play the maximum amount of regular season games so they are looking for another opponent and an open day on  which to play them. 

CP's Mike Kozlowski continues to play well in different roles.  The sophomore has played the outfield and second base.  He has also been a pitcher.  Kozlowski was 2-for-3 against LaPorte making him 7-of-19 for the year in limited duty.

"That's his role," said Strayer.  "He's the Tim Mummery of this season.  Tim played almost every position last year.  We're going to move him around and he's got to accept that if he wants to play, which he does.  He's been good."

CP senior Vince Dawson had a triple and a walk.  The senior designated hitter is 9-for-12 for the season in limited opportunities.  CP has nine seniors, some of whom know they will not play regularly.

"He's got a good approach at the plate," Strayer said of Dawson.  "A good thing about this team is that all the people accept their roles, even the guys who aren't playing very much.  That's why we've been clicking so far."

"Andrew Peretin is another example.  Andrew would be playing on a lot of teams.  He can hit the ball and he knows that's his role.  To pinch hit.  He'll get a little playing time.  Adam Kukulski and he work hard for the little playing time they get.  I'm proud of them because it's hard to find guys like that.  Those guys really make the team."

LaPorte has purchased lights for the baseball field and they will be erected this season, according to the LaPorte Herald-Argus newspaper.  Of an estimated $144,574 needed for the purchase and installation, over $92,000 has already been raised by an organization called "Light up the Field," a group of local citizens.  Reportedly, the lights will be installed before the end of the month, weather permitting.  LaPorte hopes to play some night games this season and they wish to host the Babe Ruth League World Series in August.

LaPorte coach Scott Upp liked what he saw of Blake Mascarello, CP's stating pitcher.

"He's a crafty left-hander," said Upp.  "He lulls you to sleep with his curve ball and then he zips the fast ball by you.  I thought we jumped on him in the first inning, but then we fell asleep in the middle innings and he struck out four guys in a row.  At that point, it's 5-2, and we're just trying to put the ball in play."

CROWN POINT (9-0, 5-0)
Varsity Coach Steve Strayer, 23-9 in 2006  - DAC game in CAPS

4-3 (W)  14-0 (5 innings) Hebron (1-5)


Kankakee Valley Invitational
4-7 vs. Knox (cold-canceled)
4-7 vs. Kankakee Valley (cold-canceled)

4-9 (W) 3-2 at (Lafayette) Jefferson (2-2)
4-10 (W) 8-1 at LAKE CENTRAL (6-4)

4-13 (W) 12-0 (5 innings) Rensselaer (2-2)
4-14 (W) 4-3 VALPARAISO (3-6-1)
4-14 (W) 10-5 Griffith (4-6)

4-16 (W) 2-1 CHESTERTON (5-4) 
4-18 (W) 9-1 MERRILLVILLE (6-3) 
4-20 (W) 9-4 LaPORTE (8-3)

4-21 (S) Harrison (canceled)

4-24-7 (Tu) at MICHIGAN CITY (6-2)  4:30 p.m.
4-26-7 (Th) at PORTAGE (5-5) 4:30 p.m.
5-28-7  (S) at Highland (3-1)
4-30-7 (M) LAKE CENTRAL (6-4) 4:30 p.m.
5-2-7  (W) at VALPARAISO (3-6-1) 4:30 p.m.
5-4-7 (F) at CHESTERTON (5-4) 4:30 p.m.

Plymouth Invitational
5-5-7 (S) vs. Carroll or Penn - semifinals (a.m.)
5-5-7 (S) 3rd place or championship (p.m.)

5-8-7 (Tu) at MERRILLVILLE - 4:30 p.m.
5-10-7 (Th) at LaPORTE (8-3) 4:30 p.m.
5-11-7 (F) Boone Grove (5-1-1) 7 p.m.
5-15-7 (Tu) MICHIGAN CITY - 4:30 p.m.
5-17-7 (Th) PORTAGE - 4:30 p.m.

Crown Point Classic (with Riley, Northridge and HC)
5-19-7 (S) vs. Heritage Christian (a.m.)
5-19-7 (S) 3rd place or championship (p.m.)

5-22-7 (Tu) Lowell - 4:30 p.m.
5-25-7 (F) at Elkhart Memorial - 7 p.m.

Crown Point (4A) Sectional
5-29-7 (M) quarterfinals
6-2-7 (F) semifinals
6-3-7 (S) championship


Crown Point (4A) Sectional
5-29-7 (M) quarterfinals
6-2-7 (F) semifinals
6-3-7 (S) championship

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Revised: April 23, 2007.