Griffith surprises in 8-4 win over Crown Point in Little League Tourney opener (age 12 and under)

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

(7-6-2005)

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

Little League 12s -Tuesday, 7-5-2005 - Pool Play, 68 degrees at Whiting Little League

WP – Marcus Garcia (1-0) 6K, 0 walks (3 inn.)

SP – Mike Dobosz (Griffith) 1K, 4 walks (3 inn.)

LP – Nick Gerolimos (0-1) 8K, 5 walks (4.3 inn.)

GRIFFITH (1-0)

Mike Dobosz (P) HR, 2 walks, 3 RBIs

Kyle Mull (1B) 2 singles, RBI

Garrett Litke (2B) 2 walks

CROWN POINT (0-1)

Alex Doppler (1B) 2 singles

Casey Rapchak (2B-P) 2 singles, walks

Alex Maksimovich (LF) Single, HBP, Sac Fly, 2 RBIs

Mike Albrecht (SS) 2 walks

Mark Pishkur (CF) 2 singles, walk, RBI

WHITING, IN (7-5-2005) Usually the team that gets the most base hits and makes the fewest errors wins. Especially in the Little League.

But in the opener of the 2005 state Little League tournament Tuesday night, Griffith got the benefit of a couple of big hits, a couple of questionable calls and a couple of god defensive plays to beat Crown Point 8-4 at the Whiting Little League.

“This was big,” said Griffith manager Clint Holycross, “Especially with Dyer still to play.”

“We didn't make any errors and we got nine hits,” said CP manager Randy Rapchak. “But we left the bases loaded three times. We left 12 men on base.”

It was a game that could be pivotal in the five-team pool at Whiting where three teams advance to the District II finals. Crown Point still looks good enough to advance to the second round, but they may now have to advance as a low seed, which could draw an undefeated team at the District Finals.

It looked like Crown Point would win in the early going. CP scored in the first inning when Adam Maksimovich was hit by a pitch with the bases full. But Griffith starting pitcher Mike Dobosz struck out Kyle Ziga and grabbed Zach O'Connor's quick one-hopper back to the mound to end the inning.

With the game tied 1-1 in the fourth inning, CP's Michael 'Spike' Albrecht reached third base on an error and two wild pitches. But Griffith shortstop Dustin Holycross made a diving stop of a hard ground ball by CP's Mark Pishkur and threw the batter out, allowing the 2-1 run to score but killing the inning.

Griffith scored three times in the fifth inning on Dustin Holycross' bunt single, Jack Blount's single to left and Mike Dubosz' 3-2 pitch home run over the 200-foot sign in dead center field.

Gerolimos almost got the call on a 2-2 pitch moments before Dubosz hit his big fly.

“That was the big hit of the game,” said manager Clint Holycross, who reported that his big pitcher was not a home run hitter. “He hit two during the regular season. We just got the breaks. And the big hit.”

Crown Point scored in the fifth to make it 4-3 but relief pitcher Marcus Garcia got a questionable called third strike on Gerolimos with the bases loaded to end the inning.

In the sixth inning, Griffith scored four times on one base hit. With a runner at first base and one out, Griffith got a big break. Logan Bocock hit a check swing bouncer back to pitcher Alex Doppler. Doppler's throw to second base clearly beat Griffith's Calvin Bonewitz for what would have been the second out. The base umpire made no call and then ruled Bonewicz safe. It appeared that the umpire at first thought a tag was necessary and then simply refused to change his mind. The ball beat the runner by 5-10 feet.

“That was the key play of the game,” said CP coach Bob Angelich. “If we get that call, there's a runner at first base with two out and we get out of that inning. Then, we probably win the game in the bottom of the sixth. We left 12 men on base. We didn't play well (on offense). But our pitchers had seven walks. In my 10 years of watching the Little League, I've never seen umpiring that bad.”

Griffith scored four insurance runs in the sixth on a hit batter, a walk, a wild pitch and a ground out. But CP got three consecutive singles with one out in the sixth to fill the bases. Adam Maksimovich's sacrifice fly made it 8-4 and Kyle Ziga refilled the bases with an infield hit.

But Zach O'Connor was called out on another borderline strike three to end the game.

“You've got to adjust to the umpire,” said CP manager Randy Rapchak. “We couldn't do that. You can't get upset at the strike zone.”

The result left CP with the probable task of defeating every other foe at Whiting, not an impossibility. Early results indicated that CP would be favored to beat Hobart Township Thursday and Whiting Friday. That would make CP's game with Dyer the pivotal matchup as to whether they will advance to next week's District Finals.

If Griffith defeats Dyer on July 8, a CP win over Dyer would, without question, advance CP to the eight-team single-elimination finals next week (July 11-13) in Highland. If Dyer defeats Griffith Friday, a CP win over Dyer Saturday would create a three-way tie and invoke one of many tiebreakers.

“I still think we're going to advance,” said Rapchak. “We didn't play badly.”

2005 Little League.... POOL PLAY (age 12) at WHITING

July 5: DYER 12, Whiting 2; Griffith 8, CROWN POINT 4

July 6: (Wed) Whiting vs. Griffith; DYER vs. Hobart Township

July 7 (Th) CROWN POINT vs. Hobart Township; Whiting vs. DYER

July 8 (F) Griffith vs. DYER; Whiting vs. CROWN POINT

July 9 (Sat) CROWN POINT vs. DYER; Griffith vs. Hobart Township

2005 Little League....... POOL PLAY (age 12) at Highland

July 5: Highland 10, Robertsdale 0; Hessville 5, Hebron 2

July 6: (Wed) Robertsdale vs. Hebron; Highland vs. LOWELL

July 7 (Th) Highland vs. Hessville; Robertsdale vs. LOWELL

July 8 (F) Hebron vs. LOWELL; Robertsdale vs. Hessville

July 9 (Sat) Hessville vs. LOWELL; Highland vs. Hebron

2005 Little League ..... POOL PLAY (age 12) at Munster

July 5: Munster 9, CEDAR LAKE 1; DeMotte 10, Irving 2

July 6: (Wed) DeMotte vs. CEDAR LAKE; Munster vs. Roselawn

July 7 (Th) Munster vs. Irving; Roselawn vs. CEDAR LAKE

July 8 (F) DeMotte vs. Roselawn; Irving vs. CEDAR LAKE

July 9 (Sat) Irving vs. Roselawn; Munster vs. DeMotte

DISTRICT FINALS criteria

The top two teams from each pool (Whiting, Munster and Highland) will advance to the District II finals. The six finalists will then be ranked based on 1.) Won-loss record; 2.) Head-to-head results; 3.) defensive runs allowed divided by innings played; 4.) Coin toss.

(age 12) 2005 DISTRICT FINALS (single-elimination) at Highland

July 11 (MON) No. 4 seed vs. No. 5 seed - 6 p.m.

July 11 (MON) No. 3 seed vs. No. 6 seed - 8 p.m.

July 12 (TUES) No. 1 seed vs. Monday's 6 p.m. winner - 6 p.m.

July 12 (TUES) No. 2 seed vs. Monday's 8 p.m. winner - 8 p.m.

July 13 (WED) District II Championship game - 7 p.m.

July 13 winner faces the District I champion in a best-of-three-game series in Highland beginning on Saturday, July 16.

LITTLE NOTES: Mark Pishkur is the son of 26-year Andrean baseball coach and recent state champion Dave Pishkur. Pishkur and several relatives were in the stands in Whiting for Tuesday's game.

Mike (Spike) Albrecht is the younger brother of CPHS basketball star Chachi Albrecht, who just graduated.

Whiting people will tell you that the opening moments of the football classic motion picture 'Rudy' were filmed in Whiting. The scenes include the ones where Rudy is playing football with his brothers in his early years and later when he and his brother get into an argument in a bar. That bar is two blocks from the Whiting Little League. The industrial working class flavor of early 1990s Whiting was seen by the filmmakers to be a perfect depiction of early 1960s Joliet, where Daniel 'Rudy' Ruettiger grew up. Joliet had changed dramatically from Rudy's time to the time the 1993 film was made.

The Whiting Little League has the most unique view in all of northwest Indiana. Far beyond right and center field but dominating the horizon of the little ballpark is the giant Amoco Oil refinery with huge tanks that rise into the night sky. There are different color safety lights and a permanent flame that glows constantly atop a complex so large it resembles a 22^nd century space city. Little Leagues can be picturesque, including the one in Crown Point but, especially at night, there is absolutely no visual setting like Whiting's in all of northwest Indiana.

Highland is the defending Little League champion but that means little because last year's 12-year-olds are now 13 and out of the Little League. Highland should be strong but Dyer and Munster are rumored to be the early favorites for the District II title.