Hanover Lady Wildcats shutout Wheeler 10-0 in Lake Station Sectional Quarterfinal

A USA-365 special report by Mark Smith

5-23-2006

 

Team (Record) / Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Wheeler (16-9) 0 0 0 0 0 - - 0 5 6
HANOVER (16-13) 0 6 0 2 2 - - 10 8 0

Monday, May 22, 2006 - Lake Station (2A) Sectional quarterfinal

WP - Danielle Hill (12-10)  CG, 1K, 1 walk
LP - Maggie O'Shea (10-6)  1K, 4 walks (1.7 inn.)

  WHEELER (16-9)
Bridget Bodner (OF) Single, walk

HANOVER CENTRAL (16-13)
Jill Sjoerdsma (C) 2 singles, 2 sac bunts
Heather Rebenack (CF) 2 singles, RBI
Andria Trock (3B) 2 singles, 2 RBIs
Kara Gilbert (SS) Single, 2 runs scored
Anna Plassman (LF) Single, walk RBI

Team (Record) / Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
HANOVER CENTRAL (14-13) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 1
Whiting (25-0) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 8 4

Friday, May 19, 2006 at Whiting
WP - Melanie Dumezich (25-0)  12Ks, 3 walks, CG
LP - Danielle Hill (10-10)  7K, 4 walks (9.3 inn.)

HANOVER CENTRAL (16-12)
Jordan Kramer (LF) Sac, RBI

Whiting (25-0)
Liz Curosh (SS) 3 singles, RBI

Lake Station (2A) Sectional -  Quarterfinals
5-22 (M)  HANOVER CENTRAL 10, Wheeler 0  (5 innings)
Semifinals
5-22 (M) BOONE GROVE  10, Lake Station  0
5-24 (W) Bishop Noll (12-15) vs. HANOVER CENTRAL (16-13)

Championship
5-27 (Th) BOONE GROVE vs. Bishop Noll or HANOVER  - 4:30 p.m.

Class 2A - LaVille Regional  (Sectional favorites in parenthesis) 
6-3 (S) North Montgomery champ (probably North Montgomery) vs. Rochester champ (probably Rochester)
6-3 (S) Lake Station champ vs. LaVille champ (probably No. 7 Bremen)

6-3 (S) Regional Championship game - 6 p.m. (CST)


LAKE STATION (5-22-2006)  I can't totally explain what happened Monday night in the Class 2A Lake Station Sectional quarterfinals.  Hanover Central had defeated Wheeler earlier this year.  But the score was 1-0.  Hanover and Wheeler are old Porter County Conference (PCC) rivals who have battled for years.  But Hanover Central's run as a softball power was supposed to take a year off.  This was supposed to be a battle to the end.  But it was over early.  Hanover Central came to play.  Wheeler was out early.  Five innings.  A quick 10-0 knockout in the first game of the 22nd Indiana State Softball tournament.

"Winning tradition means a lot," said HC coach Larry McMillen.  "I don't think they want to disappoint the Hanover fans.  I think that has a lot to do with it.  Our kids came to play.  If we hadn't put more than those first six runs on the board, I'd have been disappointed.  We did what we had to do to win the game."

It was not close after the second inning.  Danielle Hill walked to lead off the second inning and a sacrifice bunt by Victoria Wigsmoen was fumbled by Wheeler third baseman Kathleen Jones.  HC's Andria fouled off two bunt attempts before she lined a single to center field to fill the bases.

Freshman Jordan Kramer then bunted the ball back to the pitcher Maggie O'Shea but O'Shea's quick throw home was low and it was fumbled by the Bearcats' catcher, Ashley Marino, allowing the first run of the game to score.  HC's ninth place hitter Anna Plassman then walked on a 3-1 pitch to make it 2-0.  Hanover freshman leadoff batter Kara Gilbert then hit a hard ground ball to short.  Shortstop Shelisha Boles' throw to first was fumbled again, allowing Trock to score.  And when the Bearcats held the ball, Kramer kept running and scored to make it 4-0.  An RBI single by HC's Jill Sjoerdsma and a bases loaded walk by Wigsmoen made it a 12-batter, six-run inning.

It was a very embarrassing game for Wheeler (16-9) which loses only two seniors to next week's graduation, one of them being O'Shea, a two-year starting pitcher.

"The third baseman was going to have some trouble handling plays," said McMillen, "and the first baseman was looking right into the sun."

McMillen felt for Maggie O'Shea, Wheeler's starting pincher who gave up just two hits, but walked four and watched her defense make six errors.

"Her defense let her down," McMillen said.  "I know she's a better pitcher than that.  It was hard to see her go out that way.  Unfortunately that happens."

It didn't happen to Danielle Hill, who was making her state tournament debut after playing third base for the 2005 HC sectional title team.  After throwing the first pitch of the game back to the screen and then catching a line-drive from leadoff batter Shelisa Bolles, Hill pitched her sixth shutout of the season.

"I was really nervous," she admitted after the 90-minute game. "I always tell the younger girls not to be, but I was really nervous.  I'd rather play teams I know.  I've pitched against them (Boone and Bishop Noll) and batted against them.  We all have."

Hanover's state tournament run will rely on Hill not walking any body and the Lady Cats' defense making the plays. The left side of HC's infield with Gilbert at short and Trock, who was the third baseman on HC's 2004 state championship team, has improved to the point where they rival any in NW Indiana.  The pitcher-catcher combo of seniors Hill and Sjoerdsma has been almost error free in recent weeks.

"We've played the best defense we've ever played at the school," said McMillen. "We almost had a double play today.  I actually thought we did, but we didn't get the call. That would have been our 15th double play.  We haven't turned 15 double plays in 16 years.  We're not afraid to turn a double play the way it should be turned."

When coaches say they would rather play a quarterfinal game than get a bye, it's almost as if they don't know how the players feel in playoff games.  It was painful to watch Wheeler make error after error in the late afternoon sun.  But Hanover was just as uneasy, even though it didn't show.

"I was so nervous today," said Sjoerdsma, who has seen three sectional championships in her first three years at Hanover.  "I was okay when I got on the field but on the bus, I was so nervous.   But we played really, really well.  Our defense was on and that's what we need."

"I'm ready for Bishop Noll," said Sjoerdsma. "I know they're ready for us, too.  We played them well when we faced them before (in early April).  But we've definitely improved since then.  Our hitting has gotten a lot better."

SECTIONAL NOTES:  Hanover Central has won four consecutive sectional titles since a 4-2 sectional championship game loss to Griffith in the old three-class softball tourney in 2001.  Since softball went to four classes in 2003, HC is undefeated at the sectional level.

Coach Larry McMillen didn't think that pitcher Danielle Hill was really nervous before the game.

"When she's nervous, she's got a frown on her face," the coach said.  "She didn't have a frown.  I know these kids better than they think I know them.  I need to get her back to my pitching coach.  She's lost a couple of miles an hour.  But she still throws the ball nicely."

Hanover's 10-run, five-inning win was welcome to Lake Station officials running the tournament because the Boone-Lake Station game was played immediately after HC's victory.  The game, a 10-0, six-inning Boone Grove win, was easily completed before darkness set in and Tuesday was an idle day.  Boone Grove and Lake Station were originally scheduled to meet Tuesday, May 23 but that is also the day of the Highland Regional track meet.  Freshman Katie Runyan and sophomore Lauren Doelling are runners who would have had to decide whether to miss the game or the meet.

Part of HC's advantage at the 2A sectional level is their schedule, which this season included four No. 1  teams.

"We played Munster and Chesterton who were both No. 1 at one time," said McMillen,  "and we played Beecher (34-0) who is No. 1 (among small schools) in Illinois.  We played Whiting and they were No. 1 for a while."

"We've played Lowell (23-6), Eastern and they were third ranked, South Central and Hebron (19-3) twice.  I actually didn't realize how tough a schedule we'd played.  And we're guaranteed to be above .500 for the year."


PCC Baseball Tourney Box Scores

Hebron 13, HANOVER CENTRAL 1
Hebron (8-12)                       352 12 -- 13 10 1
HANOVER CENTRAL  (11-9)        100 00  --  1  4 6
5-22-2006 - PCC Semfinal at Washington Township
WP -- Chris Stalbaum (1-0). CG, 4K, 4 walks
LP - Brent Demateo (3-3)  1K, 1 walk (1.3 inn.)

2B -- Henry Hamann, Ryan Davis, Andrew Higgins (H); Andrew DeYoung, Mark Myszkowski (HC). 
Pitching summary -- Hebron -- Chris Stalbaum (5 IP, 4 H, 4 BB, 4 SO); 
Hanover Central -- Brent DeMateo (1 1/3 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 1 SO), Jake Kint (3 2/3 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, 3 SO).
Leading hitters -- Hebron -- Ryan Davis (4-4, 5 RBIs, 3 runs), Brandon Joyce (2-4, 2 RBIs).



BOONE GROVE 7, LaCrosse 6
LaCrosse (12-10)    100 005 0 -- 6 6 2
Boone Grove (21-3) 140 101 x -- 7 5 0
5-22-2006 - PCC semifinal at South Central

WP - Jim Kulchar (3-0)  2K, 2 W (1.3 inn.)
LP - Jack Troxel (0-1) 0K, 1 W (1 inn.)

2B -- Matt Smith, Chris Tucker (L); Chris Bal (BG). 
3B -- Ryan Cupp (BG). HR -- Matt Smith (L).
Pitching summary -- LaCrosse -- Luke Hucker (1 1/3 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 0 SO), Andrew Duncan (3 2/3 IP, 2 H, 4 BB, 2 SO), Jack Troxel (1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 SO); 
Boone Grove -- (5 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 7 SO), Chris Block (2/3 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 1 SO), Jim Kulchar (1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 SO). 
Leading hitters -- Boone Grove -- Nick DiMarco (2 hits, 2 runs), Drew Kidd (2 runs); 
LaCrosse -- Matt Smith (2 hits).

Records: Boone Grove 21-3; LaCrosse 12-10.

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Revised: May 27, 2006.