Saturday, 7-26-2008  -  82 degrees & sunny, American Legion Sectional Championship at Teagle Field, CROWN POINT, IN

WP - Kevin Watterson (1-0) 4K, 2 walks (3.3 inn.)
(168) TJ Hecimovich (SP) 7K, 5 walks (7.7 inn.)
LP - Morgan Drazer (5-4)  0K, 0 walks (1 inn.)
(20) Mike Hernandez (SP) 12K, 2 walks (10 innings) 151 pitches

Hammond Post 168 (20-11) starters
AJ Doyle (SS) 3-for-6, run scored
Anthony Olund (2B) 3-for-5, double, walk
Brett Keeler (3B) 2-for-6, RBI
Eric Summers (DH) 0-for-4, walk
Matt Skura (1B) 3-for-6, 3 doubles, 3 RBIs
Shane Colvin (C) 0-for-4, HBP
Kevin Heinrich (RF) 1-for-6, double, 2 RBIs
Steve Traficante (LF) 1-for-6, 2 runs scored
Tim Shanks (CF) 2-for-4, sac bunt, RBI

CROWN POINT (19-13) starters
Paul Aulwurm (CF) 0-for-5, sac bunt
Larry Spore (1B) 0-for-3, walk, 2 HBP
Jack Standley (SS) 1-for-6
Mike Hernandez (P) 1-for-4, walk
Jeremy Kooi (LF) 1-for-3, 2 walks
Morgan Drazer (3B) 0-for-4, walk
Matt Zurbriggen (C) 2-for-4, double, 3 RBI, Int walk
Bobby Anderson (RF) 0-for-4, walk
Chris Samano (2B) 0-for-2


Crown Point (20) American Legion Sectional
double-elimination at Teagle Field
7-21 (Mon) LOWELL (101) 12, Hobart (54) 7
7-22 (Tues) Hammond (168) 6, CROWN POINT (20)  5
7-24 (Wed) Hammond (168) 13, LOWELL (101) 3
7-24 (Thu) CROWN POINT (20) 14,  Hobart (54) 6
7-25 (F) CROWN POINT (20) 7, LOWELL (101) 4
7-26 (Sat) Hammond (168) 9, CROWN POINT (20) 5 (11 innings)

Plymouth (27) Regional
4 teams - double-elimination at Bill Nixon Field - Plymouth
8-1 (F) Highland (180) vs. TBD - 4:30 p.m.
8-1 (F) Hammond (168) vs. TBD - 7:30 p.m.
8-2 (Sat) three 2nd round games (TBA)
8-3 (Sun) Championship round

American Legion state finals
5 teams - double-elimination at Bill Nixon Field - Plymouth
7-31 (Th) 1st round games (TBA)
8-1 (F) 2nd round games (TBA)
8-2 (Sat) bracket finals (TBA)
8-3 (Sun) Championship round

CROWN POINT (7-26-2008) - Crown Point Post 20 put up all the fight you could want, but the better team won.  Even with Crown Point star Mike Hernandez pitching into the 11th inning and catcher Matt Zurbriggen knocking in three runs and left fielder Jeremy Kooi throwing out the go-ahead run at the plate in the 11th inning.  Even with all that.  The better team won.

But it wasn't easy.  Crown Point Post 20 tied the game in the eighth and again in the ninth before Lake Central's Matt Skura hit his third double of the game off the right center field fence, scoring two runs and breaking a 5-5 tie to give Post 168 a 9-5 victory and the Crown Point sectional championship.  Hammond's second victory over their arch-rivals put Post 168 into Friday's American Legion Plymouth regional.  The schedule was not finalized, but Hammond (17-11) is believed to be playing the second first round game Friday night at Plymouth's Bill Nixon Field.

But they have been tested.  Post 168 beat Crown Point 6-5 in the first round of the sectional and then battled through 3-1/2 hours over 11 innings Saturday in 80-degree heat to hand the hosts their second loss in a game similar to Hammond's 15-14, 12-inning sectional championship game victory over Crown Point two years ago.

"When we went into extra innings today," Hammond manager Mark DeRolf said later, "I started thinking about that game.  It was a lot like this one.  That game went on forever."

This one wasn't going to last much longer than it did because CP just didn't have the players they had two years ago.  Crown Point battled through four errors to match the stronger Hammond Post through 10 innings even though Post 20 collected just five base hits on the day.  But once CP starting pitcher Mike Hernandez left the game (and he pitched into the 11th inning), Post 20 had no arms that could hold down Hammond's big bats.

"I'm not ready to say the better team won today," said Post 20 manager Larry Samano, who knew his team had to win twice Saturday to take the double-elimination sectional championship, "because we battled them pretty evenly.  But even if we'd have won and gone to a second game, they'd probably have 10-runned us because we didn't have anybody else who could stop them.  We were short on pitching."

Post 168 was not short on hitting.  Even Skura, who was better known for defense even though he batted .376 in 33 high school games for Lake Central (22-9-2) this spring, made solid productive contact as Hammond rolled up 16 base hits.

"I was just trying to hit line drives," he said about batting in a tie game in the final innings.  "You just try to do a job.  You've got to do your job.  I was just trying to hit the ball square.  I wouldn't say this was my best day ever, but it was a good day."

The better team was Hammond Post 168 (17-11), built on Lake Central high school's varsity and boosted by Munster varsity players.  The game highlighted the solidarity on the team.  Some of the Post 168 players had offers to play for the Hammond Chiefs, the elite traveling team that has CP stars Nick Hladek and Mike Kozlowski.

"I was going to play for the Chiefs," injured Post 168 center fielder Anthony Olund said.  "They did ask, but I just wanted to play with my Lake Central teammates.  (Ryan) Boss is on the Chiefs, but most everybody else is here.  We've got about 20 guys from Lake Central on the Post 168 (A and B teams) here."

Skura added, "We do have great team chemistry.  Everybody seems to like each other.  We all get along.  Yeah, LC and Munster.  I know.  But we even get along with the Munster guys."

One of those 'Munster guys' was a big factor as TJ Hecimovich, a middle speed lefty with good movement on his pitches, held CP to just two singles through seven innings.  CP rallied with one on and two out in the eighth when Jeremy Kooi singled to left and Morgan Drazer reached base on an error by Post 168 third baseman Brett Keeler.  CP's Matt Zurbriggen lined a 1-2 pitch deep into right center for a two-run, game-tying double.

In the ninth, Skura hit an RBI 340-foot double off the upper half of the 18-foot high right field fence to give Hammond a 5-4 lead.  But Hernandez struck out Shane Colvin to give his side a chance in the bottom of the ninth.

Post 20 tied the game when Andrew Schrum walked, moved to second on a bunt, third on a ground ball and scored on a wild pitch by relief pitcher Kevin Watterson.  Post 20 could have won the game in the 10th inning after Hernandez retired Hammond in order.  Hernandez singled and went to second base on a balk by Watterson, who then retired Kooi and Drazer.  The Munster high pitcher then walked Zurbriggen intentionally.  Post 20's Bobby Anderson hit a hard ground ball down the third base line, but Brett Keeler made a diving stop and touched third base for the third out.

In the 11th inning, AJ Doyle singled and then Hernandez, after 151 pitches, agreed to leave the game.  Drazer came on to pitch, but Anthony Olund singled.  Keeler hit into a force play at third before Max Majchrzak singled to left, but Olund was thrown out at home plate by Kooi, the Crown Point left fielder.  With two on and two out, Skura, who had three doubles on the day, hit his two-run double off the tall fence.  Frank Ruvoli was then hit by a pitch and Kevin Heinrich drilled another two-run double to right center to create the final score.

"How many errors did we make?" asked Samano.  "How many hits did we get?  You can't win games with that.  The middle of our infield just made too many errors.  Chris (second baseman Chris Samano) missed that pop up to the first batter in the sixth and that gave them two runs.  Jack (Standley) made a couple of errors on throws to first.  He just couldn't make that throw today."

"We've got some guys from smaller schools and we held our own with guys from Lake Central and Munster.  We had a lot of guys from North Newton, Hebron and Kouts.  In the long run I think they'll benefit from playing that level of competition."

SECTIONAL NOTES:  Almost two years ago to the day: On July 23, 2006, Hammond Post 168 defeated Crown Point Post 20 by a score of 15-14 in 12 innings for the 2006 Crown Point Sectional championship.  CP and Hammond were in different sectionals in 2007.  No one presently on the Post 20 team played in that game, but AJ Doyle and Brett Keeler were starters for Post 168 on that day.  Keeler, the Munster star who hit nine homers in 32 games for the Mustangs this season was 4-for-4 in that 2006 championship game with four runs scored.  That was Tony Samano's final game as Post 20's manager.  Samano returned to Florida that fall and son Larry Samano took over.

Hammond Post 168 had 12 players from Lake Central and four from Munster, along with Dyer-native Shane Colvin, who attended Illiana Christian high school in nearby Lansing, Illinois.

Post 20 had five Crown Point players in uniform for the sectional teaming with four Hebron boys, Morgan Drazer (Kouts) Jack Standley (Munster) and Bobby Anderson (North Newton).

Hammond has lost center fielder Kyle Kaluza for the season after a hand injury suffered against Crown Point in the first round of the CP Sectional on July 21.  Kaluza, a top defender, who batted .404 (42 of 104) during the 33-game Lake Central high school season, has no chance of returning no matter how long Post 168 remains in the playoffs.

If there were two CP players who improved as the summer went on it was Kooi and Zurbriggen.

"We butted heads a lot," said Samano of Zurbriggen, his catcher, with whom he reportedly had some 'discussions over pitch calling.  "But he had a really good week in the sectional.  I told him after the game that even though we had some disagreements I appreciated his effort.  I told him I'm probably not nearly as hard on him as his high school coach is."

Samano would like Mike Hernandez and Jack Standley, the cornerstones of the 2008 team to return, but he's not certain they will.

"I told Mike that we'd welcome him back," said Post 20 manager Larry Samano, of his star righty who will pitch for Butler University this spring.  "He only lost three games all summer.  To Bristol and twice to Hammond this week.  After a year in college, he'd dominate out here.  But his college coach may have other plans for him next summer."

Standley had taken a job as an ironworker, which hurt his availability this summer.  He is eligible to return but he has extensive work obligations.

"Our problems this year was that everybody couldn't always be here," Samano said.  Paul Aulwurm was 5-for-5 the other night, but he wasn't able to do much yesterday or today and that's probably because he hasn't been here all summer.  He wasn't in playing shape."

Samano understood why outfielder Evan Nikrin who had some injury problems and football obligations, did not play the final 10 days.  But he was not as forgiving to regular shortstop Eric Clayton and center fielder Kyle Bacon, who left the team a week before the sectional.

"They let us down," he said.  "They let their teammates down.  They let this program down and they let me down.  They signed up to play and they were starting.  They just walked out.  There's no excuse for that.  You can't break commitments like that.  You can't make it in life doing that."

"I've been out here since 1994 and my dad was out here in 1982.  This program's been here a long time and it means something to me.  You walk out like that after you signed up.  I just don't have any use for you."

Crown Point played 32 games, but they lost games at Lafayette and Bristol and a home double-header with Kokomo to the weather.

"We didn't play Cedar Lake the two games we scheduled.  We'd have played 40 games and that's about all you can get in now."

Crown Point (20) American Legion Sectional
double-elimination at Teagle Field

7-21 (Mon) LOWELL (101) 12, Hobart (54) 7
7-22 (Tues) Hammond (168) 6, CROWN POINT (20)  5
7-24 (Wed) Hammond (168) 13, LOWELL (101) 3
7-24 (Thu) CROWN POINT (20) 14,  Hobart (54) 6
7-25 (F) CROWN POINT (20) 7, LOWELL (101) 4
7-26 (Sat) Hammond (168) vs. CROWN POINT (20) 3:00 p.m.
7-26 (Sat) Hammond (168) vs. CROWN POINT (20) 6:00 p.m.

Plymouth (27) Regional
4 teams - double-elimination at Bill Nixon Field - Plymouth
8-1 (F) 1st round games (TBA)
8-2 (Sat) three 2nd round games (TBA)
8-3 (Sun) Championship round

American Legion state finals
5 teams - double-elimination at Bill Nixon Field - Plymouth
7-31 (Th) 1st round games (TBA)
8-1 (F) 2nd round games (TBA)
8-2 (Sat) bracket finals (TBA)
8-3 (Sun) Championship round