Crown Point sends both red and white 12-and-under teams to Cal Ripken Northern State Baseball Finals

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

(7-07-2008)

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
CROWN POINT-red (3-0)	2	1	0	0	0	0	3	8	0
ST. JOHN-blue (2-2)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2

Sunday, July 6, 2008 - 86 degrees & sunny, Cal Ripken (age 12) Area Tournament at Optimist Park - HAMMOND, IN

WP - Bobby Kammer (1-0) CG, 13Ks, 0 walks
LP - Austin Gibson (1-1) 2K, 1 walk ( 1 inning)

Crown Point (red) all-stars
Ben Baumeister (LF) 1-for-3, RBI
Jeff Jatis (SS) 0-for-3
Donnie Ernst (1B) 1-for-3
Eric Haniford (CF) 1-for-2, double
Dale Wentz (3B) 1-for-2, walk
Jake Jenks (RF) 1-for-3, 2 RBIs
Bobby Kammer (P) 0-for-3
Roc Hopman (C) 1-for-3
Jake Benich (2B) 1-for-2

St. John-blue all-stars
Austin Gibson (P) 0-for-3
Kyle Hillegonds (RF) 0-for-2
Zack Ossanna (1B) 1-for-2
Aaron Furman (3B) 0-for-2
Jack Pufahl (SS) 0-for-1
Tyler Scott (2B) 1-for-2
Rob Long (C) 0-for-1
Alex Momcilovic (LF) 0-for-1
Kevin Philbin (CF) 0-for-1

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
Schererville all-stars (0-1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
CROWN POINT-red all-stars (1-0)	1	0	0	1	4	-	6	7	0

Thursday, July 3, 2008 - 69 degrees & sunny, Cal Ripken (age 12) Area Tournament at Optimist Park - HAMMOND, IN

WP - Bobby Kammer (1-0) CG, 15Ks, 1 walk, 0 hits
LP - Jacob Rivera (0-1) 7K, 2 walks, (4 innings)

Crown Point (red) all-stars
Ben Baumeister (LF) 2-for-2, HR, double, walk, RBI
Jeff Jatis (SS) 0-for-2, walk
Donnie Ernst (1B) 1-for-3
Eric Haniford (CF) 2-for-3, HR, 3 RBIs
Dale Wentz (3B) 1-for-3, HR
Jake Jenks (RF) 0-for-1
Bobby Kammer (P) 0-for-2, walk
Roc Hopman (C) 0-for-1
Jake Benich (2B) 0-for-1

Schererville all-stars
Anthony Gazzon (CF) 0-for-3
Anthony Haddad (SS) 0-for-2
Luis Pinto (C) 1-for-1, walk
Jacob Rivera (P) 0-for-2
Wilson Ashley (3B) 0-for-2
Pat Delus (1B) 0-for-2
Jacob Witkowski (LF) 0-for-1
Chuck Alexa (RF) 0-for-1
Kyle Thiel (2B) 0-for-2

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
ST. JOHN-blue (2-2)	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	0
CROWN POINT-white (3-1)	0	0	6	0	0	-	6	7	2

Sunday, July 6, 2008 - 86 degrees & clear, Cal Ripken (age 12) Area Tournament at Optimist Park - HAMMOND, IN

WP - Nick Hanlon (1-1) 2K, 1 walk (4 innings)
SP - Brett Barclay (CP) 4K, 0 walks (2 innings)
LP - Ryan DeMichael (1-1) 3K, 1 walk (3 innings)

St. John-blue (2-2) starters
Jake Kuchar (CF) 1-for-3, run scored
Ryan Boyle (SS) 0-for-2, sac bunt
Evan Garthus (C) 0-for-3
Jarrod Cutler (3B) 1-for-2
Cody Zurek (2B) 1-for-3
Mitch Oksam (1B) 0-for-3
Jordan Goodwin (RF) 0-for-2
Tyler Petrovich (LF) 0-for-2
Ryan DeMichael (P) 0-for-1

Crown Point -white (3-1) starters
Bryce Schwuchow (CF) 0-for-2
Evan Markowitz (SS) 0-for-2, walk, RBI
Bret Barclay (P) 2-of-3, double, 2 RBIs
Pat Gazillo (C) 1-for-3
Nate Hanlon (3B) 0-for-3
Mike Sullivan (1B) 1-for-3, single, 2 RBIs
Eli Odchitz (2B) 1-for-3, run scored
Justin Gilmacek (LF) 1-for-1, walk
Jessie Bruzan (RF) 1-for-1

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
CROWN POINT-red all-stars (2-0)	2	0	0	0	1	0	3	3	1
Griffith all-stars (2-1)	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	5	0

Thursday, July 3, 2008 - 80 degrees & sunny, Cal Ripken (age 12) Area Tournament at Optimist Park - HAMMOND, IN

WP - Donnie Ernst (1-0) CG, 7K, 1 earned run, 1 walk
LP - Lou Martinez (1-1) 4K, 0 walks (2 innings)

Crown Point (red) all-stars
Ben Baumeister (LF) 1-for-2, HR, double, walk, RBI
Jeff Jatis (SS) 0-for-3
Donnie Ernst (1B) 1-for-3, HR,
Eric Haniford (CF) 0-for-3
Glenn Hecht (LF) 0-for-3
Dale Wentz (3B) 0-for-2
Jake Jenks (RF) 0-for-1, HBP
Bobby Kammer (P) 1-for-2, HR, RBI
Jake Benich (2B) 0-for-1

Griffith all-stars
Matt Colomes (CF) 0-for-3
Lou Martinez (P) 1-for-2, HBP
Jake McCoy (C) 1-for-3, double, RBI
Taylor Peters (1B) 1-for-3, double, RBI
Tyler Lipski (RF) HBP
Tristan Olson (3B) 0-for-3
Bryan Smith (2B) 1-for-3
Michael Coccaro (LF) 0-for-2,
Jacob Poole (SS) 0-for-0

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
CROWN POINT-white all-stars (2-1)	0	0	1	8	0	2	11	13	0
HAMMOND Hermits (0-2)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3

Thursday, July 3, 2008 - 80 degrees & sunny, Cal Ripken (age 12) Area Tournament at Optimist Park - HAMMOND, IN

WP - Bret Barclay (1-0) 10K, 0 walks. 0 hits (4 innings)
LP - Julian Paz (0-1) 3K, 3 walks, 7 runs (3.3 innings)

Crown Point (white) all-stars
Bryce Schwuchow (2B) 2-for-4, walk, stolen base
Evan Markowitz (SS) 0-for-4
Bret Barclay (P) 2-for-4, double, 3 RBIs
Nick Hanlon (3B) 3-for-4, 2 runs scored
Connor Andras (C) 0-for-0, 2 walks
Eli Udchitz (2B) 0-for-3, sac fly, RBI
Mike Sullivan (1B) 1-for-1
Steve Maksimovich (RF) 0-for-1
Luke Decker (LF) 1-for-1
Pat Gazillo (sub) HR, single, 3 RBIs

Hammond Hermits all-stars
Javontae Boston (CF) 1-for-3, single
Phoenix Sanchez (SS) 0-for-3
Julian Paz (P) 0-for-2
Paul Beachamp (3B) 0-for-2
Naime Garcia (2B) 0-for-1
Romeo Castro (LF) 1-for-2, single
Andres Chavez (RF) 0-for-1
Andres Santos (C) 0-for-2
Kristopher Woods (1B) 0-for-1

Cal Ripken Area Tournament
age-12 at Optimist Park - Hammond
7-3-2008 = Griffith 14, St. John (blue) 4
7-3-2008 = CROWN POINT (red) 6, Schererville 0
7-3-2008 = Griffith 23, Hammond Optimist 2 (4 innings)
7-5-2008 = St. John (blue) 4, Schererville 1
7-5-2008 = St. John (blue) 14, Hammond 1
7-5-2008 = CROWN POINT (red) 3, Griffith 2
7-5-2008 = St. John (blue) 14, Hammond Optimist 1
7-6-2008 = St. John (blue) 6, Griffith 2
7-6-2008 = CROWN POINT (red) 3, St. John (blue) 0 title

Cal Ripken Area Tournament
age-12 at Optimist Park - Hammond
7-3-2008 = St. John (red) 3, CROWN POINT (white) 1
7-3-2008 = Hammond Optimist 11, Gary 1
7-3-2008 = St. John (red) defeated Hammond Hermits (no show - forfeit)
7-5-2008 = CROWN POINT (white) defeated Gary (no show - forfeit)
7-5-2008 = CROWN POINT (white) 11, Hammond Hermits 0
7-5-2008 = Hammond Optimist 3, St. John (red) 1
7-6-2008 = CROWN POINT (white) 6, St. John (red) 2
7-6-2008 = CROWN POINT (white) 4, Hammond (O) 2
7-7-2008 = CROWN POINT (white) 11, Hammond (O) 0 title

HAMMOND (7-06-2008) - You put so much preparation on and off the field to put together a boys baseball all-star team, it seems unfair that it can be all over in two games of a double-elimination tournament. That won't happen to either of Crown Point's 12-and-under all-star teams who both advanced to the Cal Ripken state finals with three-game winning streaks.

CP's 'red' all stars, the so-called 'A' team, dominated Hammond 11-0, beat a good-looking Griffith team 3-2 and blanked St. John 3-0 to sweep their six-team bracket while CP's second 12-and-under squad, 3-1 losers in the tournament opener on July 3, came back to win three and advance to the finals as well.

In CP's first year as exclusively a Cal Ripken baseball entry, CP will have two of the 12 teams in the Northern Indiana state finals which start tonight (July 10) at the St. John Baseball Complex, just west of the Midwest Ice Arena.

"Its great for our league," said manager Don Ernst, who watched his team outscore three foes 17-2. "Our goal is to still be playing after the state tournament (this week). But we wanted to sweep here. That was a goal, too."

The 12s white squad, the CP league's number two team, scored six runs in the third inning to beat St. John Sunday afternoon, after St. John had stopped them 3-1 to start the playoffs on July 3. Manager Dave Maksimovich said his team was able to turn things around.

"We hit the same guy we couldn't hit the other day," he said. "Nick went in and really shut them down."

Trailing 2-0 in a game they had to win to avoid being eliminated Sunday, the CP 12s white team got four scoreless innings from Hanlon, in relief of right-hander Brett Barclay. In the CP third inning, Eli Udchitz and Justin Milkacek both reached base on ground ball singles before Jessie Bruzan hit a bouncing ball down the first base line. St. John first baseman Mitch Oskam was about to make an easy play at first base when the ball hit first base and bounced past him for a bases-loading single.

CP's Bryce Schwuchow then hit a ground ball into the hole at short and when St.John's Ryan Boyle threw home, the throw was late and the score was now 2-1. Evan Markowitz walked to force in the tying run and Barclay slammed a two-run double to give CP a 4-2 lead. Mike Sullivan's two-run single completed a six-run inning and put the game out of reach.

The undefeated red all-stars got two complete game shutouts from Kammer (2-0), a big right-hander who mixed just two pitches, an intimidating fastball and a sharp off-speed pitch.
He struck out 31 of the 50 batters he faced and was never in trouble.

"We did okay," said St. John manager Bill Pufahl, after the final game Sunday. "We just ran into a buzz saw."

Schererville was no-hit but St. John got two singles, a ground ball hit to the right side of second base by Taylor Scott and a late-swinging line drive slice down the right field line by Zack Ossanna. Ossanna was thrown out by CP right fielder Jake Jenks trying to stretch a single into a double, a play that was noteworthy because Jenks was ready. Remember, Kammer struck out three of every five hitters and that domination sometimes puts fielders to sleep.

"We try to tell them they have to focus," said Ernst. "The guys we played the other day only touched the ball twice. These guys (St. John) put the bat on the ball. Jake (Jenks) has made 15 assists like that this year. That's why he plays right field. Kids know, from when they're seven or right years old, that right field is where you put your worst fielder. But not at this level. Nobody's going to pull the ball off Bobby."

CAL RIPKEN: 2008 Hanover Central graduate Mark Furman, who played three years on the high school varsity, was a coach on the St. John all-stars. His younger brother Aaron Furman batted clean-up Sunday. The heat was a factor on Sunday as temperatures rose near 90 degrees. But even though the white all stars played again Monday night, both of the CP 12-year-old squads were off the field by 3:00 p.m.

By contrast, the CP 10s who advanced to Thursday's 10-year-old finals played twice in the midday sun Sunday and had to play again Monday night. More heat is predicted for the state finals weekend July 10-13.