Crown Point falls one game short of state, loses 7-4 to Homestead at Semistate

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

6-05-2008

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
HOMESTEAD (26-5)	0	0	0	0	6	1	0	7	13	1
CROWN POINT (29-6-2)	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	4	7	1

Monday, 6-09-2008 - Semistate Championship at Loeb Stadium in WEST LAFAYETTE, IN

WP - Bob Glover (8-0) CG, 3k, 2 walk (105 pitches)
LP - Mike Kozlowski (4-4) 0K, 1 walk (4 batters, 3 ERs)
SP - Mike Hernandez (CP) 6K, 0 walks (4.3 innings)

Homestead (26-5) starters
Bob Glover (P) Triple, 3 singles, 2 runs scored
Ryan Trieglaff (2B) 1-for-4, RBI
Ryan Wright (SS) HR (#15), single, walk, 2 RBIs
Logan Bultemeier (3B) 4 singles, RBI
Pat Veerkamp (CF) 1-for-4, run scored
Doug Schroeder (C) 0-for-3, walk
Chuck Weaver (3B) 0-for-1
Chris Jorgensen (DH) 1-for-4, 2 RBIs
Derek Kinzer (RF) 0-for-2, sac bunt, walk

CROWN POINT (29-6-2)
Nick Hladek (C) 2-for-4, double, single
Eric Clayton (SS) 0-for-1, sac bunt, 2 walks
Mike Kozlowski (3B) 0-for-4
Jeff Limbaugh (LF) 0-for-3, HBP
Scott Donley (2B) 1-for-3, double, 2 RBIs
Blake Mascarello (1B) 1-for-3, RBI
Jimmy Donley (RF) 1-for-2, HBP
Mike Hernandez (P) 0-for-1, sac bunt
Matt Zurbriggen (LF) 1-for-3

WEST LAFAYETTE, IN (6-09-2008) - The closer you come to winning a championship, the harder it is to lose. For Crown Point's Bulldogs, sectional and regional baseball champs in three of the last four seasons, the "Promised Land" is getting closer, which only makes falling short harder to accept. I don't think anybody deserves a state championship in high school baseball under the present format. It's just not a single-elimination sport. You put yourself in position and hope for the best.

When CP was nine outs from the first state final in school history at the rain-delayed Lafayette Semistate at Loeb Stadium Monday afternoon, it seemed like the best was yet to come. But after extending themselves through a long season of big time wins and long games, here comes the rain again. Monday's "rain" came in the form of a six-run rally by Homestead, a school CP had never played. The Spartans from suburban Fort Wayne rallied to steal CP's thunder 7-4, ending the 2008 Crown Point baseball season one game from the state finals.

The Bulldogs (29-5-2) built a 3-0 lead and seemed in control, but starter Mike Hernandez and relief pitchers Mike Kozlowski and Blake Mascarello could not stop a six-run, six-hit Homestead fifth inning that turned the game around for undefeated Spartan senior left-hander Bob Glover (8-0).

"We know we're good offensively," said Glover, who pitched hitless ball in the third, fourth and fifth after a poor start. "I just had to keep them right there (trailing 3-0). We know we have a good offensive team and we knew we could make a run if I held them."

"We've heard about Crown Point all season. Crown Point's a great baseball team. We don't know much about them, but that doesn't come into play. We just have to come out and play the way we know how to play."

The Spartans showed a small but noisy crowd how to come from behind after Hernandez dropped an underhanded toss from first baseman Mascarello for an error on a ground ball to first base leading off the fifth. Glover, who was 4-for-5 in the leadoff spot, singled to right after Derek Kinzer bunted the runner to second base. When Ryan Trieglaff followed with an RBI single, CP coach Steve Strayer replaced Hernandez with Kozlowski, the Bulldogs' top relief pitcher. Homestead home run king Ryan Wright hit the first pitch for his 15th home of the year to give the Spartans a 4-3 lead and Chris Jorgensen's two-run single off Blake Mascarello made it 6-3 before the inning finally ended.

"I kept telling the boys not to worry about the score," said Strayer. "Worry about the momentum. We needed someone to make a big play. Get a big hit. Somewhere between the third and the fifth inning. But we didn't. And once they got the momentum, we couldn't get it back. They're a very good hitting team."

Once the six went up on the board, the atmosphere totally changed. There could not have been more than 200 fans at the Monday afternoon contest, but the CP side fell quiet while Homestead's 'friends of the program' began celebrating every inning with standing ovations.

Trailing in the late innings against a team you play twice every year is not the same as trailing late against a pitcher you do not know. But the nature of the semistate level is that you are seeing a team you do not know.

"I was hoping this was how it's going to be," said Mascarello. "We didn't know McCutcheon (a team CP defeated 4-0 in the semifinals Saturday) and they didn't know Penn. Maybe they did a little. But when you get this far it's going to be like that. Teams not knowing each other makes it fun."

Mascarello ended his season on the mound pitching the final 2-2/3 innings, but the mound wasn't where he wanted it to be or where he wanted Strayer to be. The boys were aware that Strayer has never won a state title in 16 years of coaching and three semistate appearance now in four years.

"I was hoping I'd end my career in Indy," said Mascarello, who will attend Purdue. "We wanted to win for our coach, our fans and parents and each other. But he's a good coach and he knows what he's doing. Hopefully he'll get it (the state title soon)."

SEMISTATE NOTES: CP loaded the bases in the seventh and scored one run when Kozlowski's ground ball was fumbled by Wright, Homestead's shortstop. But CP's Jeff Limbaugh hit the next ball to Wright who turned it into a double play, one that had a questionable call at first base.

Homestead's six-run fifth-inning began when pitcher Mike Hernandez dropped a toss from first baseman Blake Mascarello on a leadoff ground ball. CP coach Steve Strayer didn't feel that error should have led to the Spartans' big rally, but he did think it was a factor.

"That's a play we make 99 out of 100 times," Strayer said. "It's a play we've got to make in that situation. It goes back to that momentum I talked about. That play gave them momentum."

CP senior outfielder Jordan Lindeman was ill and could not play. Junior catcher Matt Zurbriggen started the game as the designated hitter and went 1-for-3 at the plate.

"It hurt us a little bit when we made changes," said Strayer. "We had to put Koz (Mike Kozlowski) in the outfield. He's a good bat. He started a lot of our rallies in big games this year. People might say that he was our No. 9 hitter. But he was our No. 9 hitter who was batting .300."

Crown Point, which is 58-9-2 the last two seasons, has reached the semistate three times in the last four seasons. Homestead has defeated four Top-10 teams (Jay County, Huntington North, CP and Penn) in the post-season and they will play Decatur Central (28-5) at 7:00 p.m. (CDT) Saturday at Victory Field in Indianapolis. You can watch on the IHSAA Network on Digital cable Com Cast Channel 114.

Homestead pitcher Bob Glover was the first pitcher in the post-season to stop CP home run king Mike Kozlowski, who was 11 of his first 12 in the playoffs but went 0-for-4 Monday.

"I just tried to mix it up on him," Glover said. "Keep him off balance. Stay inside on him. Sneak a fastball in there. We did know about him."

Strayer agreed, "When Mike looked fastball, he threw off speed. When Mike looked off speed, he threw a fastball. He just had a bad day. He's not a God. Even though he was getting pretty close there for awhile."

Crown Point's final records of 29-3 in 2007 and 29-5-2 in 2008 are very similar, even though six starters graduated off the 2007 team, including league and region MVP Chris Saroff, who was in the stands watching his old team Monday. No one thought CP would have a losing season in 2008. But if anyone thought they'd win 29 games again, they didn't say it out loud.

"In the back of my mind, I thought we could make a run," said Strayer. "I knew we had Mike Hernandez coming back and we had Blake. Our sophomores stepped up. Going into a new sectional with LaPorte and Chesterton, I knew we could have lost the first game in the sectional, but I knew we had the potential to go a long way. It was a fun year. The kids are great kids. They deserved everything they got. It just would have been great to get to state. It's frustrating. We didn't sit there thinking about all the past teams that didn't make it. I don't believe in that. We just thought about us and Homestead and we didn't make it today."

Homestead lost the state championship game 7-4 to Decatur Central, the first title for the Indianapolis school.

2008 (4A) Crown Point (29-6-2, 11-3 DAC)
Coach Steve Strayer - (141-51-3, 6 seasons)

Northwest Indiana Challenge
4-3 (W) 10-0 at Highland (17-10)
4-4 (W) 9-2 Munster (19-10)
4-5 (W) 10-4 at Griffith (17-12)

4-7 (W) 5-0 Hanover Central (20-9)
4-8 (W) 9-0 MERRILLVILLE (5-20)
4-12 (S) at (SB) Clay - rain -canceled
4-12 (S) at (SB) Washington - rain -canceled
4-14 (W) 12-2 Michigan City (12-14) in Gary
4-15 (W) 5-4 (8 innings) LaPORTE (21-9)
4-16 (W) 19-3 VALPARAISO (13-15)
4-18 (W) 8-6 CHESTERTON (18-10)
4-19 (W) 6-1 Huntington North (22-5)
4-22 (T) 5-5 (8 innings) at LAKE CENTRAL (22-9-2)
4-23 (T) 10-10 at LAKE CENTRAL (22-9-2)
4-24 (W) 5-3 PORTAGE (12-16)
4-25 (W) 22-8 at LAKE CENTRAL (22-9-2)
4-26 (W) 14-7 Morton (15-12)
4-28 (W) 9-0 MERRILLVILLE (5-20)
4-30 (L) 2-3 (8 innings) LaPORTE (21-9)

Plymouth Tournament
5-3 (W) 13-0 at Plymouth (12-15) semifinals
5-3 (W) 8-6 (Allen Co.) Carroll (22-10) title

5-2 (L) 5-7 MICHIGAN CITY (12-14)
5-5 (Lansing, Illinois) Illiana Christian (30-4) postponed
5-6 (W) 12-1 at VALPARAISO (13-15)
5-8 (W) 4-3 at CHESTERTON (18-10)
5-9 (W) 5-3 Boone Grove (26-4-1)
5-13 (L) 5-6 LAKE CENTRAL (22-9-2)
5-15 (W) 7-4 PORTAGE (12-16)

Crown Point Classic Tournament
5-17 (W) 17-16 (8 innings) Kankakee Valley (10-17-1)
5-17 (L) 4-9 Northridge (24-4) title
5-20 (W) 11-1 (5 innings) at Lowell (14-16)
5-21 (W) 15-5 Griffith (17-12)
5-22 (L) 1-2 at Andrean (30-2)
5-23 (W) 3-2 Elkhart Memorial (20-10)

4A Sectional 2 (at LaPorte)
5-26 (W) 12-5 at LaPorte (21-9)
5-28 (W) 6-2 Hobart (12-17)
5-30 (W) 15-4 (5 innings) Chesterton (18-10)

4A Regional Championship
6-4 (W) 11-3 at Lake Central (22-9-2)

4A Lafayette Semistate
6-7 (W) 4-0 McCutcheon (20-13)
6-7 (L) 4-7 Homestead (26-6)

CROWN POINT (29-6-2) Final 2008 Statistics

Individual Offense:
(SS-3B) Mike Kozlowski (49-107, .458) 14 HRs, 54 RBIs, 9 doubles, 2 triples, 9-of-10 stolen bases.
(1B-OF) Jeff Limbaugh (40-95, .421) 3 HRs, 22 RBIs, 9 doubles, 6-of-6 stolen bases.
(C) Nick Hladek (42-107, .393) 8 HRs, 39 RBIs, 7 doubles, 2 triples, 17-of-17 stolen bases.
(2B) Scott Donley (40-116, .345) 6 HRs, 39 RBIs, 9 doubles, triple, 11-of-11, stolen bases.
(OF) Jimmy Donley (36-107, .336) 3 HRs, 30 RBIs, 7 doubles, 2 triples, 18-of-20 stolen bases.
(1B-RF) Blake Mascarello (33-109, .303) 5 HRs, 30 RBIs, 10 doubles, 3 triples.
(OF) Josh Negele (23-75, . 307) 3 HRs, 22 RBIs, 6-of-6 stolen bases.
(SS) Eric Clayton (35-114, .307) 1 HR, 11 RBIs, 12 of 14 stolen bases.
(OF) Jordan Lindeman (26-87, .299) 3 HRs, 19 RBIs, 8-of-10 stolen bases.

TEAM (37 games):
.340, 46 HRs, 8 doubles, 13 triples (98 of 107 stolen bases).
187 walks, 161 strikeouts, 328 runs, 351 hits, 56 errors.

PITCHING (29-6):
(Sr.) Blake Mascarello (10-0) 2.21 ERA, 105 Ks, 30 walks (76 innings).
(Sr.) Mike Hernandez (6-1) 3.40 ERA, 87 strikeouts, 24 walks (68 innings).
(Soph) Josh Negele (4-1) 2.12 ERA, 57 strikeouts, 18 walks (39.7 innings).
(Jr.) Mike Kozlowski (4-4, 4 saves) 1.98 ERA, 36 strikeouts, 14 walks (28.3 innings).
(Sr.) Eric Clayton (1-0) 3.63 ERA. 23 strikeouts, 13 walks (17.3 innings).
(Soph) Scott Donley (1-0) 7.00 ERA, 14 strikeouts, 13 walks (9 innings).

TOTALS: (29-6) 2.75 ERA, 338 strikeouts, 116 walks (252 innings).