Crown Point overcomes long balls to beat LaPorte 5-4 in 8-innings

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

4-16-2008

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	R	H	E
LaPORTE (6-4, 2-1 DAC)	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	0	4	8	2
CROWN POINT (7-0, 3-0 DAC)	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	1	5	11	2

Tuesday, 4-15-2008 - 61 degrees & sunny at CROWN POINT, IN

WP - Mike Kozlowski (2-0) 3K, 1 walk (1 2/3 inn.)
SP - Blake Mascarello (CP) 10K, 4 walks (6.3 inn.) 112 pitches
LP - Neal Hackett (1-2) CG, 6K, 2 walks (7.7 inn) 126 pitches

LaPORTE (6-4, 2-1 DAC)
Adam McIntyre (RF) 2-for-5
Dustin DeMuth (SS) 0-for-4, walk
Ian Nielsen (1B) 2-for-4, HR, single 2 RBI
Tyler Overmyer (C) 2-for-3, HR, single, walk, RBI
Johnny Gakle (2B) 1-for-3, walk
Jake McMahan (DH) 1-for-3, single, walk
Bret Wade (LF) 0-for-3
Kevin Upp (3B) 1-for-3, walk
Kyle Rosenbaum (CF) 0-for-4

CROWN POINT (7-0, 3-0 DAC)
Eric Clayton (SS) 1-for-5
Scott Donley (2B) 0-for-3, walk
Nick Hladek (C) 3-for-4, HR, 2 singles, 2 RBIs
Mike Kozlowski (3B-P) 2-for-3 HR, double, walk, RBI
Blake Mascarello (P-1B) 2-for-3, Int W, RBI
Jim Donley (RF) 1-for-4
Jeff Limbaugh (DH) 1-for-3, HBP
Mike Hernandez (1B) 0-for-3
Jordan LIndeman (LF) 1-for-4

CROWN POINT (4-15-2008) - There are three really good teams in Northwest Indiana this spring and two of them were on the field late Tuesday in Crown Point. They played like it. Two of the state's power programs going head-to-head for the lead in the Duneland Athletic Conference.

At this level, you have to be able to take a punch. Crown Point star left-hander Blake Mascarello gave up two long home runs to two of LaPorte's ace power hitters to give the Slicers a 2-0 lead. Crown Point stormed back with stunning back-to-back-to-back homers by Nick Hladek, Mike Kozlowski and Mascarello in the sixth to boost Crown Point to a 4-2 lead.

LaPorte got three seventh inning hits and scratched the tying run across with two out on an error by CP shortstop Eric Clayton. Then, in ironic fashion, Clayton drove a line drive over the head of LaPorte left fielder Bret Wade to drive home Jeff Limbaugh to end the game.

"We needed a game like this," said CP coach Steve Strayer who watched his team open the season with seven consecutive wins (they won their first 15 last season) for the second year in a row. "Win or lose. We need a game where things didn't go right. We made some mistakes, but we didn't let them get us down."

CP fell behind 1-0 when LaPorte catcher Tyler Overmyer hit an off speed pitch over the center field fence, a drive of about 375 feet. CP hit into two double plays and struck out five times over the first five innings.

In the sixth, Neilsen, who will play on scholarship next season at Ball State, hit a memorable drive over the left field fence, the frontage road behind it and onto the lawn in front of the CPHS school building, a drive that would have to be from 400 to 450 feet.

"His approach is to wait back, wait back, wait back," said Upp. "And when he connects, it can go a long way. He's about 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds and he can hit the ball a long way."

The key to the game may have been, that after Neilsen's leadoff homer, Mascarello walked Overmyer and then struck out the side. The game could have gotten away from CP at that point.

"That's exactly what we just told them," said Strayer after the game. "You have to be able to respond after something like that. In the pre-season, we had a lot of excuses when things went wrong. We didn't hear any of that today when we fell behind. I think if we'd have started hearing excuses about why things were going wrong, we would not have come back."

"I don't know," said Kozlowski, who plays summer ball for the perennial state champion Hammond Chiefs. "You're just so much into the game, you're just playing. You don't think so much about things not going well."

CP, which is ranked third state wide, made a dramatic comeback. After a leadoff error by first baseman Neilsen on Scott Donley' sharp bouncer, Nick Hladek hit an high wind blown fly to left that was carried by the 15-20 mile-an-hour wind over the fence leading off the sixth inning to tie the game. Kozlowski then hit a high drive that carried over center fielder Kyle Rosenbaum, who hit the fence going for the ball. Kozlowski, who is listed at 220 pounds, kept coming around third base and beat a high relay throw at home plate for an inside-the-park homer.

Then, Mascarello, with the small home crowd pulling for him to hit a homer too, did just that, a high drive over the center field fence.

"I have never seen back-to-back-to-back home runs," said Upp. "You don't do that at this level. You don't do that at any level. Hladek's was just a fly ball. But we had the chance to do the same thing and we couldn't."

LaPorte tied the game in the seventh as a very catchable pop fly by LaPorte leadoff man Adam McIntyre fell inside the right field line between three CP fielders for a two-base hit. With one out, Nielsen hit a slicing slow grounder to the right side and beat second baseman Scott Donley's throw to first for an RBI single. Strayer replaced Mascarello, his starting pitcher, with Kozlowski, who gave up a bloop single to left to Overmyer and a walk to Johnny Gakle. With the bases loaded, Kozlowski struck out Jake McMahen but Bret Wade's sharp bouncer to short took a high hop and Clayton fumbled it long enough to make his throw to second base late as Nielsen scored the tying run. Kozlowski then struck out Upp's son Kevin, LaPorte's third baseman, to end the seventh inning with the score still tied.

Clayton got a chance to redeem himself in the eighth after singles by CP's Jeff Limbaugh and Jordan Lindeman off lefty starter Neal Hackett, who threw an unofficial 126 pitches. With runners at second and third and one out, Clayton drove an 0-1 pitch to the left field fence over a pulled-in outfield to end the game.

"I was glad he got a chance to do that," said Strayer. "Because he did fumble the ball. It took a bad hop but he rushed the play. He got a chance to make up for it and he hit the ball well."

"The pitch count thing doesn't really bother us," said Upp. "We thought he was strong except for that sixth inning."

Upp felt the elements helped CP, but that his teams' batting day at the plate did not help his side.

"Thirteen strikeouts and 10 left on base. You just cant win like that," he said. "Some of the hits they had were wind blown, but we could have taken advantage of the same wind."

This was a makeup game that was originally scheduled for April 10. Playing at 4:30 on a Tuesday afternoon with a CP-Merrillville track meet going on in the football stadium next door, the 2-1/2 hour classic was watched in the setting sun by a very slim crowd.

"We'll take the win. This was the first time where every pitch, every play was a huge play," said Strayer. "We didn't do so well in some of them, but we came through a lot. I was pretty happy. We need to keep playing in games like this. It doesn't do you any good to win 10-0 in five innings."

DOG NOTES: CP coach Steve Strayer said that the Bulldogs postponed games with South Bend Washington and South Bend Clay on April 12 will be very hard to reschedule in the final 6 weeks of the season. Right now, CP has scheduled two games less than the IHSAA limit.

"We're trying to find some games," he said. "But I'll just have to let you know on that. We don't have anything finalized yet."

Four runs is the most CP has allowed in any game so far this season. CP defeated Griffith 10-4 on April 5. Blake Mascarello said that he wasn't upset by Ian Neilsen's home run, a drive that cleared the left field fence and the frontage road between the field and the new Crown Point high school.

"I just had to laugh," said Mascarello. "He crushed that. Maybe 430 feet. I thought it was going to hit the school. The wind helped it, but he killed it. Those are the first and second home runs I've ever given up in high school."

2008 (4A) Crown Point Bulldogs (7-0, 3-0 DAC)
Coach Steve Strayer - (112-45-1, 5 years) 29-3 in 2007
DAC games in CAPS - weekday games - 4:30 -unless otherwise indicated

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

4-7 (W) 5-0 Hanover Central (4-1)
4-8 (W) 9-0 MERRILLVILLE (3-5)

4-12 (S) at (SB) Clay - cancelled
4-12 (S) at (SB) Washington - cancelled

4-14 (W) 12-2 Michigan City (2-4) in Gary
4-15 (W) 5-4 (8-innings) LaPORTE (6-4)
4-16 (W) VALPARAISO
4-18 (F) CHESTERTON
4-22 (Tu) at LAKE CENTRAL (6-1)
4-24 (Th) PORTAGE
4-25 (F) Illiana Christian - (Lansing, Ill.) 6:30 p.m.
4-26 (S) Morton - 6:30 p.m.
4-28 (M) MERRILLVILLE
4-30 (W) LaPORTE
5-2 (F) MICHIGAN CITY

Plymouth Tournament - with Penn, Carroll and CP
5-3 (S) semifinals (a.m.)
5-3 (S) finals (p.m.)
5-6 (Tu) at VALPARAISO
5-8 (Th) at CHESTERTON
5-9 (F) Boone Grove- 7:30 p.m.
5-13 (Tu) LAKE CENTRAL
5-15 (Th) PORTAGE

Crown Point Classic - with Northridge, Kankakee Valley and St. Joseph’s
5-17 (S) semifinals (a.m.)
5-17 (S) finals (p.m.)

5-20 (Tu) at Lowell
5-23 (F) Elkhart Memorial - 6:30 p.m.

4A Sectional 2
with LaPorte, Michigan City, Hobart, Portage, Chesterton, Valparaiso and Merrillville
5-29 (Tu) quarterfinals (TBA)
5-31 (Th) semifinals (TBA)
6-2 (S) champinship (TBA)