New Prairie spoils Crown Point home opener in 3-2 win in extra innings

A USA-365 special report by Mark Smith

3-30-2008

Team (Record) / Inning	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	R	H	E
NEW PRAIRIE (1-0)	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	3	7	0
CROWN POINT (1-1)	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	6	2

Tuesday, March 25, 2008 - 61 degrees at CROWN POINT, IN

WP - Olivia Findley (1-0) CG, 9K, 2 walks 2 ERs
LP - Jackie Beilfuss (1-1) 2K, 0 walks ( one unearned run)
(starting pitcher) Taylor Perry (CP) 10K, 1 walk (6 1/3 inn.)*
*Perry pitched the first six innings and to the final two batters in the seventh

NEW PRAIRIE (1-0)
Stephanie Szuba (LF) 2-for-4, RBI
Brooke Fedder (C) 1-for-3, sac bunt, RBI
Taylor Grimm (SS) 2-for-3, walk, double
Jesse Strach (CF) 0 for-3, sac bunt
Megan Campos (2B) 0-fot-3 sac bunt
Kourtney Keck (3B) 0-for-4
Olivia Findley (P) 0-for-3, sac bunt
Beth Kaminski (1B) 1-for-4
Jacklyn Busfield (DH) 1-for-3

CROWN POINT (1-1)
Allison Adank (2B) 0-for-3, sac bunt
Amber Pierce (LF) 0-for-2, 2 walks
Amy Fairchild (C) 0-for-3, sac bunt
Jessica Martinez (S) 1-for-4, HR, 2 RBIs
Lindsey Gurnenz (3B) 1 for-4, double
Katrina Klingberg (DH) 0-for-3
Kara Gukvas (3B) 0-for-2
Sammy Maglish (LF) 1 for-3
Amiee Favia (RF) 2-for-3

CROWN POINT, IN (3-25-2008) - Improvement is rarely a steep rise. It's more often a long uphill walk. Sometimes you fall down a step. It only hurts for a minute.

That's what happened to Crown Point Tuesday in the 2008 home opener. One strike away from a 2-0 win over a good 3A team in New Prairie, the Bulldogs couldn't close the deal and the Cougars rallied for a 3-2 extra inning victory in the chilly sunshine behind Crown Point high school.

Stephanie Szuba's single off CP right-hander Kelsey Rather cut the CP lead to 2-1 before Brooke Fedder's wind blown RBI single off Taylor Perry tied the game one batter later.
One inning later, a throwing error by CP catcher Amy Fairchild allowed Jessie Strauch to score the eventual winning run.

"This was a very, very good game," said first year New Prairie coach Mike Billinski, whose team drove an hour to play CP. "Both teams played well. I thought that, for the conditions, it was an outstanding game. We're all freshmEn and sophomores and they showed some grit today."

CP played well enough to win. But, considering that they have 14 games against 4A Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) schools, CP figured they'd do more on offense against a 3A foe.

"We should score runs," said Jessica Martinez, who hit her first career home run with Amber Pierce on base to give her side the 2-0 lead in the sixth inning. "We're getting people on base. I just think it's the pitch selection."

"We have some things to work on," admitted coach Brett Crutchfield. "I played a hunch there at the end and it didn't work out."

Crutchfield was referring to the fact that he pulled starting pitcher Taylor Perry after six innings with the 2-0 lead. Junior Kelsey rather, a much slower pitcher came in with the theory being that New Prairie would not be able to adjust. The move actually wasn't a failure. Rather, who was 10-4 last year, retired two of the first three batters. But a 3-2 pitch to Szuba was smacked back up the middle to cut the lead to 2-1. On a wild pitch, Rather stumbled coming off the mound, injuring an ankle. Perry, the 5-foot-11 volleyball player, reentered and top-hitting New Prairie freshman Taylor Grimm hit the first pitch in the air down the right field line.

CP right fielder Amiee Favia took a step towards the line, forgetting for just a second that there was a gusty 20-30 mile-an-hour wind blowing out of the west. The ball got blown back over Favia's head into left field where it fell for a game-tying single.

"Three or four girls started running towards the foul line as soon as that ball was hit," admitted Crutchfield. "They all got fooled. I thought Kelsey could get them out 1-2-3. I had a hunch and I played it. And it didn't work out. She had to throw strikes."

The eighth inning where New Prairie won was a little embarrassing. Jackie Beilfuss, CP's third pitcher of the day, struck out New Prairie's Jessie Strauch, but strike three was a passed ball and Strauch reached first base safely. A wild pitch sent Strauch to second and Megan Campos tried to bunt her to third. CP catcher Amy Fairchild's throw went over the head of second baseman Allison Adank, who was covering first. Favia picked up the ball in right field and fired to the plate, but the first baseman cut the ball off, and Stauch scored.

"If she lets that throw go, the girl is out," said Crutchfield. "If Amy handles the ball, that runner is out. But she (Gernenz) cut it off. It happened."

Crown Point's problem with this game isn't so much the final inning escapades. The Bulldogs (1-1) didn't display the offense they'd hoped for in the first two games, even though they had base runners in 13 of the first 15 innings. New Prairie's Olivia Findley is an experienced pitcher, but CP had base runners in six of the eight innings and lost two more on the bases.
Findley, a junior co-captain who is starting her third varsity season, wiggled through the CP lineup repeatedly and never seemed at all nervous in the season opener.

"She just does what she has to do out there," said Billinski. "I wouldn't want to play poker against her. You can't tell if we're ahead or behind from her."

Crutchfield wasn't overly discouraged by the sudden defeat.

"We're just not cashing in our chances," he said. "I'm not going to get all upset about this. They have a good program. They kept coming at us. They didn't quit when they were behind 2-0. Jessica hit a laser-beam home run and they never stopped coming."

DOG NOTES: If the Bulldogs continue to play New Prairie, and there is every indication they will, CP might want to note in future years that Cougar freshman Taylor Grimm, who was 2-for-3 in the third spot in her Cougar debut, is expected to do that. Grimm and Brooke Fedder are age group travel ball players who moved directly into the starting lineup.

"She's also a pitcher," New Prairie coach Mike Billinski said of Grimm. "And she's actually a better pitcher than she is a hitter."

Martinez' home run was a line drive to left center that easily cleared the new fence distances at the CP field. When the new Crown Point high school was constructed five years ago, the softball field was built as if it was a Babe Ruth baseball field, with distances of almost 300 feet to the fence. No CP player hit a home run over the fence in a game in four seasons. The fences have been moved in this year.

"It's about 216 (feet) now," said Crutchfield. "But she got all of it. I think it would have been off the wall at the old distances."

"I've never hit a home run over the fence before," said Martinez, who is also a varsity basketball player. "Yeah, I was a little surprised."

Olivia Findley, who is no more than 5-foot-4, was 14-6 for New Prairie last year with a 0.84 ERA, 149 strikeouts and 53 walks. CP is as far west as New Prairie will come for an athletic event. The Cougars play in the Northern Lakes Conference with Jimtown and John Glenn. New Prairie was the Class 3A state runner up in 2006 and they defeated CP 7-3 in LaPorte County last season.

The late March rain and snow that rolled in on Thursday after the New Prairie game didn't affect the Bulldogs because CP did not have a game scheduled until they host Morton on March 31.