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June 6, 2009

Minutemen give Crown Point tough battle

By Greg Keim

The Concord Minutemen scored both early and late Saturday. It was the in between part where the Crown Point Bulldogs took control.

Concord scored four runs in the first inning and five in the sixth during an 11-9 loss to the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs (29-2) in the Class 4A high school baseball regional at Schreiber Field in LaPorte.

“We are a lot better ball club than people gave us credit for,” Concord coach Mike Jackowiak said. “Our kids played their hearts out and, as a coach, you can’t ask for more than that.

“We battled back and had a chance to take the lead. Crown Point just had a little more up-and-down the lineup than we did.”

Crown Point coach Steve Strayer said, “Concord is a good team. They are well-coached. They beat Northridge in their sectional championship.”

The Minutemen finish the season 18-11.

In Saturday’s first game, the Lake Central Indians defeated the South Bend Adams Eagles 12-5. Lake Central is coached by 1986 Goshen High School graduate Todd Iwema.

After the first Concord batter of the game was retired, senior David Yoder, sophomore Logan Draus and junior Kyle Gavin had consecutive singles. Gavin’s singled drove in Yoder.

Junior Doug Acker reached on a fielder’s choice and Draus scored the second run on a throwing error. Senior Kyle Konarski walked and senior Nick Cocanower followed with a run-scoring single.

Sophomore Joe Adams then reached on an error to score Konarski as the Minutemen led 4-0 before Crown Point ever got to the plate.

It didn’t take the Bulldogs long to get back in the game, scoring one in the first and three in the second to tie the score 4-4.

“We told the kids to play their own game when we got behind,” Strayer said. “We told them to get the momentum back and not to focus on the score.

“This was a good game. The Concord pitchers tried to get us out of our hitting zone, but we were disciplined at the plate.”

Seven of Crown Point’s 14 hits were for extra bases. The Bulldogs ripped four doubles and three triples.

“A team swinging the bats they way they do and still be disciplined at the plate is a combination you don’t always find,” Jackowiak said.

Crown Point senior starter Mike Kozlowski settled down after the first inning, retiring 12 straight before Draus singled in the fifth. By that time, the Bulldogs were up 9-4 after a five-run third.

“Crown Point is everything we heard they were,” Jackowiak said. “They swing the bats and we gave them too many extra bases (five Concord walks in the first two innings). You can’t do that against a good-hitting team.”

Kozlowski, who entered the game with an 8-1 record, was cruising along until the Minuteman tagged him for five more runs on six hits in the sixth inning.

Gavin led off with a single, Acker followed with a double and senior Tyler Haitsma added a run-scoring single. Sophomore pinch-hitter Steven Reed followed with an RBI single and junior pinch-hitter Dominic Grimske also had a run-scoring single.

Junior Garrett Frey’s single knocked Kozlowski out of the game. Sophomore Mike Manion came in and retired five of the six hitters he faced to earn the save.

“Our kids stuck to doing what we do best, putting the ball in play,” Jackowiak said. “We had our chances. The two pinch-hitters (Reed and Grimske) gave us a spark.”

One of the reasons Concord was able to get back into the game was the relief pitching of Haitsma.

The Minutemen trailed 9-4 when Haitsma entered, but he limited the Bulldogs to single runs in the fifth and sixth innings.

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