Indians grind out victory

Photos: Chesterton vs. Lake Central

Updated: April 22, 2011 2:06PM

ST. JOHN - All those blowouts - the slaughter-rule games, the home run derbies, the stat-padding exhibitions - are fine. Plenty of fun, too.

But this - a low-scoring affair, a pitchers' duel, a tense, grinding battle - is likely how it's going to be when it really counts for Lake Central. When a conference championship is on the line. Or a sectional. Or a regional. Or maybe even a state title.

"We usually win by a lot," LC pitcher Brad Wartman said. "But we know it won't always be that easy."

Turns out the Indians can win the hard way, too.

Lake Central beat Chesterton 1-0 in a splendidly played, sensationally pitched 10-inning Duneland Conference classic on a chilly, blustery Thursday evening.

"Doesn't get much better than that, does it?" said Chesterton coach Jack Campbell, a guy who's seen his fair share of games over the last few decades.

Just how good was it? In 20 half-innings, there were no walks issued. No errors committed, either. Only in the bottom of the 10th did more than four batters come to the plate. Wartman retired 14 straight Trojans during one stretch, and he and Taylor Lehnert combined to allow three hits in 10 shutout innings. Chesterton's Jordan Peterson pitched nine scoreless innings, allowing just seven hits and striking out 10 batters in a virtuoso performance. And despite going 10 innings, the game finished in less than two hours.

Yeah, that good.

So good that nobody seemed to mind that frigid 20-mph wind coming out of left field.

"I looked down the bench after every inning and saw nothing but smiles," Lake Central coach Jeff Sandor said. "You might have thought they'd be thinking, ‘Oh, crap, we've got to go out there for another inning.' But it was great."

The big-bopping Indians (10-0, 2-0) - they hit 20 home runs in their first nine games - finally were able to scratch out a run in the bottom of the 10th inning. With Peterson finally out of the game - he convinced Campbell to leave him in for the ninth, but couldn't convince him to do so for the 10th - Lake Central immediately capitalized.

Jordan Polito led off the inning with a double down the left-field line against Chesterton (4-2, 1-1) reliever Bobby Humphreys. Polito moved to third on a well-placed groundout to second by Zach Mantel. After Matt Siedentopf was intentionally walked and stole second, Chase Fieldhouse smacked a ground ball up the middle that deflected hard off of Humphreys' bare hand and fluttered harmlessly away, allowing Polito to score the game-winning run.

Sandor was thrilled to see his players respond in a rare tight affair.

"Our kids showed a little bit of perserverance and battled through some adversity," he said. "We had kids that looked terrible all game, but they found ways to get on base and hit balls hard. And when you greet a new pitcher with a double, I think that eases things a bit."

It also underscored just how good Peterson was. Coming two days after No. 2 pitcher Jake Post struck out 19 batters in eight innings against Merrillville, Peterson was brilliant. Mixing overhand, three-quarters and even submarine-style pitches, the big right-hander kept the Indians off balance all game long.

"He's doing something special," Sandor said. "He throws out of three arm angles and throws about 10 different speeds. He's just really dang good. I'm glad we've got a month to gear up for him again."

Lake Central's pitchers were every bit as good. With ace Jimmy McNamara unavailable after pitching a no-hitter on Tuesday, Wartman and Lehnert were nearly untouchable. Wartman pitched seven scoreless innings; from one out in the second until the top of the seventh, no Chesterton batter reached base.

"He was unbelievable, he really was," Sandor said. "That's his third consecutive start where he's been dominant. He shut out Noll and shut down Munster, giving up only one run."

Lehnert entered in the eighth and retired all nine batters he faced, with only two balls even leaving the infield.

"The way these guys are throwing, we feel we only need one run sometimes," Sandor said.

Indeed, no matter the style of game, no matter the opponent, no matter the weather, the Indians are feeling almost invincible at the moment.

"We really do feel that way," Wartman said. "Pitching, defense, hitting - we're just playing really good baseball."

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