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LaPorte hands Lake Central first loss
Updated: May 2, 2011 11:28PM
LAPORTE — Must win for LaPorte? Nah. Lots of baseball still left.
A this-is-a-real-race-now for the Duneland Athletic Conference title with the victory?
Absolutely.
LaPorte saddled Lake Central with its first loss Monday. The Indians ranked No. 1 in the state, fell 4-2 in a relatively clean, 85 minute gem.
If LC learned one important lesson from the loss it’s that you gotta minimize the mistakes on the road against the Slicers or they will make you pay.
In the end, the clutch pitching of Connor Podkul and a sloppy first inning cost the Indians a victory.
Or at least a better chance for a victory.
LaPorte scored two unearned runs in the first on a single, a walk, an error and a balk. That turned out to be the difference.
“Maybe if that hadn’t of happened the momentum changes,” Lake Central coach Jeff Sandor said. “But we couldn’t get a two-out hit.”
Indeed, that was another major issue for LC.
The game was important enough for the Slicers that Podkul pitched on just three days of rest, which is one or two days less than he usually gets.
Podkul (7-0) was brilliant especially when he needed to be in the fifth inning when LC scored twice. The Indians looked like the odds were pretty good that they were going to take the lead.
Trailing 3-2 with one out and runners on second and third, LC had its Nos. 4 and 5 hitters˜Brandon Cloutier and Austen Wagoner at the plate.
Podkul fell behind both hitters 2-0 but he came back against each batter and struck them out swinging.
It was clutch, big time stuff for Podkul, who struck out nine.
“Those were huge strike-outs,” LaPorte coach Scott Upp said. “That’s the difference between a strike-out pitcher and a ground ball, fly ball pitcher. He knew he had to get those (strike-outs). He’s a smart kid. He had a little more oomph behind those pitches.”
Said Podkul: “They’re a really good team and I knew they were going to try to put the ball in play. I just had to go after them.”
Podkul was glad to have the chance to after them.
Upp left the decision up to him on whether he was going to pitch on three days rest. He probably knew that Podkul couldn’t resist the challenge of taking on the best team in the state no matter how his arm felt. He told him Monday during the day he was ready to go.
As it turns out, Podkul was fine before the game and even better after it.
LaPorte (12-4-1. 5-1) is now tied with Lake Central (14-1, 5-1) in the DAC race.
“This is huge for us,” Podkul said. “It’s a long week and we both have a lot of conference games but this was a statement for us. That’s what we wanted to do.”
Upp said the victory gives LaPorte some control over the race to the top.
“Now we have control of our own destiny,” he said.
Lake Central took the loss in stride.
“When you go on the road, you have to be sharp,” Sandor said. “You don’t want to spot a team two runs. We’re better than that. I still don’t believe there is a team in the conference that is better than us and we’re still in first place.”
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