Rain just won’t go away

Mother Nature struck again on Friday, pushing all of the Porter County Conference tournament opening round games to this morning as part of a long day of action.

It’s just part of this year’s routine for Hanover Central.

“We’ve had eight games rained out,” said Hanover coach Larry McMillen, whose team will face LaCrosse on the road at 9 a.m.

That’s when all four of the first round PCC games will take place. At least the Wildcats won’t have to leave if they win since the semifinals and championship will follow at LaCrosse.

“In the past two weeks we’ve been playing five games each week,” said Hebron coach Mike McLindon, whose Hawks host Kouts this morning. “We’ll have some work to do (to get the field ready) bright and early.”

Not all of Friday’s host sites were hit as hard by rain. But to be fair, one couldn’t play while others postponed their games.

“That’s part of the reason, but we also didn’t want umpires to get out there and no game is being played,” LaCrosse athletic director and PCC tourney director David Amor said. “Budgets are tight already.

“We’ll see how (today) goes. Looking at the radar, who knows at this point.”

Hanover could use a good day for several reasons. Winning another PCC title — the Wildcats have won four straight and nine of the last 10 tourneys — is a given as being a boost to the upcoming postseason. But just to get three games played in one day would also help immensely.

“We know what we’ve got, but it’s kind of hard to get any kind of rhythm with the rainouts,” McMillen said.

Going into the season he know his team would be lacking experience. In addition to losing their top two pitchers to graduation, the Wildcats have several freshmen and sophomores starting, to go with five seniors who don’t have a lot of varsity experience.

One of the freshmen who has stood out is pitcher Ashley Yoways.

“Our pitching’s been great,” McMillen said. “She’s done well. It’s been our lack of experience in the field and our defense that’s been killing us.”

Moving time: Northwest Indiana teams made some moves in this week’s ICGSA softball poll. The biggest move upward came in 3A as Kankakee Valley rose from No. 7 to No. 4, while fellow 3A school Andrean dropped two spots into that No. 7 slot.

In 4A, Lake Central jumped from No. 6 to No. 4, while LaPorte dropped a spot to No. 12. There are three region teams consecutively in Class 2A — Wheeler at No. 10, Bishop Noll at No. 11 and Hebron at No. 12.

Westville kept moving up to No. 4 in 1A from No. 5 last week, while Whiting rose a spot to No. 6.

Correction: In Friday’s softball draw column, it should have said that Whiting and Westville could meet in the semistate, not in regional. If the Blackhawks do win their sectional, they would likely have to face Class 1A No. 2 Lakewood Park Christian in the regional.

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