Chesterton Downs #1 Lake Central 4-3

With two of the best "Region" and Top 25 State-wide pitchers on the bump, the Lake Central vs. Chesterton game was sure to be a great one. Jake Post (2012: Ohio State) took the rubber in the top half of the first, delivering fastball after fastball, striking out the first two hitters he faced. It was Senior Chase Fieldhouse (2012: uncommitted) who put Lake Central on the board early, delivering a moon shot home run to right field. Post would then calm down and retire the next six batters he would face; consistently 87-88mph on his fastball.

 

In the bottom half of the first, Lake Central's Jimmy McNamara (2012: Central Michigan) pounded the strike zone early, proving why is he one of the most effective pitchers in the state. Chesterton would answer Fieldhouse's home run with a walk by Brandon Jenks (2012: uncommitted), sacrifice bunt by J.R. Frederick (2012) and single by Nathan Crownover (2013). McNamara was consistently 83-86mph with great arm action on his off speed pitches.

 

Although the game was attractive with the starting pitchers, this game would be decided by defensive mishaps and timely hitting. Lake Central would score two runs in the top half of the 4th from the bats of Ryan Pachowicz (singled home Fieldhouse, whom reached on an error) and Adam Fulk (2012), along with some fielding errors made by Chesterton.

 

Chesterton would then answer the call, scoring two runs in the bottom half of the 4th; thus tying the game at 3-3. Chesterton would get back-to-back-to-back hits from Brandon Jenks (2012), J.R. Frederick (2012), and Nathan Crownover (2013). With the score tied in the 5th, Chesterton would take the lead off a sacrifice fly from Senior Jake Post, scoring Andrew Ralph (2014) who singled to start the 5th.

 

Lake Central would really threaten in the top half of the 6th, setting up a second and third situation with no outs. However, due to a base running blunder, Lake Central was unable to capitalize and score a run. Chesterton's Post took the rubber in the top half of the 7th and never looked better. Post was 87mph-88mph strong in the 7th, going three up and three down for the complete game victory.

 

Final: Chesterton 4  Lake Central 3

 

Surprising Players of the Day: Today I have three players. First and foremost, Jake Post (2012: Ohio State) of Chesterton. Not saying he "out-dueled" Jimmy McNamara, but his arm was impressive. Everything he threw was hard and had great plane to it; nothing was flat. He impressed me in the 7th, showing he was getting stronger as the game wore on. Second on my list, Nick Kellams (2013) from Lake Central. Kellams was 2-4 on the day with a double, but has shown he can hit any level of pitching and has very good foot speed. Lastly, Chase Fieldhouse (2012: uncommitted) of Lake Central. How this kid is unsigned, is beyond me. He has the size, skill set, and strength to be an everyday outfielder at the division one level. What people don't see often is his arm strength. On the deciding run, where Jake Post flew out to center field scoring Andrew Ralph, Fieldhouse tracked down the fly ball fairly deep in center, and threw a strike to home. The ball beat Ralph, but the catcher could not come up cleanly on the bang-bang play. All in all, a great game to watch.