La Porte and Crown Point have engaged in some epic battles over the years. Tuesday night’s 11 inning 2-1 win by the Slicers rates with the best of them. 

 

La Porte’s RJ Anglin and CP’s Ryan Radanovich hooked up in a classic pitcher’s duel. 

 

It didn’t start well for the La Porte. Crown Point leadoff man Luke Burford started the game with a ground ball to first. Tommy Samuelson misplayed the tricky hop and the Bulldogs had a man on first with no one out. Chris Gloff put down a sacrifice bunt moving Burford to second. Anglin then got Blake Sabau to fly to left and Jase Horton to ground out to second. Those three outs were the first of twelve straight Bulldogs retired by Anglin through the first four innings.

 

Radanovich, though not perfect, held the Slicers in check through the first four innings. He allowed a Tommy Samuelson single with two outs in the second, walked both Drew Catron and Ben Dubbs with one out in the third before retiring the next two hitters, and hit Samuelson with a pitch in the fourth.    La Porte was unable take advantage of these opportunities while leaving four base runners stranded.

 

Crown Point broke the scoreless tie in the fifth. Anglin jammed leadoff man Connor Cotton with a fastball on the bat handle. Cotton was able to bloop it into right field just in front of a diving Keli Hay for a double. Noah Ehrlick bunted him to third before Radanovich drove in the run with a sacrifice fly to left field making it 1-0 Bulldogs.

 

It looked like the 1-0 lead might hold up. In the bottom of the fifth the Slicers caught a break when Ryan Bruemmer reached on a dropped third strike to start the inning. Catron moved him to second with a sacrifice bunt. After Dubbs popped up to short, Moses reached base on an error. Kade Flores walked to load the bases but Radanvich got Anglin to ground out to second to end the inning.

 

Anglin gave up a two out single to Gloff in the top of the sixth but got out of the inning with score still 1-0. The Slicers continued to be frustrated offensively in the bottom of the sixth. Crown Point center fielder JJ Johnson made a diving catch of Kai Jones’ line drive to lead off the inning. Samuelson grounded out to second for out number two. Pinch hitter Jax Land drew a walk. After Radanovich threw ball one to Bruemmer, Bulldog coach Steve Strayer made a pitching change bringing in lanky lefty Blake Newell. Coach Scott Upp sent AJ Mrosinke in to hit for Breummer. Hay who reentered to game to run for Land stole second but was stranded there when Newell struck out Mrozinske.

 

Anglin retired the Bulldogs in order in the top of the seventh setting up do or die time for the Slicers. 

 

Catron fouled out to the first baseman to start the inning. The Slicers were two outs away from dropping their third straight game and falling a game behind both CP and Lake Central in the Duneland Conference standings. Then up stepped Dubbs, who has been La Porte best hitter in the early going. Dubbs smashed a curveball to the right center field fence and sprinted to third for a one out triple. The Bulldogs pulled their corner infielders in but left the shortstop and second baseman at normal depth. Carter Moses was able to slap a ground ball to second driving in the tying run. The Slicers just about won the game in regulation when Kade Flores hit a deep fly to right center. He was robbed of extra bases when Johnson made an acrobatic leaping catch to end the inning with the score tied 1-1. 

 

In the eighth Anglin hit Johnson with a pitch but got out of the inning with a couple strikeouts and a popup to short. In the bottom of the eighth LP went three up three down with center fielder Johnson taking an extra base hit away from Jones with another spectacular running catch.

 

Anglin struck out Gloff to start the ninth putting him at 103 pitches. Coach Upp came out and made a pitching change, bringing Jones in from shortstop to pitch. He sent Anglin to left field, moved Kade Flores from second to short and brought Dubbs in from left to play second base. Jones walked Sabau then got Horton to hit into a 6-4-3 double play, Flores to Dubbs to Samuelson to end the inning. 

 

La Porte was unable to take advantage of a Hay infield hit in the bottom of the ninth. Bruemmer bunted him second, Catron grounded out to third, Dubbs was intentionally walked before Moses was called out on strikes.

 

Jones struck out Cotton and Ehrlich to start the tenth then lost control of the strike zone. He walked the next three hitters before getting Burford to line out to Bruemmer in center. Flores singled to start the bottom of the tenth inning and stole second. Anglin struck out for the first out, then Flores was thrown out at third trying to advance on a pitch in the dirt. Jones fanned to end the inning.

 

In the top of the eleventh first baseman Samuelson picked up a chopper moving to his right and made a great toss to Jones covering first for the close out. The play looked even bigger after Sabau ripped a single to left that Anglin couldn’t pick up cleanly allowing Sabau to advance to second. Jones buckled down and got Horton to foul out and Cotton looking to end the inning.

 

The score remained 1-1 and the stage was set for the bottom of the eleventh. Samuelson hit a hard ground ball up the middle. Bulldog second baseman Caleb Schoonover slid on one knee making the stop. He could not get enough on his throw to first and Samuelson had an infield hit. Hay laid down a sacrifice bunt moving Samuelson to second. Bruemmer swung and missed a two strike Newell curve that broke into the dirt. The catcher Horton kept the ball in front of him but couldn’t get a tag on Bruemmer., He stepped in front of home plate trying to look  Samuelson back to second. With the speedy Bruemmer hustling toward first Huston had to throw it for the out. The moment he released the throw, Samuelson bolted for third. First baseman Sabau caught the throw to retire Bruemmer then threw across the infield attempting to cut down Samuelson. The throw skipped past third baseman Aslyn Farinelli, the sliding Samuelson hopped up and sprinted home for the winning run.  

 

All four pitchers were superb. Anglin pitched 8 1/3 innings giving up one run on two hits. He struck out eight, walked no one and hit one batter. Radanovich went 5 2/3 innings, allowed just one hit, struck out seven, walked four and hit one batter. Jones got the win pitching 2 2/3 scoreless innings in relief. He struck out two, walked four and gave up one hit. Newell was the hard luck loser. He pitched five innings gave up two runs, only one earned, struck out seven and walked one. 

 

Anglin and Samuelson were named co Salisbury and Spence Edward Jones players of the game. Crown Point left fielder Connor Cotton and relief pitcher Logan Cotton are the sons of Slicer State Champion and Baseball Hall of Famer Jason Cotton.

 

La Porte improves to 5-3 on the year and a perfect 3-0 in the DAC. Crown Point falls to 5-3 and are 2-1 in the DAC. The Slicers and Lake Central are tied at the top of the DAC standings. The Slicers and Crown Point play again at CP Wednesday night first pitch scheduled for 4:30.

 

Photos courtesy of Susan Anglin.