BASEBALL: Four Seasons Mechanical Top 10 for 5/3/18

T-#10.
GRIFFITH PANTHERS
12-5

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LAST WEEK: NR

The Panthers enter the Top 10 for the first time this season after a week that saw them rout KV, upset Valpo and split a series with ranked Wheeler. Griffith has taken a liking to their new conference surroundings with a 9-1 record in the GSSC – we’ll have to see if that gets them ready for the post-season.

T-#10.
HANOVER CENTRAL WILDCATS
13-3

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LAST WEEK: #9

The GSSC title race could come down to the final week of the regular season as the Wildcats and Panthers are not only tied at #10 in the rankings, but are tied at the top of the conference standings, so their games on May 14^th and 15^th will be huge.

#9.
MORGAN TWP. CHEROKEES
13-2

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LAST WEEK: #10

Another week, another dominating stretch of games for the Cherokees, as they outscored their four opponents (River Forest, Hebron, SB Washington, and LaCrosse) by a combined 64-18. With less than three weeks to go in the regular season, Morgan may just be hitting their stride for a tournament run.

#8.
HOBART BRICKIES
12-6

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LAST WEEK: NR

Ok, ok, we heard you Brickies. After dropping back to back games to Highland on April 23 and 24, Hobart was expelled from the rankings last week. All they did in their time away was beat Chesterton, a team that was ranked #2 at the time, and then split a series with Andrean, handing the Niners their first loss to a team from Indiana this year. Needless to say, the Brickies have earned their way back in.

#7.
WHEELER BEARCATS
12-2

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LAST WEEK: #8

Although the Bearcats find themselves a game behind both Griffith and Hanover Central in the GSSC standings, they are a few spots ahead of them in the poll after beating both foes this week, avenging an earlier season loss to HC and splitting the series with the Panthers.

#6. 

LAPORTE SLICERS
12-7

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LAST WEEK: #3

The Slicers tumble down the rankings after a rough week, which saw two blowout losses at the hands of Lake Central (more on them later). It doesn’t get any easier for LaPorte in the next few days, as they’ll have a series against Chesterton followed by a double-header against a feisty Lowell squad.

#5.
HIGHLAND TROJANS
13-2

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LAST WEEK: #6

Highland hitters are heating up! In three of their last four games, the Trojans have scored double-digit runs and that includes a sweep of arch-rival Munster. Thanks to Hobart’s win over Andrean, Highland finds itself tied with the Niners atop the NCC standings – should be a fun series when they square off next week.

#4. 

CROWN POINT BULLDOGS
10-5

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LAST WEEK: #5

It looked like the ‘Dogs would be on the outside looking in when it came to the DAC title hunt after dropping both games to Lake Central, but a sweep of Michigan City and a slugfest 18-13 win over Valpo has Crown Point just a game behind in the standings. With unranked Merrillville and Portage as the only conference foes remaining, the Bulldogs might find themselves with at least a share of the conference crown before it’s all said and done.

#3.
CHESTERTON TROJANS
10-4

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LAST WEEK: #2

Is the Trojan pitching, which has been so good all season starting to fall off a little bit or is the 10 runs they surrendered in a loss to Hobart just a blip on the radar? Chesterton better hope it’s the latter, because the remaining schedule has them playing five games against teams in the top six, including two with LaPorte, one with Highland and a pair with Lake Central – so they’re gonna need all the pitching they can get.

#2.
LAKE CENTRAL INDIANS
14-3

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LAST WEEK: #4

How good were the Indians this past week? In their five games played (two of those against ranked LaPorte) they outscored the opposition 49-7. Not too shabby. If LC has gotten their late inning issues resolved (all three of their losses were the results of blown leads in the sixth inning), this team will not only make some post-season noise, but they’ll take over the #1 spot from…

#1.
ANDREAN 59ERS
17-3

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LAST WEEK: #1

A couple entries ago, we wondered if Chesterton should be worried about their pitching and we can’t help but ask that same question about Andrean after giving up 29 runs in three games last week – two of them losses. Not a good time for pitching to falter with a series against Highland, essentially for the NCC title, coming up next week. The Niners have built up enough of a resume to stay at #1 this week, but just barely.