The Bulldogs know that good leather wins games. On Thursday night in the Chesterton Sectional the 'Dogs played stellar defense in their 2-1 semifinal victory over Chesterton, while LaPorte edged Portage by the same 2-1 margin in the early game.
Hits were in short supply in both games -- a grand total of 12 hits were collected by the four teams in two games -- as pitching and defense tilted the scales to the winners. Crown Point was holding a dicey 2-1 lead with the Trojans at bat in the bottom of the fifth inning. Crown Point plated a pair in the fourth with RBI from Jackie Belifuss and Kara Galvas, but Chesterton answered in its half of the inning when Sam Gross led off with a double and scored on Amanda Gough's sacrifice fly. Then in the fifth, the Trojans threatened again with a couple of walks coaxed by Taylor Harlow and Alexis Paz off of C.P. starter Beilfuss. With two outs, the right-handed hitting Gross punched a hard bouncer destined for right field, but Crown Point second-baseman Jessica Martinez dove into the hole, back-handed the grounder and threw out Gross on a close play.
"Before every pitch I tell myself to charge the ball or dive for it," Martinez said. "I told (Beilfuss) that was for her, everything I do for her on the field is for her because she works so hard on the mound."
In the early game, LaPorte flashed the leather as well in its 2-1 squeaker over Portage. The Slicers got all the offense they needed from Tara Buchanan who scored both runs, one on a 3rd inning home run that sailed high and deep over the left field fence. LaPorte also turned two crisp double plays in the last two innings.
"I think we've played 30 games without a routine double play turned against us and tonight we had two," Portage coach Jeff Smith said.
LaPorte faces Crown Point in the final at 6:30 today in Chesterton.
