The Seminoles (16-13-1) earned the #1 seed by finishing pool play 4-0 with a win over the Illinois Pro Players by a score of 3-2. Matt Dvorscak (Whiting) was the winning pitcher throwing 6 innings of 2 run ball before making way for Angel Figueroa’s (Bishop Noll) first save. Figueroa’s 1 inning save included 2 strikeouts. Jimmy Skiff (Andrean) was the only Hammond player with 2 hits and he also chipped in an RBI. Corey Rusboldt (Chesterton) singled in a run and scored and Austin Vander Zanden (Chesterton) had a double. Jaylen Yarbrough (Bishop Noll, RF) and Larry Crisler (Bishop Noll, CF) each made a great defensive play on a ball hit over their heads late in the game to preserve a lead. 

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

The Hammond Seminoles (17-13-1) won the 2012 Wood Bat CABA World Series Qualifier at Valparaiso with a 5-0 victory in the championship game over the Michigan Whitecaps. Austin Vander Zanden (Chesterton) threw a gem of a game going all 7 innings with 5 strikeouts and just 2 hits allowed. Jaylen Yarbrough (Bishop Noll), Larry Crisler (Bishop Noll), and Corey Rusboldt (Chesterton) got the Noles offense going in the first. Yarbrough led off with a walk. Then he and Crisler executed a perfect full count hit and run to make it first and third. With 1 out and runners still on the corners, the switch-hitting shortstop, Rusboldt, hit a two strike double over the center fielder’s head to drive in a pair and give Hammond a 2-0 lead. Brandon Garcia (Griffith, walk and stolen base), Jonathan Azar (Munster, single), and Frank Podkul (Andrean, hit by pitch) tacked on insurance runs in the 5th and 6th innings thanks to RBI singles from Crisler and Garcia and an RBI groundout from Joey Bryant (Munster). The Seminoles finished the tournament with a record of 5-0 and outscored their opponents 39-11.