By TR HARLAN

Chesterton baseball coach Jack Campbell was quick to point out a couple of names Monday night after the Trojans 12-7 Duneland Athletic Conference victory over Lake Central.

“Six RBI’s for Kevin (Gates),” Campbell said. “And don’t forget to say something about (CHS Groundskeeper) Brian Finley getting the field ready.”

Lake Central built an early 3-0 lead as they took advantage of two Chesterton errors and three walks from Gates, the Trojans’ starter on the hill.

“He struggled a little bit in the first couple of innings,” Campbell said. “With him, nothing is half-speed and sometimes that gets him in trouble. He jumps toward home plate some instead of taking the step like he’s supposed too.”

The Indians (5-1, 0-1) scored on an infield error in the first and took advantage of one hit, a sacrifice fly and a dropped fly ball in the second for the 3-0 advantage.

“I started off not hitting the strike zone and missing my spots, but I made some good pitches when I had to,” Gates said. “I knew if I could hold them to three or four runs that we’d come back and get at least that many.”

After Gates settled down for a 1-2-3 top half of the third, the Trojans’ bats got going. A one-out single by Evan Parana, followed by a walk to John Thanos and a single by Zack Novak loaded the bases.

A strike out brought Gates to the plate and he helped his own cause with a three-run double to straight away center field.

“I knew he would throw me a curve ball 3-1, so I took it,” Gates said. “I knew he’d throw it again and I just swung for contact and hit it good.”

Ryan Lindquist lined the first pitch he saw from Lake Central starter Dan Manick into center field and gave the Trojans a 4-3 lead.

“It’s a great feeling knowing that the offense is going to score runs for you,” Gates said. “My last two starts I’ve given up a couple runs early.”

Chesterton (5-2, 2-1) kept the pressure on in the fourth inning. Danny Detmar started with a leadoff walk and Parana followed with a one-out single to right field. An infield single by Thanos scored Detmar.

Novak picked up a bad-hop single and Jeremy Ross was hit by a pitch to score Parana. Gates, who was 2-for-3 with six RBI’s, worked a walk from relief pitcher Kyle Scheffel and Lindquist ripped a two-run single to left field to push the lead to 9-3.

“I looked up at the scoreboard and we were up six runs again,” Campbell laughed after watching his team blow a six-run lead at Portage on Friday. “Monday must not be a good day to do anything because for a couple innings there we didn’t want to do much. Then we got a couple hits and score a few runs, it just picked us up a little bit.”

LC scored one run in the sixth inning before Chesterton added three more beginning with a leadoff walk to Novak. Ross followed with a double and Gates’ doubled to score Novak and Ross.

Detmar’s single plated Gates and ended the Trojans’ onslaught.

“We’ve had different people step up offensively and do things for us this year,” Campbell said. “It was Frank Raudry for a while and then it was (Jeremy) Ross. Then it was Zack (Novak) and tonight it was Kevin (Gates). We have a lot of guys who can get it done at the plate in our lineup.”

Lake Central tried to mount a comeback with a single by Ryan Boss and back-to-back walks. Campbell reached into the bullpen and found Steve Janes who allowed a single, but stymied the rally.

“I’m just struggling in the beginning, but once the pressure gets on I try to concentrate more,” Gates said. “I’m probably too excitable early on.”

The Trojans return to the field on Wednesday when they travel to Merrillville to take on the Pirates beginning at 4:30 p.m.

“We’ll try to throw Kevin (Gates) on Monday and Friday this week and Steve (Janes) on Wednesday. We were ok with getting Steve some work today too.”

Chesterton 12, Lake Central 7

AT CHESTERTON

SCORING BY INNINGS

Lake Central 120 001 3 – 7 4 0

Chesterton 004 503 x – 12 13 3

2B – Matt Skura (LC); Kevin Gates 2, Jeremy Ross (C). Pitching Summary – Lake Central – Dan Manick (3 1/3 IP, 8 H, 5 K 3 BB), Kyle Scheffel (1 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 K, 2 BB), Anthony Olund (1 IP, 4 H, 0 K, 1 BB); Chesterton – Kevin Gates (6 IP, 3 H, 5 K, 9 BB), Steve Janes (1 IP, 1 H, 1 K, 0 BB). WP – Gates. LP – Manick.

Junior Varsity

Lake Central 9, Chesterton 7

Lake Central took advantage of six Chesterton errors to pick up a 9-7 Junior Varsity victory on Monday night.

Austin Cooley led the Trojan offense with a 2-for-4 day including a home run and four RBI’s. Shane Kenney and Matt Lahti also added two hits each.

Lake Central 9, Chesterton 7

AT CHESTERTON

SCORING BY INNINGS

Lake Central 010 502 1 -- 9 12 2

Chesterton 102 300 1 -- 7 11 6

HR -- Austin Cooley (C). Pitching Summary -- Chesterton -- Kyle Kerr (3 1/3 IP, 6 H, 1 ER), Ryan Tarnowski (3 2/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER). LP -- Tarnowski.

Records -- Lake Central 5-0 (1-0 DAC), Chesterton 1-3 (0-2).

Posted 4/15/2008