For the second time this season, the Chesterton baseball team couldn’t find an answer for LaPorte’s Connor Podkul.

The Trojans managed just three hits and got only one runner to second base as they dropped a 7-0 decision to the visiting Slicers on Thursday night.

“If you don’t score runs, you aren’t going to beat anybody,” Chesterton coach Jack Campbell said.

Podkul and Trojan starter Jake Post both cruised through the first two innings before the Slicers got on top in the third.

A one-out walk to Jacob Craft and then an errant pickoff attempt led to an RBI single from Kyle Upp for a 1-0 LaPorte lead. Nick Latham led off the fourth inning with a home run for a 2-0 advantage.

“We gave them one early and they hit a home run,” Campbell said. “I thought Jake pitched much better. He really struggled two outings ago against Portage and was better last time out against Michigan City.

“Tonight he was pretty good, but we didn’t help him much.”

The Trojans were able to manage singles by Scott Homner and Post in the first two inning before Podkul settled into an impressive groove. The right-hander retired 14 straight hitters including a string of eight consecutive strikeouts.

“Podkul has one loss this year and he’s going to Purdue,” Campbell said. “With the velocity he has and a curve ball too, that’s awfully tough on hitters. What did he have 14 strikeouts? He had 11 against us the first time too.

“He’s really good.”

The Slicers scored one more run in the fifth and added four in the seventh inning to set the final score.

SCORING BY INNINGS

LaPorte 001 110 4 -- 7 10 0

Chesterton 000 000 0 -- 0 3 3

HR -- Nick Latham (L). Pitching Summary -- LaPorte -- Connor Podkul (7 IP, 3 H, 14 K, 1 BB); Chesterton -- Jake Post (7 IP, 10 H, 9 K, 1 BB). WP -- Podkul. LP -- Post.

Corey Rusboldt’s RBI single in the bottom of the seventh led the Chesterton junior varsity to an improbable come-from-behind 9-8 win over LaPorte Thursday night.

The Trojans trailed 6-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth before scoring seven runs for an 8-6 lead. LaPorte answered with two tallies to tie the game, setting the stage for Rusboldt.

Offensively, Alex Rochowiak was 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI’s, while Nate Crownover was 2-for-2 with a double and two RBI’s. Andrew Ralph was also 2-for-2 with a double.

On the mound, Kevin Jones went the first four innings for Chesterton with two strikeouts before giving way to Cole Teal who struck out two in two innings. Aery Pratt struck out two in one inning of work to pick up the win.

Posted 5/13/2011