By TR HARLAN

When the wind is blowing out to left field at about 30 miles per hour, one would think everyone is trying to hit the ball out of the park.

Chesterton Coach LouAnn Hopson’s team isn’t that group.

The Trojans played small ball and took advantage of six Merrillville errors to post a 6-3 Duneland Athletic Conference victory on Wednesday afternoon.

“We were hitting so much stuff up in the air that we tried to hit more things on the ground and do some hitting and running,” Hopson said. “We missed some signs, both at the plate and on the bases, and some of that is the teams we’ve played haven’t given us many chances to do those things.”

The Trojans jumped on top 2-0 in the second inning when Kelci Garcia reached on a one-out error. A bunt single by Kathleen Maple moved pinch-runner Jessica McClellan all the way to third base.

Heather Overla’s RBI ground out scored McClellan, while Maple scored when Alexis Paz reached on another Pirate error.

“We had several kids do a nice job running the bases,” Hopson said. “We ran into some outs, but for the most part did a pretty good job offensively.”

After Amanda Gough scored in the third inning, Chesterton put three more runs on the board in the fourth.

Maple picked up her second hit of the game and moved to second on Overla’s ground out. Alexis Paz singled and went to second on an error scoring Maple. Another error on a shot by Sam Gross scored Paz.

A single by Catie Armstrong plated Gross.

“I thought our lefties were very good with their placement of slaps and bunts today,” Hopson said.

The game remained that way until the seventh when Merrillville tried to put a rally together against Paz.

Back-to-back walks and a hit by pitch loaded the bases with one out just ahead of a two-run single by the Pirates’ Toi Merriwether. An RBI ground out cut the lead to 6-3, but Chesterton catcher Sam Bozak grabbed a wild pitch and tagged out Merriwether trying to score to end the game.

“The kids stayed with some stuff that hit the ground hard and took some funny hops,” Hopson said. “We kept it in front of us and got the outs. We did a nice job defensively.”

The Trojans return to the field today when they host DAC-rival Portage beginning at 4:30 p.m.

Chesterton 6, Merrillville 3

AT CHESTERTON

SCORING BY INNINGS

Merrillville 000 000 3 – 3 3 6

Chesterton 021 300 x – 6 8 0

Pitching Summary – Merrillville – Lindsey Mitchell (6 IP, 8 H, 0 K, 2 BB); Chesterton – Alexis Paz (7 IP, 3 H, 7 K, 7 BB). WP – Paz. LP – Mitchell.

Posted 4/17/2008