By TR HARLAN

You just kind of wondered when the young Chesterton Trojans would grow up. It might have been Thursday night.

The Trojans (6-5, 4-2) scored single runs in each of the first three innings and picked up a 5-1 Duneland Athletic Conference victory over Portage.

“I’m not sure the kids knew they were capable of that,” Chesterton coach LouAnn Hopson said. “We’ve been preaching all along that all we had to do was stay focused consistently.

“With their youth, they are so inconsistent with their focus.”

That wasn’t the case on Thursday. Freshman starting pitcher Taylor Harlow set down the Indians 1-2-3 in the top of the first and the Trojans capitalized.

Alexis Paz worked Portage starter Olivia Leggett for a leadoff walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Sam Gross. After a strike out, Amanda Gough fouled off several pitches and then ripped a single to center field for the game’s first run.

“We played with a lot of enthusiasm today,” Gough said. “We’re sick of not playing our best and we had our heads in it today. This is our biggest win of the year.”

The Trojans continued to take advantage of opportunities with solo runs in the second and third inning.

In the second, Kelci Garcia led off with a single. Pinch-runner Kathleen Maple stole second base and advanced to third on a ground out by Jessica McClellan. Maple scored on a ground out by Heather Overla.

In the third, Gough took care of things on her own with a rocket shot over the left field fence for a solo home run.

“Today I just saw the ball really well,” Gough said. “I don’t know what is was, but I hope it stays.”

Harlow finally allowed a hit in the fifth inning as the Indians (6-4, 4-2) tried to mount a rally.

After picking up two quick outs, the Trojan freshman walked back-to-back batters and Leggett’s single plated Jess Sedoris and brought Catie Armstrong out of the Chesterton bullpen.

“I was really happy with the day Taylor had,” Hopson said. “She really did a nice job out there. We put Catie in the designated player spot so she could warm-up if we needed her.

“We knew the third time through that if Taylor was in any trouble, that’s where we were going.”

Armstrong induced a ground ball to Gough at shortstop that ended the threat.

“We’ve been talking to her about stepping up,” Hopson said of Gough. “The stuff coming right at you is great, but we need her to make a few more plays for us. She certainly did that today.

“All it takes is the older kids to lead the kids and the younger one’s will follow them.”

The Trojans answered back with two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Paz led off with a single and moved to second on Gross’ ground out. A throw from Portage’s Kristen Helmick to second base found its way into center field and scored Paz.

Armstrong followed that with a single to right field and Gough walked. A double steal put runners on second and third just ahead of Armstrong scoring on a ground out by Sam Bozak.

“Some of the things we did today is because of the rivalry,” Hopson said. “We were a little more wound up for the game today.”

Portage tried to rally again in the sixth inning when Helmick led off the inning with a double off the right field wall. Two ground outs and a fly out later, the Trojans had thwarted the threat.

“They hit an awful lot of fly balls, but the outfield did a great job today,” Hopson said. “They were busy out there. That’s a junior, a sophomore and a freshman out there and none of those kids played varsity last year.”

The Indians tried again in the seventh inning, but Chesterton was up to the task.

“We’ve had some games where we didn’t have any errors,” Hopson said. “Tonight we made a couple, but we made the extraordinary plays we haven’t been making.”

A pair of leadoff walks set the stage for a potential comeback, but Armstrong caught a pop up and induced two ground balls to slam the door.

“It was real nice to see Catie work herself out of a couple of jams,” Hopson said. “Everyone’s had some trouble with that at times this year.”

The Trojans return to the field tonight when they host DAC rival Crown Point beginning at 4:30 p.m. The junior varsity game will follow immediately following the varsity game.

Chesterton 5, Portage 1

AT CHESTERTON

SCORING BY INNINGS

Portage 000 010 0 – 1 2 2

Chesterton 111 020 x – 5 6 2

2B – Kristen Helmick (P); Alexis Paz (C). HR – Amanda Gough (C). Pitching Summary – Portage – Olivia Leggett (4 1/3 IP, 6 H, 1 K, 2 BB), Natalie Korpac (1 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 K, 0 BB); Chesterton – Taylor Harlow (4 2/3 IP, 1 H, 1 K, 2 BB), Catie Armstrong (2 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 K, 2 BB). WP – Harlow (2-1). LP – Leggett. S – Armstrong.

Posted 4/18/2008