HILLARY SMITH: RailCats center fielder Drew Martinez is adding to his family's lore

GARY | Drew Martinez calls his biggest fan after his baseball games.

Weather gives RailCats opening-day hope

GARY | Mike Massaro can't remember the last time the opening-day weather was so beautiful at U.S. Steel Yard.

FIRST PITCH: Opening day, Michelle Fields

GARY | A native of Wisconsin who attended Michigan Tech, Michelle Fields arrived in Northwest Indiana in 1995.

Noll pitcher Danny Pobereyko makes an offseason change for the better

When Danny Pobereyko arrives at Butler this summer, he’s going to ask his coaches if he can add a different regimen to his pitching routine.

LIVE: RailCats season opener vs. Lincoln Saltdogs

GARY | The RailCats open their season at home for the first time since 2010, and the last time it was this early in May was 2008.

Competition breeds fun, winning as RailCats open season

GARY | Steve Liddle was picked up by the RailCats after he was the last player cut from the Minnesota Twins spring training.

RailCats prepare to cut roster with final exhibition game

GARY | Heading into Monday's final exhibition game of the RailCats' spring training, the coaching staff had already started making cuts to the roster.

RailCats make most of situational baseball

GARY | Will Krout had twice as many reasons to start his American Association preparation early.

Hammond Academy's Cody Glass doesn't mind the heat

HAMMOND | Cody Glass spent a week last summer in the Dominican Republic playing baseball.

RailCats top Evansville with late rally

GARY | RailCats pitcher Stephen Hiscock was running agility drills in the offseason when he collided with another runner.

L.C. knocks its way to DAC win over Valparaiso

ST. JOHN | In the third inning, Lake Central shortstop Brenden Seren hit a ball that seemed to take a long, slow fall toward the left-field fence.

Pitcher Alain Quijano wants to show his third time charm

GARY | Alain Quijano's life kept pulling him back to the Chicago area.

RailCats open spring calling 2012 a 'blip'

GARY | Cristian Guerrero was calling Greg Tagert to recommend a friend to the RailCats manager.

RailCats numbers down, attract big-league vets to tryout

GARY | Whether it was the 48-degree temperatures at the outset of the RailCats tryout, the newly installed $50 fee for players wanting to participate or the RailCats roster that is nearly full, Thursday's open tryout didn't produce the numbers as past years.

Hobart's heavy hitter Tyrus Joseforsky is already breaking records

Tyrus Joseforsky forced himself into the Hobart lineup as a freshman, outworking everyone around him to the point that the Brickies coaching staff couldn't help but start him.

Zac Ryan's gem propels Andrean's undefeated record

HIGHLAND | Zac Ryan hit a home run for the second time in as many days.

Munster senior makes most of baseball rain outs

MUNSTER | Munster second baseman Scott Shaner likes to see the silver lining on all the storm clouds that rolled through the region in recent weeks.

Victory Christian tops Calumet Christian at U.S. Steel Yard

GARY | Victory Christian baseball coach Ryan Bratcher gives his players a simple motto to live by: put the ball in play.

Mitch Kobitz, Chesterton halt Griffith baseball team

GARY | Griffith baseball coach Brian Jennings said there's a reason the mound on the field is elevated.

Boone Grove keeps Michigan City in the cold

GARY | Kyle Erickson said he thrives in the cold.

Snow stops Cardinals vs. Blazers game at U.S. Steel Yard

GARY | It was a first for both coaches and they'll have a chance to talk about it again later this season.

Wallace makes quick work of Roosevelt

GARY | Roosevelt played its first game of the season and Lew Wallace played its second in a game that opened in the snow and ended in short order with a windchill of 29 degrees.

Hanover Central's Stum serves up hits with aplomb

CEDAR LAKE | Each time Dan Stum hits the ball, he collects enough confidence to create that next hit.

Jesse Smith is Griffith's ultimate utility man

GRIFFITH | Jesse Smith is a baseball player's baseball player.

Win of change signaled in C.P. victory over L.C.

CROWN POINT | The temperature was a balmy 73 degrees when Tuesday's baseball game between Lake Central and Crown Point began.

Sean Manaea mania is on the rise

Major League scouts compare Sean Manaea to White Sox ace Chris Sale.

Valparaiso wins hitting battle over Munster at U.S. Steel Yard

GARY | Munster was playing its seventh baseball game in eight days and Valparaiso was playing its first of the season.

Munster pushes Lake Central to limit in nine-inning win

MUNSTER | The sequence that gave Lake Central its second win is what reminded baseball fans how early in the season it is.

Hammond Academy part of IHSAA class of new rules

In the last 10 years, 29 schools have been approved for entrance into the IHSAA.

Andrean grad Adam Norton helping Irish keep their cool

GARY | When Adam Norton entered Notre Dame after a state championship baseball season at Andrean, he was rarely used as a pitcher.

Irish easily handle Kent State at U.S. Steel Yard

GARY | By about February, Pat Connaughton started throwing bullpen sessions.

Lake Central pitching depth eases defense of state title

ST. JOHN | It's a stable of pitchers any college baseball team would be envious of: four lefties and four righties, a few who can eat up innings and even some closers.

Kristi Hoese leaves Hobart volleyball to take over at Griffith

Kristi Hoese looked at the talent she had returning to Hobart and turned down the volleyball coaching job at Griffith.

Hammond High grad prepares for last collegiate dance

Sancheon White's NCAA career has sped by so fast, she's into her second and final tournament with South Carolina and learning from the experience of last year.

U.S. Steel will keep name on RailCats' stadium

GARY | U.S. Steel Corp. and the RailCats announced that their partnership to keep the Gary steel manufacturer's name on the stadium will continue for another 10 years.

Concordia matches size of Niners

Andrean and Fort Wayne Concordia don’t meet very often in boys basketball.

Clark grad Albert Carpen adds pro baseball to his resume

A week before Albert Carpen drove to Texas to try out for a baseball winter league, he was a technician at the Chicago Board of Trade.

ValparaiZone sells out its tickets in less than 24 hours for HL championship game

VALPARAISO | The Valparaiso men's basketball team's loudest supporters were on spring break when the Crusaders won a Horizon League semifinal game in the final seconds on Saturday.

Hebron realizes possibilities as baseball season kicks off in Indiana

HEBRON | While other baseball teams may have opened the Indiana high school season with running and tossing drills, Hebron was practicing sitting.

Andrean survives OT thriller to head to semistate

PLYMOUTH | When Plymouth lost its inside presence, Andrean's Skylar Moss stood his ground.

Lew Wallace's season ends with loss to Andrean in regional semifinal

PLYMOUTH | Skyler Moss had his way inside against Lew Wallace, which could come up with no answer for the 6-foot-4 Andrean senior.

Valpo opens HL tourney meeting Phoenix for third time

VALPARAISO | Valparaiso will need a little bit of repeated history in order to reach the Horizon League title game for the second straight season.

Crete-Monee grad Greg Mays works his way into Green Bay lineup

When Greg Mays was recruited to play basketball at Wisconsin-Green Bay, the Phoenix coaching staff saw something in the 6-foot-9 Crete-Monee grad that they hadn't seen much of.

Valpo High grad Hayden Humes brings Flames to VU's ARC

When the UIC men's basketball team found a common goal, it moved mountains.

Bowman wins second straight sectional title

UNION TOWNSHIP | Bowman Academy's basketball practices for the last week have been about two things: running and free throws.

Lew Wallace, Hammond will play in title game at Civic Center

HAMMOND | In the first two minutes of the fourth quarter of Friday's boys basketball sectional semifinal, Lew Wallace turned a two-point lead against Griffith into a win.

Times Indiana Girls Basketball Coach of the Year: Merrillville's Amy Govert

MERRILLVILLE | By the end of the 2012 summer offseason, Merrillville's girls basketball team had lost more than its graduating class of four seniors.

Times Indiana Girls Basketball Player of the Year: Merrillville's Dariyan Morris

MERRILLVILLE | Before every girls basketball game this season, Merrillville's Dariyan Morris would chew a cup of ice.

Gavit boys use big fourth quarter to top Clark in Class 3A Hammond Sectional; Griffith routs Roosevelt

HAMMOND | Clark's game plan to beat Gavit in the Class 3A Hammond boys basketball sectional opener Tuesday was to slow the game down.

Canterbury, Hamilton Heights advance from C.P. Semistate

CROWN POINT | The Crown Point gym seats 3,800 fans and Saturday those included parents and students from four schools around the state, girls basketball aficionados from the region and a handful of nuns.