Hurricanes, Storm push on

CHESTERTON | With the 17-time state champion Hammond Chiefs not in the field this year, plenty of teams think they have a shot at winning the 2011 16-18 Babe Ruth state tournament this weekend.

The Hammond Hurricanes and Porter County Storm took one step closer to realizing their dream of a state title on Wednesday night with opening round victories in the double elimination tournament.

The Hurricanes moved past Logansport 7-0 in the opener and the Storm rallied to beat South Bend Clay 5-2 in the nightcap.

"I got our guys in the huddle and I told them that no one was going to give this to us," Porter County coach Nick Doud said. "We have to go out and take it. There are some teams that have been here before and it was a big step for us to get this first one."

Former Valparaiso High School pitcher Cody Triscik settled down after giving up two early runs to South Bend and finished with nine strikeouts while pitching a complete game. Triscik allowed just one runner past first base in the last five innings and looked dominant as he struck out the side to end the game. The Indiana State sophomore added two hits and scored a run.

"We know that we can beat anybody and we also know that anybody can beat us," Triscik said. "We can't be too confident and I think that's what happened to us in the beginning. We came out and got too confident, thinking we'd be able to walk past them and they scored some runs on us. We calmed down after that."

The Hurricanes got off to a quick start in the first game, scoring two runs in the first inning against Logansport. Griffith graduate Matt Dobosz drove in the game-winning run with a double in the first inning and then pitched five strong innings before leaving with an ankle injury.

Logansport right fielder Blake Conrad hit a hard grounder back to the mound which Dobosz fielded while rolling his ankle. The Cal College freshman threw his hat in the air in frustration and took himself out of the game after he attempted to throw in the bullpen.

"I tried to throw and I tried to swing and it was still hurting," Dobosz said. "The ball bounced off my chest and when I slid, I heard a pop in my ankle."

Hammond coach Alex Ramirez, who will be teammates with Dobosz at Cal College this season, said that Dobosz would have X-rays after the game and was probable for the rest of the tournament.