"DA" Andy Blog
SEPTEMBER 5th
WEEK 3 BLOG
10 FOOTBALL QUESTIONS TO PONDER
1. When was the last time RF was 3-0? 2003
2. How many GSSC games has Wheeler won in a row? 22
3. How many weeks will Dylan Patrick be out for KV? 5-6 is what we hear?
4. When Highland plays Griffith, what is that called? THE BATTLE OF THE BIKEPATH
5. When RF plays South Central? THE BATTLE OF THE MINNOW BUCKET
6. We hear that Jake Dixon may play baseball at Portage this year? Like Tony Cheky Jr. played
football?
7. Where will Matt Neal play his college football? Toledo, Illinois State - mid major
8. Which 1st year coach will win the most games? Flowers, Karras, Kilmer, St. Germain or
Adams? Surprisingly it might be Karras, only Wheeler is a team that they shouldn't compete
with and then the 1a sectional?
10. Which teams have the best shot beyond the sectional? 3a Andrean, 2a Renn, 5a
Merr/Valpo/CP 4a Morton/Griffith/Lowell - this may be the end for the Devils streak -
Concord/SBW/Plymouth, Playoff preview - 1a Lcc/Pioneer will knock out whomever 2a LUERS -
RENN have a showdown, don't count out Cass, 3a West Lafayette/Jimtown are good again.4a
Cathedral - Dwenger 5a Carmel - Warren Central rematch book it!
11. Best coverage on facebook? Mid America broadcasting on FACEBOOK and REGION
SPORTS DESK ON FACEBOOK!
Thanks, Andrew Wielgus go to Mid America Broadcasting, LLC. on FACEBOOK and become a
fan
AUGUST 31st
WEEK 2 BLOG
FRIDAY NIGHT EXCITEMENT AT THE INFERNO! MORTON AT LOWELL!
LOWELL Fans were on edge, after there boys had taken a loss the week before to CP. The
first question was eased as a familiar voice was on the PA John Alessia. There was some talk
that he would be replaced because he is now a Principal in the LC district.
The athletic govs showed there athleticism, but mistakes and penalties did them in. They
outgained the Devils but the big plays by Midgett and Juarez did them in, in this one. As I
ventured out into the construction of rt. 2, I pondered the decisions that I saw Friday night, a
decision to go for 2 when it was 27-26 Lowell, was a tough decision by Roy Richards. Coaches
have to go with there gut, and I noticed that the govs coaches were giving there input too,
but that is what the head coach has to decide, and Roy Richards did. It was great to have the
executive producer of MAB Rich Sapper back on the broadcast and the Region Sports guys
joined us for the pregame, halftime, and scoreboard show at T's Pizza.
Saturday saw a big victory for my son's team the Green Hornets over the Purple Vikings 19-0,
my son Matthew had 6 carries for about 19 yds.
I listened to Bob and JT's call on the St. Rita and Portage game, they held Aqui down but they
were too physical and Portage needs to work on their passing game. A side note it was nice
to see Tony Cheky Jr making plays for the tribe like he does for the big red on the diamond.
His dad Tony Cheky Jr. played football for Les Klein and wrestled for Bruce Sheriff, I
remember a game where Tony had a pass go in and out of his hands to almost beat Lew
Wallace in 1985 and Tony Cheky Jr.'s mom is Becky Alderson who played basketball for the
late hall of famer Bernita Adkins at Portage. I played alot of little league baseball,
neighborhood football, and wiffle ball against Tony Sr. growing up in the Birdland subdivision
of Portage across from Woodland Park in the seventies and eighties, and including Tony,
some good players for Portage came out of our subdivision including Jim Wilkie who pitched
in the Minor Leagues, Scott Bruce a leading scorer for Portage in basketball in 1985, Randy
Coudriet who was a star runner in the late seventies for Bill Wilkie's x-country/track teams, a
couple of Malone brothers who played football on the state team in 1977, and John Garcia the
starting point guard in the pre - Kevin Mackey days in basketball.
Thanks, Andrew Wielgus you can respond to this blog on FACEBOOK at Mid America
Broadcasting, LLC
AUGUST 22ND
WEEK ONE BLOG
I attended two games this week and a cp jr. bulldogs game. A dominating performance by CP
over Lowell 37-6 and Whiting winning the Battle of 119th Street 23-0 over Clark. The Crown
Point game was an overflowing crowd that filled the HS, St. Matthias, and Eisenhower
Elementary parking lots. Lots of CP JR. Bulldogs kids in there jersys from the Green Hornets
to the Blue Devils roaming around as they got into the game for free with there jersey
including my son Matthew and his no. 30 Big Green Hornets jersey, his team is 2-1 in first
place and they defeated the previously undefeated Red Raiders Saturday 20-0. They are
having a big fundraiser at the Lake County Fairgrounds on Sept. 18th 6-11pm, all the food and
drink for $5.00 and always a good time.
Who will replace Brandon Grubbe at Lowell? Cole Midgett? The answer friday is that this is
not the same Lowell team as a year ago, replacing Kennedy who lost to the Bedford North
Lawrence Stars at Bloomington South, Yes Bedford is improving but this is the home of
Damon Bailey and Hoosier Hysteria country. Losing Kirk Kennedy, Brad Stewart, and AD Don
Bales to a football program may be compared in some ways to losing Don Howell and Tom
Kerr in the same year . And the running game for Lowell Friday, did not bring back memories
of French, Pickett, Gray, Goetz, Clemens, or Grubbe.
Saturday started for me with a Big Green Hornets win for my son Matthew 20-0, Troy Grady
and Eli Udchitz 8th Graders at Taft scored the Tds for Coach Scott Shabaz, and the youngest
brother of Green Bay Packer Matthew Neal, Adam had at least 4 sacks and he is an 8th grader
at Merrillville .Region fans two more Neals are coming Ryan who is a rb and a freshman, and
Adam who is way over 6'0 as an 8th grader.
The travel to Robertsdale and Fort Pioneer is always full of construction and when I finally
arrived , there was plenty of pregame media and activities going on, by the way some people
thought this webcasting would never take off when me, Bob Potosky, Rich Sapper, Mike
Bozich, and Hank Kilander starting doing this 8 years ago - what are they saying now? The
game was a show in the first half for Whiting's Juwan Simmons who is receiving D1 letters
from IU, Ball State, and Louisville amongst others and he had 6 catches and a td in the game,
Juwan's dad played basketball at EC Central in 1987. Whiting led the game 7-0 at half and Clark
could never get going with Rb Cameron Copeland who had some nice plays, and Alex Evanich
who got ejected late in the game, so he will have to sit out next week against Calumet. Clark's
Dominic Williams had several tackles for loss and if you play Clark you need to scheme for no.
52 and a heavyweight punter in Zamora.
The night was all about the Oilers, Jeff Cain got Simmons involved right from the get go and
Clark could not cover him. Quiroz gained big yards as the Clark defense wore out in the 2nd
half, lots of run blitzes really kept the Clark offense off balance with Hennessey and Aponte.
Can Whiting play with Wheeler in the GSSC? One area of concern is snapping at least 10 bad
snaps - on the ground, over Aponte's head, and all over the yard. Against a good team this
will haunt the Oilers, but it is game one. The Freshman for Clark, Ramirez got into the game
late and he is the brother of Clark Legends Mario and Mike Ramirez. Thank you to Tim Gault
who did color for us at MAB GREAT JOB TIM. Also, thanks to the Region Sports Desk guys for
doing the game video and the scoreboard show at T's Pizza, which was really good football
talk pop and pizza.
Thanks, Andrew Wielgus - please share your responses on Facebook to this blog or any of
our games at Mid America Broadcasting, LLC and become a Fan and receive our updates.
AUGUST 14TH, 2010
I Attended the Highland - Crown Point Scrimmage with my son Matthew under threatening
skies. Interestingly, the game's parking lot was full with Lake County Fair shuttle traffic and
buses.
The Bulldogs looked considerably stronger with Sr. Austin Atherton at Rb., then Highland and
they are team - CP, with some significant underclass talent.starting with Junior QB Joe
Hopman and former Jr. Bulldog league star Braxton Rice who is a 6'5 Soph. Wr., 6'2 215 lb Jr.
Te Tyler Kral whose younger brother Morgan pitched the CP Cal Ripken Little League to a
state title, Jr. Austin Stanley had an int in the game, and Jr. Baseball player Jake Lindeman is
back out as well.
If I was CP I would think about focusing on the younger talent in the program, this year would
be a success if they get a decent record and get a lot of exposure for these kids, for next
year. They may be a future power in years to come, I have seen some of these kids play in CP
Jr. Bulldogs and they are now Freshman and Soph., look for names like the ones I mentioned,
and some other underclassmen like Freshman Nick Hanlon, Tristan Peterson, Soph. Skevo
Zembillas, Mohammed Elayyan, and Freshman Rb Jonathan Wigmore, along with Ryan Neal
who plays at Merrillville, and Brendyn Mckinnion to make some noise at CP as they dominated
the Jr. Bulldog league with two straight undefeated and unscored upon seasons under Coach
Scott Shabaz, Troy Grady,and Larry Hanlon for the Jr. Bulldogs Green Hornets Big Team
Highland is a team that showed some flashes and I really liked the athleticism of soph. #28
Chris Aifuwa at the rb. spot. They are in for a challenge with Wheeler's qb Sam o" Shea and rb
Jake Hidalgo next week, Highland did not have big roster numbers either and that could hurt
them in there rugged conference and they really need improved play on the line to compete.
Feel free to respond to us on Mid America Broadcasting, LLC on Facebook.
Thanks, Andrew WielgusJuly 28th
With Andre Dawson, Bruce Sutter, Dennis Eckersley,and Ryne Sandberg now being in the Hall
of Fame. The X generation of Cub Fans now have there idols in the Hall. Will Mark Grace or
Lee Smith be the next Ron Santo in 20 years? With Billy, Ernie, and Fergie in the Hall, the 69
cubs have there place in the Hall and all they need is Santo. The 69 Cubs had there own Hey
Hey Holy Mackarel Record/Album in there day, just like the 85 Bears Super Bowl Shuffle.
I grew up with WGN Cubs Baseball, Danley Garage Ads, the Leadoff Man, and Jack "hey hey"
Brickhouse, the good kid Lou Boudreau - 1948 World Series MVP from Cleveland from Harvey,
IL., Arnie Harris, Jack Rosenberg, and Vince Lloyd.
My mornings always started with Ray Rayner as a kid and I still remember the 77 Portage
Football team being on the Ray Rayner Show and his duck, and Cudley Dudley the Dog. I had a
day off from Crisman Elementary when Portage and Les Klein won it all over Evansville Reitz
34-7 in the 3A Final, with Tribe legends like RB Mike Wishvevski, QB Mark Evans, TE Kelly
Campbell, a ferocious defense and of course K Alex Mackenzie who made the 3-0 kick in the
4th quarter to beat defending State Champion Merrillville at Demaree Field and Coach Ken
Haupt who had Tom Jelesky, Tim Seneff,and Kelly Keough. Three Big School DAC State
Champs in three years 75,76, and 77, in the pre - Hobart Don Howell days!
My question to the next generation is Should Sammy Sosa be a Hall of Famer? Barry Bonds,
Mark Mcgwire, Roger Clemens, A ROD, Palmeiro, etc. This debate will go on for some time
with this generation, but it shouldn't exclude the Ken Griffey Jr.'s and Frank Thomas' of the
World who have not been accused of anything, but remember we never did get all of the
names off the last Mitchell Report list.
Well for now let's celebrate the Bows and the great 87 season 49 hrs, of THE HAWK ANDRE
DAWSON, THE THIRD PLAYER IN HISTORY TO HAVE 4OO HR'S AND 3OO STOLEN BASES! WAY
TO GO HAWK! I was at the Sandberg game, and I am not lying.
I remember also the new Hall of Famer Whitey Herzog extollling Sandberg after the game for
his play. Hall of Fame Inductions mean that NFL Training camps and two a days are around the
corner, how many days until pads Bob Potosky?
You can respond to this blog on FACEBOOK at Mid America Broadcasting, LLC or email our
webmaster at hkilander@gmail.com, thanks for reading this blog and tune into any of our
shows or games and TURN IT UP A NOTCH WITH THE HEART OF AMATEUR SPORTS, on www.
sportsjuice.com and you can listen to our archive there at mid america broadcasting on www.
sportsjuice.com too, including the Indiana State Finals from last year in Baseball, Softball, and
Basketball. Check out the Bowman - EC BB game on the archive it's a classic with Bob Potosky
and Hank Kilander, and I learned a new term in basketball from Bernie Goin "Floppers", in the
Wheeler - Southwood game, and you can hear Rich Sapper on Highland vs. Boone Grove
Basketball a great game, and an exciting New Prairie vs. Hobart OT affair.
July 15th
This is the time of the year when the fans get excited about football again now that Lebron
mania is over. A last note on basketball - Pat Riley vs. Phil Jackson in the finals, The three
kings vs. the king of three peats Kobe and Phil, Shaq/Fisher may sign in Miami, David Stern is
loving this. Here are some questions and thoughts that come to mind in football?
1. Are we really thinking about Brett Favre again and is Michael Vick allegedly having some
issues again?
2. It's time to start thinking about HS Football again and I will be looking to see the yearly
reviews of the HS teams, you can go to www.rrsn.com to purchase the Indiana Football
Digest. It is a review of all of the teams and I believe it is avaliable at All Stars in the Southlake
Mall in Lake County, I always want to say the mall is in Merrillville when I know it is Hobart.
Look for the MAB ad too this year.
3. Will Devin Hester really know the plays this year?
4. Will Mike Martz really get along with the other coaches? How will he use the tight ends?
5. Will Jay Cutler throw to the right team?
6. Is Charlie Weis really gone?
7. Will Lovie be gone mid season? How many former coaches on staff can take his place?
8. Will James Aldridge and Jaymar Johnson catch on with there teams?
9. How much will Michael Neal play for the Pack?
10. Will Kawann Short be a force for Purdue?
11. How much will Matt Ernest play at IU?
12. Who is the best QB in the region? O'shea, Raspopovich, Washington, Hoppman, Dixon,
Aponte?
13. Who will play Qb at RF? Hanson, Young, Richie Pennington, JJ Pennington?
14. Will Keith Kilmer be successful at Lowell?
15. Will anyone win at LC?
16. Can Coach Hepp bring back the Eagles?
17. Is Coach Kennedy really in Bloomington?
18. Is Urlacher done? How bout Tommie Harris is he done?
19.Do the Bears have a Safety finally?
20. Will EC make it through the season with a coach?
21. Is this the year for Roy at Morton to go downstate?
22. Can anyone hang with Rensselear in 2a?
23. Will someone challenge Wheeler in the regular season?
24. Will Andrean reload in 3a?
25. How good is Portage ? Better then Valpo or Merrillville?
Thanks, AW you can respond on FACEBOOK at Mid America Broadcasting, LLC or to our
webmaster at hkilander@gmail.com.
July 6th
Indiana High School Baseball
Down at the state finals I had a chance to work with Cathedral grad Steve Guidry. And we
discussed the influence that Cathedral baseball is having in the MLB. Cathedral grad Tommy
Hunter who went to the University of Alabama, just beat the White Sox recently 3-1 in 7
innings of work and Jake Fox is doing good things for the Orioles, as I saw him score a
winning run for them recently, this is his third team, the Cubs and A's before Baltimore. Why
did the Cubs get rid of him anyways, he at least provided some offense.
Now a third promising player in Cathedral pitcher Dillion Peters who is bound for Texas in
2012, and he set the strikeout record for state finals games with 16. The region has produced
great ones and some role players too, here is a list from the region including 1983 Rookie of
the year - Ron Kittle - Wirt, Kenny Lofton - ECW, Dan Plesac - CP, Jeff Samardzja and the late
Tim Bishop who I believed would have madethe majors, it if not for a tragic accident, - Valpo,
Latroy Hawkins West Side, Wallace Johnson and Lloyd Mcclendon - Velt, the late Joe Gates -
Wirt, Sam Rice - Morocco, Rob and Mike Wishvevski - Portage, Hal and Bobby Morris of
Munster, Ron Reed and Chris Bootcheck - Laporte, and Tim Stoddard - ECW.
But other areas of the state have had great players too like Scott Rolen of Jasper, Rodney
scott of Arlington, and Andy Benes of Evansville.
This year saw a 1a player from Cowan - Muncie area - a Catcher Justin O" Connell get drafted
in the first round by the Devil Rays, and to along with the Cathedral duo - recent Indiana HS
players have made a mark like Clayton Richard of Mccutcheon and Jeff Samardzja of Valpo.
Look for players from Brownsburg, to leave there mark soon too, that are in the high minors,
like Lance Lynn who pitched at Ole Miss. Also, the son of former Major Leaguer Lloyd
Mcclendon - Bo McClendon of Merrillville who got drafted by the Tigers out of VU. In other
words it was great to see Michael Neal, Gordon Heyward, and Luke Harangody get drafted,
but baseball is leaving it's mark in the Hoosier state too!
Here is a list of region baseball players who made the major leagues:
P DAN PLESAC,LATROY HAWKINS, TIM STODDARD, JEFF SAMARDZJA CHRIS BOOTCHECK, RON
REED, ROB WISHNEVSKI, AND BOB ANDERSON
OF RON KITTLE, KENNY LOFTON, LARRY BIGBIE, AND SAM RICE
IF WALLACE JOHNSON, 2B JOE GATES, 1B CLIFF FLOYD, LARRY BIGBIE, ROB MACKOWIAK,
DON LARSEN, BOB ANDERSON
July 3rd
In the local media today there is an article about Former Munster Mustang 1986 and
Boilermaker SS Jeff Kapp starting a Little Sluggers Academy in Chicago. I played softball with
Jeff and he was a heckuva softball player and I remember playing with some great players
around the area in several tournaments/leagues, that Hank Kilander would set up some of
throughout the region. Softball is a great outlet for competitiveness. Hank had set up some
great teams over the years and I enjoyed playing during that 1986 - 2000 era.
Some of the names and nicknames that come to mind right away to me include the late Mike
Stolarz who pitched with us for several years, the late Dave Nixon an umpire in Crown Point,
Hank Kilander, Xavier "X man" Canchola, Mike Coppess, Grey Mcclintic, Johnny Seberger,
Mike "Smoothie" Fechalos", Tim " Buddha" Fechalos, Mark and Jerry Pancini, Sammy Mynes,
Chris"Goose" Gustafson, and his Ringer Brother Bobby, Doug Basham and Jimmy, John"
Balls" Moehlenkamp, Kevin "Vinnie" Scott, Jeff Kapp. Eric Cadle, Jay Mueller, Jeff Pysh, Jeff
Bastian, Kevin "Gumby" Kunz, Tony Terzarial, Ron Head, Scott and Steve Felton, Jeff Hartog,
Jeff and Todd Harbrecht, Donnie Schoenbeck, Mark Hidalgo, John Doherty, Billy Cain, Matt
Kachur, Mike Bozich, Tiny never knew his name but he was 6'4 and definately not Tiny that's
what you get in softball, from my early days growing up in Portage in softball including some
Hobart coed Tony Cheky, Sean Wilkie, Olsen Soberg, Louie and Chris Gonzalez, Ray Sierra,
Jack Furgye, John and Rose Kliza, Brian and Amy Siver, Dave Parks, Ted Hansen and many
sponsors like Hydads, Ronnie b's, Dawn Foods, Ace Hardware, Harbrecht Construction. Also
the many leagues that I played in Lemon Lake, CP, South Haven - the late Myron Fessler was
the director, Hidden Lake the late Tim Vesa was the director., Imagination Glen, Highland, and
Hobart. Every time I now go to see my daughter play softball, I walk by the men's leagues and
great memories come flooding back and the old competitiveness starts coming back and I
smile and realize that I had a great time playing with some great teams - Hydads that beat
State and National champs - Geisen's and Bridges a few times in the nineties, and people
over the years and if I missed your name, thanks also, I know Hank can remember them all and
maybe add them to the blog. And of course the theme song DO THE HUSTLE, that sparked a
few major rallies, one coming back from 16-1 in one inning at Crawfordsville. As I run into all
these guys at my kids games or in Northwest Indiana I always go back to the fun of that era
before, during, and after games.
Thanks, AW
June 30th
Blog 1970- 2010
40 years of HS Basketball in the Region. Who are the top 10 at the HS level in the region. Mr.
Basketball"s get a high ranking automatically because they were the best of the best in the
state there senior year!
First Team - F Glenn Robinson - Mr. Basketball - Purdue no. 1 NBA DRAFT PICK state champ
F Etwan Moore - EC Central - Purdue state champ
C Jim Bradley - EC Roosevelt state champ
G Roger Harden - Mr. Basketball - Kentucky
G Delray Brooks - Mr. Basketball - Indiana Providence
Second Team - EC Washington 1971 state champ - starting lineup of Trgovich, Bailey,Adell,
Bridgeman, and Stoddard
Could the second team beat the first team who will stop Bradley?
Third Team
F Dan Palombizo - Mr. Basketball
F Luke Harangody - Big East player of year
C Chris Hunter - Golden State, State champ
G/F Shane Power - all time nw indiana scorer
G Bryce Drew - VU - The shot enough said!
Others to mention - Kenny Lofton - Arizona, Carson Cunningham - Purdue, Dan Dakich - IU, Tim
Bishop, Tony Harris - New Orleans, 76'ers, Winston Garland - NBA Three teams, Teyon Mccoy -
Maryland/Texas, Joey Wright - Texas Tim Mcalister - Oklahoma, Kenny Harris - VU, Rob Harden
- VU, Fla, Nevada, Keith Gailes - Loyola, Keir Rogers -Loyola Jake Parker - Bethel, Matt Nover -
IU, Jim Bullock - Purdue, Drake Morris - Purdue, Angel Garcia, Hunter Atkins - Loyola, Ole
Miss, Brandon Cameron - Penn State, IUPUI, Gary Patterson IUPUI, Butler, Lonnie Randolph -
Drake, Eugene Wilson,- Illinois, Patriots, James Borom, TJ Lux - NIU, Jamaal Davis Purdue,
Cincy Brett Fedak Toledo, John Wilczynski,Akron Greg Tonagel VU, David Wayne Taylor, Scott
Anselm VU, Mike Jones Ole Miss, VU, Renaldo Thomas Houston, Ricky Wright Providence,
Carlron Oudie Baker Barton County, Corey Stokes, Mike Cash Bradley, Joe Hershman, Dan
Stevens Loyola, Jake Kitchel ISU,Tellis Frank West. Ky, Wallace Bryant SF, Brian Asberry West
Ky, Johnny Fort Iowa, John Hegwood SF, John Brugos Purdue, Bo Cucuz NW, Milan Petrovic
NW, Tim Gabrish, Dave Polak, Rich Valavicius IU, Auburn, Brian Banks Nebrasks, Juda Parks
ISU, Raynard Malaine , George Butler Georgetown, Rene Buster Glover Kansas State, Thad
Garner Michigan, Walt Whitaker ISU, Jeff Markle VU, Jeff SimmonsVU, Milosh Pujo, Larry
DemicAz, Dejuan Marrero, Tyrae Robinson, Glenn Robinson Jr., Jeff Furlin Ball State, Kevin
Mackey, Steve Hendershot, Ricky Hise, Lou Stefanovic ISU, Josh Mayo UIC, Charles Macon -
Ohio State, Curtis Jackson, Dion Campbell ISU, Kirk Manns Michigan State and Zach Novak -
Michigan. What do you think email us your thoughts at hkilander@gmail.com or go to
facebook at mid america broadcasting, llc.
June 28th
Memories of Merrillville Basketball
With Jim East's impending retirement after next year, it has me recalling all of the Pirate
basketball that I have seen. Starting with a cinderella Pirate team under Jim Vermillion that
made the state finals in the late 70's after upsetting Noll with Thad Garner who went to
Michigan and Walt Whitaker who went to Illinois State before losing in the final four. They
were led by Tim Seneff, Tom Jelesky, Eddie Krol, Gregg Kemp,and Sharpshpooter Jeff Markle
who went on to play ay VU. Seneff and Jelesky were stars on the 76 pirate football state
champion team under Ken Haupt, and played at Purdue together before Jelesky finished his
career with the Eagles in the NFL. As Jim East came in along with assistant the late Don Slys
who was the tennis coach at Merrillville and whose son Mike is now a teacher at River Forest
and an assistant for Courtney Quigg. The Pirates were loaded with talent like Lou Stefanovic
who went on to play at Illinois State and played professionally in Europe. Lou has been
coaching his two sons in the AAU circuit and hiis son Dejan started at CP this year and his
younger son Sasha is an upcoming star in 6th grade. Along with Lou, the pirates had Bill
Meade, Chuck Gans. Casey Carrabine who went on to play at the University of Denver, Randy
Ban whose brother Eric is the Principal at CPHS, Jay Layman, and Lenny Schmidt - and yes I
remember the fight with Kevin Cardo Cardenas of Portage. And we can't forget the manager
of those teams Xavier Canchola the X man, the unofficial mayor of Merrillville. The pirates of
this era were exciting to watch as they battled in the DAC against the likes of the Harden
brothers at Valpo, Palombizo and Brooks at MC, Dermody of Laporte, and the Tribe bunch at
Portage of Kevin Mackey, Brian Binder, the late Glenn Devries, Brian Sutherland, and
Downtown Billy Pendleton. Great Pirate memories extended into the eighties with John
Wilczynski who played at Akron, Dennis Metcalf, and Dan Green who I attended basketball
camp one year at VU with. Pirate Power was seen by dominance in the DAC with several
crowns and only one subpar season through all of those years and was highlighted by the run
to the state title game in 95 with Ben Davis, led by Division One talent like Jamaal Davis who
played at Cincinnati and Purdue and yes Hank he dunked on Lake Station and several teams,
TJ Lux who played and starred at Northern Illinois and is currently on East's staff and Brett
Fedak who played at Toledo. The late 90's was led by the Calumet, I mean Calumet region duo
of James Borom and Lonnie Randolph that were two of the best pressure defense guards
ever to play in the region. An underrated star in pirate lore is UIC star Josh Mayo who to this
day I don't know why VU didn't recruit him. Eugene Wilson was one of the best all around
athletes ever to play in the region, similar to the late Tim Bishop of Valpo who played with
Bryce Drew, who played at VU and professionally in the NBA. The cinderella run of the pirate
team led by a super freshman performance by Greg Hill in the Michigan City regional, that
myself and Bob Potosky called. I can't mention pirate basketball without mentioning my aunt
and uncle the late Ruby and Jerry Wielgus, Jerry was a pirate booster and fan who passed
away in 1989, he was so upset when the Pirates lost to the Indians in football 3-0 in 1977, that
he couldn't even talk to my dad and myself about the sectional game for a week. Finally all of
the coaches that have come out of pirate basketball - Mike Hackett - Munster who has a 7th
grade son coming up at Munster, Leo Bonin whose sons play for CP in AAU, - Blake - 7th
grader at Taft and Bryce who will be a 6th grader at CP, currently coaches in the AAU ranks
and at TF North before, Randy Stelter - Wheeler AD - 2 State titles this year, TJ Lux, Skeeter
Heath and Steve Leonard retired from Lacrosse and Lowell. Lots of memories and the pirate
ad's always welcome us when we broadcast. You can email our webmaster on this blog at
hkilander@gmail.com or comment on facebook Mid America Broadcasting, LLC.
Thanks, Andy Wielgus
June 24th
As a school person, fan, and a broadcaster this year.
It has been an exciting one for student – athletes! The year began with several exciting
football and volleyball matches. One that comes to mind right away is watching an Indiana –
Illinois football matchup between Portage and St. Rita, in that game the Tribe held their own,
but St. Rita running back Aqui put on a strong show of physicality. As I announced this game
with RF and now VU grad Bernard “ Bernie” Goin.
I also had the chance to witness a great upset, in RF beating Bishop Noll at Ray Madden Field,
the Ingots have a great future ahead of them under Coach Bean with Rich Pennington, Mike
Manning, Joey Puskac, Tyler Hanson, Ramon Diaz, and Hasonie Walters back in the mix next
year. I enjoyed broadcasting the Ivy Tech Invitational also this year from Lucas Oil in Indy as
well, highlighted by Ben Davis and Warren Central.
I was able to see a team in Culver Community that really dominated Whiting in the sectional,
and then the next week got handled by LCC. Look for Culver to be a favorite in their 1A
sectional again. Another memory is Cathedral grad Steve Guidry, Bob Potosky, and I doing the
call at the Inferno between Dwenger and Lowell, what a crowd, and what a heart Brandon
Grubbe had throughout his career at Lowell, good luck at Butler. The football state finals saw
a dominant offensive and defensive effort by LCC IN 1A, a great show by West Lafayette in 3a,
and Evansville Reitz putting on a show in 4A, the night cap Warren Central – Carmel, was a
heck of a game called by Steve Guidry and Hank Kilander, how bout that Trooper Offense
guys!
The basketball season saw for me a Cinderella run by RF in boys and girls basketball with the
boys winning 15 games and the girls 14. RF had a great season under Head Coaches - Jason
and Courtney Quigg and Jason was the GSSC coach of the year. Andrew Eskridge, Richard
Perez, Jesse Allen, Ryan Smith, and Jack Zambrana had a great senior season thanks for the
memories guys, the underclassmen led by Ricky Garcia and Hasonie Walters have a lot to look
forward too. In girls basketball it was the dynamic duo of Katie Buehler and Bethany Galligan
that led to an exciting season, Bethany with her ball handling wizardry and hitting threes.
Katie Buehler the number one rebounder in Northwest Indiana - who put on a relentless
defense and rebounding show every game. A game that I broadcasted that comes to mind is
Highland – Boone Grove which went back and forth all night and was an exciting boys bb
game, with Rich Sapper on the call, Rich is the unofficial voice of the LAC and Highland
sports, Rich has done more Highland games than anyone I know, including 2 more this year. A
MAB game I listened to was Bowman and EC. Hank Kilander and Bob Potosky had a great call,
Hank knew everything about these student – athletes and I read several great comments
about the broadcasters that were put on Harrell”s website, great job! The trip to Fort Wayne
for the Girls finals, was new but I really liked the stadium, it had the old Market Square Arena
feel, and what a team Ben Davis had one of the best ever! Also, it was nice to see a Northwest
Indiana team come out of the locker room there in Fort Wayne. I think that Austin is still
shooting threes in the 2a game.
In the boys basketball finals Bowman and Wheeler get it done for the region, I am especially
happy for Wheeler assistant Geoff Dan who I have known over the years, great job and great
run. Coach Quigg on the call with Bernie Goin in 2a.
RF this year was right in the sectional game, with Wheeler at the end in the Edison sectional,
and I recall Andrew Rudakas wiping his brow as he realized they had survived an upset
challenge. Also, Edison had a great 2 overtime game vs. Noll that myself and Matthew Wielgus
witnessed.
The 3A State final game between Wallace and Washington was a thriller and had a little of
everything to offer, could this be a rematch DAWSON VS. ZELLER next year! Juda Parks, Hank,
and Benie on the call.
4A Was the Terone Johnson show as Doug Mitchell’s North Central bunch dissected Warsaw.
In Spring sports the Railcats Challenge with Bob Potosky, was our main venue with other
baseball and softball sprinkled in. I saw some great action again this year, Whiting beating
Griffith was exciting, Coach Lenz’s team was exciting to watch. We had a chance to see about
95 percent of the teams in the region.
Great State Finals games were then on the docket for me as I saw three one run thrillers in
softball from a sweltering Ben Davis press box, 1-0, 8-7, and 9-8. Wheeler was down 6-1 and
then came back to win in 2a and in 3a Dwenger was down 7-1 and then came back to win. The
2nd state title for Wheeler this year with basketball, and three first time state champions in
softball and then the rain came for 4a, which was eventually completed three days later, with
Hamilton Southeastern winning over Terre Haute North 3-1. In both softball and baseball it
was Bob Potosky, Steve Guidry, and myself on the call and you can find these games on the
Mid America archive at www.sportsjuice.com .
In baseball LCC had it’s closest call 4-2 in a final and in 2a Heritage Christian led by the
identical twins the Ledbetter Brothers - who are bound for Wheaton College won 5-1, In 3a
Andrean defeated Jasper 6-1 with Kenny Mahala leading the way with a three run double in
the third and the pitching win to go to 10-0, 18-1 the last two years. The 4a game was special
as Fort Wayne Carroll led by Austin Wise outdueled Cathedral”s Dillion Peters 1-0 IN 9 Innings,
who set a 4a record for strikeouts with 16 and is bound for Texas in 2 years. Also, Carroll’s
Justin Glass there home run leader with 16 is bound for Cincinnati next year. It’s been a great
year to be a fan of sports and we have lost some figures this year that will be missed
including Jim Anderson, Joe Gates, Luke DeBold, and Wally McCormick. On a personal note,
Luke DeBold was a former student of mind at St. Joseph’s in Dyer and was a great person who
did a lot in the academic and sports arena for Andrean and the University of Miami. I will
always remember him as the excited sixth grade student in my first class, who was the most
eager to learn of any student that I have ever had and a super person from a great family.
Luke we all miss you.
Finally, thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope you will listen to one of our
broadcasts or you can email our webmaster at hkilander@gmail.com or
bpotosky@midamericabroadcasting.com.
Thanks, Andy Wielgus
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