The Portage baseball team got an early taste of winning a championship this past week as the Indians brought home a Chattanooga Tournament title from a spring break trip to Tennessee. Championship hardwood in high school baseball is usually reserved for May and June, but the Portage baseball team went 4-1 during the tournament and eventually rolled over Cleveland High School 7-2 in the championship game.
“I was so pumped after winning the championship game of the tournament,” senior CJ Haupt said. “It felt surreal because we were in another state playing against great teams from other states, and to know that we were the best team was a great feeling. It proves that we can play with anyone on any given day.”
Haupt, who had not pitched at all in practice during the offseason, was called upon to pitch in the third inning of the championship after starter Ty Kniola exited with his team chasing 2-0. The offense exploded for seven runs in the fourth inning and Haupt kept Cleveland at bay to become the winning pitcher and earn the team’s Most Valuable Player belt that the coaching staff awards following each game.
“We gave it to CJ because he pitched three strong innings for us and two of those innings that he pitched, it was raining pretty good, and he was able to stay strong mentally and throw strikes when Cleveland High School wasn’t able to do that,” Pirowski said.
Haupt, a versatile position player who frequents centerfield and shortstop, had no problem being thrust onto the hill in a game situation.
“I just focused on hitting my spots and setting up my pitches so that my defense could make plays,” he said. “The rain added an extra factor, but it didn’t really affect me that much. I just had to get a new ball after pretty much every pitch.”
Pirowski downplayed the importance of winning the tournament, saying the “main thing” was just the team being together for three or four days and getting the chance to see players perform at many different positions in many different situations early in the season. He said he plans to talk to the team Monday at practice about refocusing following a victorious spring break getaway.
“I think the guys know that it is a long season and this is just the beginning of it,” he said. “Ultimately, the goal is the DAC and the postseason, not necessarily the Chattanooga Tournament.”
Pirowski compared the level of competition in the tournament to “middle of the DAC” teams like Valparaiso and Chesterton.
According to Pirowski, junior Chris Klenk was “on fire” at the plate, while Chesterton transfer Kevin Jones also had a good week. Tyler Soberg and Peter Psomadelis each launched grand slams during the tournament.
Portage’s only outdoor practice prior to the tournament came on the football turf, so the Indians enjoyed the chance to take groundballs on grass and see live, outdoor pitching for the first time this season. The temperature was mainly in the 50s during the tournament, but peaked at 64 on Saturday.
The team’s lone setback of the trip came on Friday, a 13-8 defeat to Master's Academy Florida.
“We didn’t have a very good game,” Pirowski said. “I didn’t think we came out to start that game with a very good approach. We had multiple errors, lots of walks, didn’t really make adjustments at the plate, so we kind of got on them following that game.”
Whatever the coaching staff said worked, as the Tribe responded with victories over host Chattanooga Central and Cleveland to bring home the tournament title.
The team expects the experience of playing five games in three days to pay dividends come sectional time in late May.
“When you have to play an eight team sectional where you have to win three games, you have to use a lot more of your pitching and a lot more of your bench players, so definitely that tournament helps in that regard because we had to use multiple lineups for the week,” Pirowski said.
Pirowski said he plans to make a return trip to Tennessee next season.
After a 10-hour bus ride from Chattanooga to Portage, the baseball players found their cars decorated with congratulatory messages, courtesy of the PHS varsity softball team.
The baseball team hosts Elkhart Memorial on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. in the home opener. Despite enjoying the trip, the players know this is only the initial step toward a bigger goal.
“We just have to practice hard and keep our intensity that we had in Tennessee,” Haupt said.
Photos provided by Dave Coates