BricksCenter
DaDaDa DaDaDa
April 11, 2021
21 Sports ... 1 Team ... WE ARE HOBART!
A dramatic finish, some blow outs and a history lesson on the diamond ... a scramble on the golf course ... 3rd-set tiebreakers on the tennis court, and a "Return of the Bricki" on the track all marked the landscape of Brickie sports this 2nd week of April!
It's fun to watch our spring student-athletes right now ... flashes of excellence stemming from hard WORK WORK WORK mixed in with some old-fashioned, blue-collar TOUGHNESS! These kids play HARD and COMPETE until the end! American rock & pop band The Monkees said it so eloquently, "I'M A BELIEVER'"! When you get a chance, come on out and see for yourself!
Cheer Up Sleepy Jean... it's time for BricksCenter!
Baseball
On Monday, Hobart hosted New Prairie in what turned out to be one of the most exciting high school games these eyes have seen! Here we go ...
The Brickies plated a run in the bottom of the 1st for an early 1-0 lead.
The Cougars responded with 3 of their own in the top of the 3rd and held a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the 4th.
Senior Jaden Deel walked to open the inning and scored when junior Ivan Balboa doubled to right field! Consecutive hits by freshman Jevan Andrews and sophomore Cameron Gonzalez put the Brickies BACK ON TOP 4-3!
New Prairie answered AGAIN with 2 in the top of the 6 to retake the lead 5-4.
Hobart FOUGHT BACK to score 2 in the bottom half of the 6th and led 6-5 heading into the final inning of play!
The Cougars manufactured 2 more runs to pull ahead 7-6 with Hobart taking their final at-bat.
Andrews led off the 7th with a DOUBLE and SCORED to tie things up at 7-7 ... and when junior Marc Enslen hit a 2-out DOUBLE to left, senior Gavin Gallagher RACED HOME and the Brickies STORMED THE FIELD after earning a THRILLING 8-7 VICTORY!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!
Enslen & Balboa each had 2 RBI for Hobart and Gallagher earned the "W" in a relief appearance on the mound.
Tuesday, Hobart traveled to Illiana Christian to face the Vikings for the 1st time in program history. In a close, well-played game, the Brickies dropped a tough one 4-2. Andrews had 2 hits and junior Kaidin Click registered both RBIs on his 2-run single in the loss.
On Friday, the Brickies were once again ROAD WARRIORS as they headed East to Morgan Township to square off against the Cherokees. Wearing their new gray uniforms for the 1st time, Hobart POUNDED Morgan Twp 24-5! That's right ... we scored 24 runs - wow. Deel and classmate Bryce Niksich each sent one over the fence ... senior Ryan Ellis, Andrews and junior Ryan Flores all had 2 hits ... and senior Tyler Kunkle came in as a relief pitcher to earn his 1st varsity "W".
Saturday, Hobart hosted Westville in one that will go down in the history books. This one was not the THRILLER that we saw on Monday, but PERFECTION comes in a variety of ways :). Senior Gavin Gallagher got the start and pitched a PERFECT GAME! In baseball, a PERFECT GAME means that no opposing batter reaches base. Gallagher struck out 12, didn't walk a soul, and got a little help from his friends in the field to complete what is believed to be the 1ST PERFECT GAME IN SCHOOL HISTORY!! No hits ... no walks ... nothing but 15 batters up and 15 batters down for Westville while Hobart scored 10 and WON in 5 innings. It was the 21st No-HITTER in program history and the 2nd THIS SPRING as Hobart also no-hit the Merrillville Pirates in the season opener! INCREDIBLE!!
The Brickies are 6-1 on the season, ranked in the area's top 10, and ready for NCC play to begin next week! Lowell visits the friendly confines on Monday ... "DON'T STOP NOW BOYS!"
#ALLTHEYDOISWIN
Senior Gavin Gallagher throws 1st PERFECT GAME in SCHOOL HISTORY!!
Check out the article below on Hobart's PERFECT GAME!
Girls Tennis
The Lady Bricks return 4 starters from our 2019 Sectional Championship squad, which means this group might have just the right blend of youth & experience to make a run at a 3-peat next month! I know ... too early in the season for bold predictions ... so I'll just say this, THESE GIRLS CAN PLAY!!
#ACES
Softball
On Monday, Hobart hit the road for Michigan City to face the Lady Wolves. In a rematch of the 2019 IHSAA Sectional semifinals, the Lady Brickies DOMINATED the contest from the start and SHINED BRIGHT on the DIAMOND in the 10-0 VICTORY! Three Hobart pitchers combined to strike out 14 batters ... HOLY SCHNIKES THAT'S A LOT ... in their 1st shutout of the season! Senior teammates Hannah Camarena, Saylem Smith, Sarah Joswiak and Neely Fisk each had 2 hits for the Lady Brickies and classmate Alyssa Peterson drove in 2 runs as Hobart bounced back from last Saturday's setback against LaPorte.
Thursday, the Lady Brickies were scheduled to host Kankakee Valley in the 1st NCC game of the season, but forecasted weather and a muddy field caused a postponement. This one will have to wait until Monday, April 19th.
On Friday, Hobart traveled to Porter County to play another pack of Lady Wolves ... this time is was NWI Times #4-ranked Boone Grove. Unfortunately, these Wolves were totally different than the ones our girls faced on Monday and they sent the Lady Brickies home with a lopsided 16-0 loss. Boone scored 13 in the bottom of the 1st and Hobart had trouble getting anything going on offense against one of the top pitchers in the area.
Saturday morning, Hobart continued it's road trip through Porter County by squaring off with the Hebron Lady Hawks ... and this time, the Lady Brickie bats BLEW UP! American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys might say, "Our bats were on fiii -rrrrre!" EVERY PLAYER registered at least 1 hit as Hobart plated 6 runs in the 1st inning and never looked back in the 12-0 BLOWOUT VICTORY!! Camarena pitched 4 scoreless innings and BELTED her 3rd HOMER of the season ... sophomores Kylee Watts and Alyssa Janik had 3 hits and 2 RBI each ... Smith had 2 hits and 2 RBI ... and freshman Morgan Ellenberger struck out 4 batters over the final two innings to close out the impressive "W"!!
The girls are 3-2 on the season and are looking to keep Saturday's momentum going this week with 5 games on the schedule! LET'S GOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
#GIRLSJUSTWANNAHAVEFUN
Track & Field
The Brickie Track & Field teams began practice WAAAYYYYYY back on February 15th ... and this past Thursday, they FINALLY got to compete against another school! Normally, the indoor season would've given them a chance to gauge conditioning levels and shake some early season nerves out, but COVID shut all of that down ... so Thursday at Portage was a chance to do both!
Hobart had a lot of new faces on Thursday night over at Portage ... even the veterans seemed new again after everyone missing out last spring. The Indians had the upper hand in the team scoring column ... defeating the girls 89-34 and the boys 77-51, but individually our kids SHINED and showed a lot of potential to make the next 2 months special!
The Lady Brickies WON the 4x100 relay (Anisha Lewis, Dominique Clemons, Cailey Weber & Asia Donald) ... Weber scored another 1st when she won the 300 hurdles ... and Clemons claimed Hobart's 3rd 1st-place finish when she cruised to victory in the 200m dash!
For the boys, Diego Verduzco earned a DOUBLE-W after placing 1st in both the shot put and discus ... Bruce Leipart WON the 800 ... and Ethan Ferba & Cody Johnston each FLEW to victory in the high jump and pole vault events!!
Here are some results from Thursday:
Girls3200m Relay - seniors Faith Hillan & Lilly Butler and freshmen Ariana Arauz & Addy Black - 2nd
100m Hurdles - sophomore Haylie Skripac - 2nd, senior Faith Kietzman - 3rd, freshman Cailey Weber - 4th
100m Dash - senior Anisha Lewis - 2nd, junior Dominique Clemons - 3rd
1600m Run - sophomore Gianna Rodriguez - 9th, junior Mikayla Fuentes - 10th
400m Relay - Lewis, Clemons, Weber & sophomore Asia Donald - 1st
400m Dash - sophomore Sarah Romeo - 3rd, Hillan - 4th
300m Hurdles - Weber - 1st, Skripac - 2nd, Kietzman - 3rd, freshman Shaunice Haymon - 4th
800m Run - Rodriguez - 3rd, freshman Kylee King - 5th
200m Dash - Clemons - 1st, Lewis - 3rd, freshman Alyssa Adams - 4th
3200m Run - Arauz - 3rd
1600m Relay - Lewis, Clemons & classmate Ja'Diah Belk, and Donald - 3rd
Long Jump - Donald - 3rd, sophomore Payton Holdorf - 7th
High Jump - sophomore Daeges Morgan - 3rd, senior Maddy Slicker - 5th, senior Kelsey Black - 6th, freshmen Rachel Gillins & Ella Freimuth - 7th
Shot Put - junior Shanena Knight - 3rd, junior Anna Wood - 6th, junior Bridget Chavez - 7th
Discus - Knight - 5th, Chavez - 7th, freshman Marie White - 8th, junior Allie Runk - 9th
Boys
3200m Relay - senior Darrin Johnson, junior Joe Meagher, sophomore Ryan Wein & freshman Owen Stankich - 2nd
100m Hurdles - junior Jaden Camacho - 3rd, sophomore Gavin Miller-Lane - 5th
100m Dash - junior Anthony Miller Jr. - 5th, sophomore Darrion White - 6th, junior Luke Abbott Jr. - 9th
1600m Run - senior Bruce Leipart - 2nd, freshman Ryan Mattel - 3rd, junior Jonah Wells - 5th
400m Dash - junior Nick Juris - 2nd, Johnson - 4th, freshman Luis Gutierrez - 5th
300m Hurdles - Camacho - 2nd, Miller-Lane - 4th
800m Run - Leipart - 1st, Mattel - 4th, Wells - 8th, freshman Vicente Gutierrez - 9th
200m Dash - sophomore Colton Charo - 4th, Abbott - 6th, Juris - 9th
3200m Run - Meagher - 3rd, Stankich - 4th
Long Jump - White - 9th, freshman Quentin Stengel - 10th
High Jump - junior Ethan Ferba - 1st, Stengel & Miller-Lane - 3rd
Pole Vault - sophomore Cody Johnston - 1st
Shot Put - sophomore Diego Verduzco - 1st, junior Connor Bock - 2nd, sophomore Isaiah Wilson - 3rd, junior Aaron Bell - 5th
Discus - Verduzco - 1st, sophomore Hunter Juris - 2nd, junior Michael Ramirez - 3rd, Bell - 4th
The Brickies will be back in action twice this week as they open NCC competition on Tuesday vs. rival Andrean and host the 80th Annual Hobart Little 5 Invite on Saturday!
#PRIDEANDTRADITION
Boys Golf
The 5-man team representing H-town included senior Chad Tomaga, junior Ethan Cover, and freshmen classmates Parker Glass, Ben Eberle & Tommy Snemis.
Hobart will be back in action on Wednesday against Morgan Township in the first dual meet of the year! Hit 'em long & straight boys!
#PARFORTHECOURSE
Athlete of the Month
Hannah Camarena - softball
Ryan Ellis - baseball
Keep up the good WORK WORK WORK!
#ALLMYLIFE
Sports Schedule Next Week
Girls Tennis vs. Crown Point
Baseball vs. Lowell *
Softball @ Marquette
JV Baseball @ Lowell *
JV Softball vs. Illiana Christian
Tuesday
Girls Track & Field vs. Andrean *
Boys Track & Field vs. Andrean *
Baseball @ Lowell *
JV Baseball vs. Lowell *
Wednesday
Softball vs. Highland (V & JV) *
Boys Golf vs. Morgan Township
Girls Tennis @ Lake Station
JV Baseball @ Hanover Central
Thursday
Girls Tennis @ Kankakee Valley *
Softball @ Wheeler
Friday
Softball @ Andrean *
JV Softball vs. Andrean *
Saturday
Girls Track & Field - Hobart Little 5 Invite
Boys Track & Field - Hobart Little 5 Invite
Girls Tennis - Hobart Invite
Baseball @ Michigan City
Softball vs. Hanover Central (V & JV)
* = NCC Opponent