BricksCenter
DaDaDa DaDaDa
April 23, 2023
#21sports1team
In 2013, American rock band Fall Out Boy released "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark" as the lead single for their 5th studio album, Save Rock and Roll. The song is better known as "Light Em Up" ... and that's EXACTLY what Mother Nature did this past week as the Brickies tried to get scheduled games in on Wednesday & Thursday. ... or maybe it was Disney favorite Lightning McQueen saying "Kachow" over and over again? At any rate, lightning alerts and a siren sounding were all-too familiar to Hobart fans & student athletes alike as contests were suspended due to the sky Lighting Up! Many thanks to all the fans and student athletes for rolling with our emergency safety procedures and showing patience & understanding. Eventually, skies cleared ... and even though it was cold, the Brickies got to play!!
Softball
Wednesday, Hobart again played the role of host against the Bishop Noll Warriors. The Brickies scored first in this one and held a 3-0 lead when the EarthNetworks lightning alert siren sounded, causing a stoppage in play. Each time another strike occurs within 10 miles, the 30-minute delay timer resets ... and since the timer kept resetting as the day got later & later, ultimately the remainder of the game was suspended. Through the first 3 innings, Click and senior Alyssa Janik BOTH hit HOMERUNS to stake our girls to the early 3-0 cushion. Unfortunately, the game was called in the bottom half of the 4th inning ... 1 inning shy of being able to call it a "completed game". No date has been set to finish.
On Thursday, Lowell was the destination for the Brickies as our girls looked to stay in the hunt for an NCC crown. Unfortunately, with our girls on the bus headed down I-65, Lowell called and said their field conditions were not safe due to all the storms and the game would be postponed.
This one got rescheduled for Friday.
Friday, it was GO TIME @ Lowell for the Brickies! After a lightning suspension on Wednesday and another cancellation on Thursday, Hobart was back on the dirt for another HUGE NCC contest. Both the Brickies and Devils entered with 2-1 records in conference play ... so the stakes were high. Lowell, playing on their home field, was dynamite on defense and pitching ... limiting the Bricks to just 4 hits total for the game. With Hobart unable to plate any runs, the Red Devils got all they needed with 3 runs in the 3rd inning and won by a final score of 6-0.
On Saturday, Hobart was scheduled to close out a busy week with a morning contest @ Morgan Township. The Cherokees cancelled the game due to predicted temps being below 40 at gametime. No reschedule date has been set yet.
The Brickies are currently 6-5 on the year and 2-2 in NCC play with a tie against the 59ers still to be decided on Monday, May 1st. This week our girls face 3 straight games on the road and a tournament at Jimtown. GOOD LUCK LADIES!!
#MAKEITHAPPEN
No game after driving all the way to Lowell on Thursday? No problem! The Brickies stopped for some ice cream!
CONGRATULATIONS to Keirys Click for being selected as one of the NWI Times ATHLETES OF THE WEEK!!
Check out the latest NWI Top 10 featuring the Brickies!
Baseball
It was quite a week for the Hobart baseball team. Even though our boys only played 3 games that reached a final score, they needed all 6 days to get them in!
On Tuesday, the Brickies traveled to Munster to take on the NCC rival Mustangs. This one was a SHOOTOUT!! After knocking off Valparaiso last Friday, the Hobart bats were awake early and often against the 'Stangs!! The Bricks scored 2 in the first, 4 more in the 2nd inning, and 2 in the 3rd to take a COMMANDING 8-4 lead!! When our boys tacked on 4 runs in the 5th and 5 in the 7th, the end result was a 17-11 BRICKIE VICTORY!!! That's right, the Bricks scored 17 RUNS - WOW!! Sophomore Connor Stafford, junior Jevan Andrews and senior Cam Gonzalez each registered 4 hits ... sophomore Jayme Hairston, junior Nick Sobczynski and senior Kyle Feterick all had 3 hits ... and freshman Zach Terek picked up the W on the bump by pitching 6 innings and surrendering just 3 earned runs for Hobart!!
Wednesday, Hobart hosted the Mustangs in the rescheduled NCC game from Monday. Prior to the first pitch, the Brickies honored the family of 2011 graduate Sam Moore in the 2nd Annual Sam Moore Memorial game. Sam played both football and baseball for the Brickies during his time @ HHS. Tragically, Sam collapsed while out for a run in June of 2012 and passed away. His #22 is retired and holds a place of honor within the Brickie baseball program because of the wonderful person and fierce competitor Sam was.
The two teams got through a few innings before lightning caused a delay and ultimately another postponement. The game was rescheduled for Thursday night under the lights @ Munster.
They say "third time's a charm" and both the Brickies and Mustangs were hoping to get Monday's game FINALLY finished after two postponements. Unfortunately, Thor lit up the sky AGAIN and caused a 3rd postponement in 4 days! So ... the game was moved to Friday.
On Friday, Hobart got on the bus headed for Munster one more time. Much like Tuesday's game, the Brickies scored first with a run in the 2nd inning! Unfortunately, that was as close as we would get to Tuesday's outcome as the Mustang bats got hot. Munster scored 14 runs vs the Brickies' 6 and won the game that took all week to get decided. Stafford & Sobczynski each had 2 hits for Hobart in the defeat.
Saturday, the Brickies played their final game of the week at Portage in The Battle for The County Line Cup! Each team wore special jerseys on Saturday as part of Portage's Cancer Awareness game to benefit the Northwest Indiana Cancer Kids Foundation (NICK). In another SLUGFEST, the Brickies scored two runs in the top half of the last inning to take a 9-8 lead and hung on for the VICTORY!!! Stafford and classmate Ben Sullivan each recorded 3 hits for the Bricks while another sophomore, Alex Martin, got two of his own to help secure the win!! Andrews swiped 3 bases and Hobart got contributions from 4 different pitchers (Feterick, Gonzalez, Hairston & sophomore Drew Burris) in the exciting victory!
The Brickies are now 7-5 on the year and will travel to The SteelYard ... Home of the SouthShore Railcats ... on Monday night to take on Highland! Game time is 7pm - BE THERE!!
#FIELDOFDREAMS
THANK YOU to Nanelle Hairston for the photos!!
2nd Annual Sam Moore Memorial Game
Brickies WIN the County Line Cup over Portage!!
Track & Field
The Brickie tracksters got after it this past week with a HUGE NCC meet on Tuesday and a Saturday Invitational @ LaPorte.
On Tuesday, both the boys & girls hosted 2-time defending NCC champion Munster. On the girls side of things, the 'Stangs were impressive and notched 1st place in 11 out of 16 total events. Still, the Brickies earned 5 1st place finishes of their own - freshman Cassie Cohen in both the 1600 & 3200m run, junior Cailey Weber in both the 100 & 300m hurdles and senior Daeges Morgan in the high jump! Ultimately, it was Munster winning 88-44. For the boys, scoring was literally as close as it can get!! Hobart had 7 1st place finishes ... Munster had 9, but the Brickie depth was slightly better than the Mustangs and the final score ended in a 66-66 TIE!! CRAZINESS!! Hobart earned wins by senior Cody Johnston (pole vault), senior Gavin Miller (long jump), senior Diego Verduzco (shot put), senior Grant Kappes (discus), junior Ryan Mattel (800m), sophomore Willie Shearer (400m) and the 3200m Relay team consisting of Mattel, classmates Carson Bell & Quentin Stengel and sophomore Felix Lopez!
Here are some results from Tuesday:
Girls3200m Relay - junior Ella Hornak and freshmen Joanna Cantu, Audrey Turley & Cassie Cohen - 2nd
100m Hurdles - junior Cailey Weber - 1st, senior Haylie Skripac - 2nd, junior Shaunice Haymon - 5th
100m Dash - freshman Aalliah Otero - 2nd, junior Elisia Otero - 6th
1600m Run - Cohen - 1st, freshman Emilia Massey - 4th, junior Kylee King - 5th
400m Relay - senior Sarah Romeo, juniors Alyssa Adams & Dominique Zepeda and sophomore Kyla Butler - 2nd
400m Dash - junior Ella Freimuth - 3rd, Butler - 6th
300m Hurdles - Weber - 1st, Skripac - 2nd, Haymon - 5th
800m Run - Turley - 2nd, Cantu - 3rd, Hornak - 4th
200m Dash - Romeo - 4th, Adams - 6th
3200m Run - Cohen - 1st, junior Addy Black - 4th
Long Jump - Skripac - 3rd, sophomore Brooke Cawthon - 5th
High Jump - senior Daeges Morgan - 1st, junior Ella Freimuth - 2nd, sophomores Cawthon & Kilee Hite - 4th
Shot Put - sophomore Taylor Pope - 4th, freshman Breanna Zon - 5th
Discus - Pope - 3rd, Zon - 6th
Boys
3200m Relay - sophomore Felix Lopez and juniors Ryan Mattel, Carson Bell & Quentin Stengel - 1st
100m Hurdles - senior Logan Perschau - 3rd, junior Cirian Spencer - 4th
100m Dash - junior Johnny Sorensen - 2nd, senior Vonzell Strayhorne - 3rd, sophomore Willie Shearer - 4th
1600m Run - junior Owen Stankich - 2nd, junior Thomas Martin - 3rd, junior Vinnie Gutierrez - 4th, freshman Durgon Click - 5th
400m Relay - Strayhorne, Sorensen, junior Luis Gutierrez and freshman Ryder Slaton - 2nd
400m Dash - sophomore Willie Shearer - 1st, Bell - 2nd, junior Jacob Ramirez - 5th
300m Hurdles - Spencer - 2nd, Perschau - 5th, junior Calvin Shaginaw - 6th
800m Run - Mattel - 1st, Stengel - 3rd, sophomore Kolin Gladney - 6th
200m Dash - Shearer - 2nd, Ramirez - 3rd, Bell - 4th
3200m Run - Lopez - 3rd, Stankich - 4th
Long Jump - senior Gavin Miller-Lane - 1st, sophomore Jaelen Williams - 5th, sophomore Kael Schlosser - 6th
High Jump - junior Anthony Hnilo - 1st, Miller-Lane - 3rd
Pole Vault - senior Cody Johnston - 1st
Shot Put - senior Diego Verduzco - 1st, senior Grant Kappes - 3rd, sophomore Patrick O'Connor - 4th
Discus - Kappes - 1st, Verduzco - 2nd, O'Connor - 6th
On Saturday, the Brickies were at LaPorte for the Dick Deardurff Classic. The coed invite included Boone Grove, John Glenn, Lowell, Michigan City, New Prairie, Rochester, Wheeler and of course the host Slicers. Even though the day included overcast skies, light rain and even some snow, our Bricks SHINED BRIGHT!
Senior Haylie Skripac was the HIGH POINT SCORER for the girls side of the meet with 24 points!! She WON the long jump, placed 2nd in the 100 hurdles and 3rd in the 300 hurdles!! Hobart also earned first place finishes from Weber (100 + 300 hurdles), Cohen (1600), and the 1600m Relay team consisting of Weber, Cohen and the Otero sisters (Elisia & Aalliah)!! Sophomore Taylor Pope placed 2nd in BOTH of the throwing events, Aalliah Otero finished 2nd in the 400 and Morgan was 2nd in the high jump!! Even though the meet was a "non-scored" event, the Brickies would've racked up 132 team points and been the OVERALL CHAMPION!! INCREDIBLE!!!
Our boys 1600m Relay team matched the girls with a W in a season best time of 3:32.11 with a team consisting of Bell, Mattel, Sorensen & Shearer!! Hobart also got 2nd place finishes from Sorensen (100) & Verduzco (discus) and 3rd from Stankich in the 3200! Out of the 8 teams competing, our boys would've been 4th in the team standings.
Both the girls & boys are now 1-1 on the season in Northwest Crossroads Conference action. This week has the Brickies on the road Tuesday night @ Highland and heading to Delphi on Saturday for the 90th Norm Ebrite Relays! WE ARE HOBART!!
#RUNNINDOWNADREAM
THANK YOU to Mackie Stankich for so many GREAT PICS!
1600m Relay CHAMPIONS!
TOP SCORING FEMALE ATHLETE HAYLIE SKRIPAC!
Girls Tennis
The Brickies were put to the test over the last 5 days ... 4 matches on 4 consecutive days will do that to you!
Wednesday, it was the Merrillville Pirates who visited The Friendly City for a non-conference match. Just like softball & baseball, when Fall Out Boy started singing "Light 'Em Up", the sky listened, the siren went off indicating a lightning strike within 10 miles of the school, and players went in the fieldhouse for shelter. With no end to the alert/delay in sight, both teams decided to call it a night and the Pirates left town with play suspended. Incidentally, the Brickies were leading the overall match when the alert sounded, but had not secured the 3 victories needed for it to be official.
On Thursday, Hobart welcomed future NCC opponent Hanover Central. In a competitive match, the Brickies were looking good - very much like they looked on Wednesday, but once again, Thor sent some lighting our way. When the alert siren went off, the Wildcats got on the bus and went home with the match suspended ... again with Hobart in the lead but short of an official win.
Friday, Boone Grove was the opponent and the #1 goal was to FINISH A MATCH WITHOUT A LIGHTNING ALERT!! Well, the #1 goal was reached as the Brickies finished the match against the Wolves. Unfortunately, the #2 goal of earning a "W" fell a little short. Our girls played well overall and BATTLED point-for-point, but Boone Grove proved to be a worthy opponent and handed Hobart a tough 4-1 defeat. Crowley secured the lone win for the Bricks and the match saw extremely tight games at both #1 singles & #2 doubles.
What a week for our girls. 3 of their last 5 matches have been suspended by Lightning ... and the Brickies were holding a lead in ALL 3! Craziness. As of now, Hobart is currently 1-7 on the year, but this competitive group of youngsters with some great senior leadership is showing vast improvement with each match!! KEEP WORK WORK WORKING HARD LADIES!!
#SERVED
Boys Volleyball
It was WEEK #2 of competition for Hobart's only indoor spring sport! Good news ... no need to worry about the weather :)
If you combine the 3 games from April 10th, South Central defeated the Brickies 75-36. A week later, it was 75-52. Even though the final scoreboard didn't show a Brickie win, our boys showed a drastic improvement!! Seniors Colton Charo, Jose Torres & Aiden Burke are doing an ADMIRABLE job helping this first Brickie boys volleyball team navigate a difficult schedule ... junior Jacob Ramirez, sophomores Levi Snyder & Dillon Hatchett and freshman Jack Swafford are also making a positive impact!
Thursday night, Hobart traveled to 5959 Broadway to face Andrean. The '9ers are one NWI's toughest teams. The Brickies FOUGHT HARD, but ultimately fell to the hosts in 3 games.
So far, the Brickies are still searching for their first win on the scoreboard, but are showing vast improvement each week! Hobart will have two more chances to compete over the next few days - GO GET 'EM GUYS!!
#LETSHEARITFORTHEBOYS
Unified Track & Field
Competing in Unified Track for the 5th consecutive year, the Brickies boast our largest team EVER! Unified Track & Field teams consist of a combination of athletes with intellectual disabilities (Unified Student Athletes) and athletes without intellectual disabilities (Unified Student Partners). Teams are co-ed and the competition is co-ed. The IHSAA and Special Olympics Indiana have been sponsoring Unified Sports since 2014 and the Brickies have participated since 2019.
Our kids FINALLY got to strut their stuff on Thursday over at Valparaiso!
Unfortunately, the meet ... like everything else on Thursday - or should we say "THORsday" because of all the lightning - was cut short due to storms. Still ... our Brickies SHINED in the field events that were able to compete!!
Taking on 2-time IHSAA State Champion Valparaiso (2019 & 2021) and Porter County neighbor Chesterton, Hobart WON 1st PLACE in every event completed before the storms rolled in!
Here are some results from Thursday's meet:
Shot Put - junior Mason Jackson-Solomon - 1st, junior Marcus Fernandez - 2nd, junior Aidan Olague - 3rd
Long Jump - junior Trent Brown - 1st, Jackson-Solomon - 2nd, junior Andrew Navarro - 3rd
100m Dash - Navarro - 1st, Jackson-Solomon - 3rd, Brown - 4th
Whether they placed in the top few spots or not, ALL our Brickies started the season with improvements from last season and several earned new PRs! Additional team members include Aiden Burke, Allyson Burns, Kalli Butcher, Jackson Butler, Brianna Candiano, Rylee Elkins, Colton Galliher, Micah Jeannette, Bryce Kennard, Sarah Kessler, Cara Lawrence, Katy Lawrence, Hailie Locklear, Summer Luttrell, Olivia McIntire, Adrian Morales, Gabri Moreno, Jorge Navarro, Lindsey Neyhart, Margo Page, Braden Paulson, Drew Renn, and Marie White!
#UNITY
THANK YOU to Coach Kriste Bell for all the AWESOME photos!
Boys Golf
Last week, the Brickies swung the wrenches well and finished 2nd at the Brickie Scramble. Over the last 6 days, our boys got to swing them a few more times as they opened up NCC play against rival Andrean and faced Illiana Christian & former Brickie golf coach Brent Vermeulen - now the coach of the Vikings.
On Monday, Hobart was scheduled to face Andrean, but due to inclement weather conditions, the match was moved to Friday when Hobart & the '9ers played through! Juniors Parker Glass & Ben Eberle led the Bricks with scores of 45 & 46 respectively, but Andrean was hitting fairways & greens regularly and won the match 169-197. In spite of the loss, this was an improvement of nearly 15 strokes for the Bricks from this match a year ago!
Hobart is currently 0-2 on the young season and 0-1 in NCC play. The Brickies are scheduled for 27 holes (3 more rounds) this upcoming week ... hopefully staying consistent and showing improvement each time out!! BE THE BALL BOYS!!
#NANANANANANANANA
NEXT LEVEL
On Wednesday night, the Brickies celebrated yet ANOTHER student athlete signing a letter of intent to continue academically & athletically at the NEXT LEVEL!!
Daeges Morgan will be continuing her academic and athletic career at the University of Indianapolis! The Greyhounds compete at the NCAA Div 2 level and are members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC). During her time at HHS, Daeges has been a 4-sport athlete ... competing for Hobart in volleyball, gymnastics, diving and track & field!! WOW!! Daeges was All-NCC in volleyball, an IHSAA Regional qualifier in Track & Field (High Jump), and an absolute SUPER STAR on the diving board! She is a 2-time NCC CHAMPION, 2-time IHSAA Regional qualifier and placed 11th at the 2023 IHSAA STATE FINALS!! She has truly been a great ambassador of what it means to be a Brickie and will no doubt continue to represent us well at the NEXT LEVEL!!
CONGRATULATIONS DAEGES! WE ARE VERY PROUD OF YOU!!
#ALLMYLIFE
Sports Schedule This Week
Baseball vs. Highland @ The SteelYard 7pm *
Softball @ Merrillville (V + JV)
Tuesday
Girls Track & Field @ Highland *
Boys Track & Field @ Highland *
Girls Tennis @ Highland *
Boys Golf vs. Portage
Boys Volleyball @ Bishop Noll
Baseball vs. Highland *
JV Baseball @ Highland *
Wednesday
Softball @ Kankakee Valley (V + JV) *
Boys Golf @ Highland *
JV Baseball vs. Highland *
Thursday
Boys Volleyball vs. Andrean *
Girls Tennis @ Munster *
Baseball vs. Boone Grove
Softball @ Griffith
Unified Track & Field @ KV *
JV Softball @ Morton
Friday
Baseball vs. Chesterton (V + JV)
Boys Golf vs. Morgan Township
Saturday
Girls Track & Field @ Delphi Relays
Boys Track & Field @ Delphi Relays
Girls Tennis @ New Prairie Invite
Boys Golf @ KV Invite
Softball @ Jimtown Tournament
* = NCC Opponent