By TR HARLAN

When you play the area’s top team, you can’t make little mistakes.

The Chesterton softball team made a few and the Lake Central Indians capitalized in picking up a 6-1 Duneland Athletic Conference victory on Friday afternoon.

The loss snapped the Trojans’ 10-game win streak.

“This is one game going in that you know you are going to have to play, not flawless, but darn near,” Chesterton coach LouAnn Hopson said. “Take out a couple of home runs and that’s a 2-1, 3-1 game. I just asked them to compete and they did for the most part.”

Lake Central jumped on top 1-0 in the first after Chesterton starter Alexis Paz retired the first two hitters of the game. A two-out walk and a stolen base by Jen Kosinski was followed by an RBI single by Rachel Weaver.

The Trojans answered in the bottom of the first when Catie Armstrong singled with two outs and Amanda Gough followed that with a single to right field. Sam Bozak’s single off the pitcher’s leg ended in left field and scored Armstrong.

LC took the lead for good in the second with a leadoff home by Karissa Inglis to left field. The Indians would load the bases in the frame thanks in part to some Trojan miscues, but Paz worked her way out of the threat.

“When the caliber of the team you’re playing increases, not doing the little things right really costs you,” Hopson said. “They are one of the top teams in the State and when you make a mistake against team’s like that they capitalize on it.”

Weaver would settle down and use her curve ball to keep the Trojans at bay. Chesterton only had a runner reach scoring position in the third and seventh innings.

“We just didn’t make the adjustments in the box that we should have,” Hopson said. “We didn’t make them the last time we played them and we didn’t make them again tonight. Some of it is just stubbornness and youth. We didn’t hit the first fastball we saw and now we’re in trouble with her curve.

“Give Weaver credit, she does a nice job.”

The game stayed 2-1 until the sixth inning when Danielle Tencza singled. Inglis reached on an error off a bunt and then Ashley Curthbert plated Tencza on a bunt single. A sacrifice fly by Sam Michalski made the score 4-1.

“Defensively we could have done a couple things a little better, but basically we just got out hit,” Hopson said.

Lake Central put the final touches on the victory with a single by Kosinski and a two-run home run by Allison Aguilera in the seventh inning.

“We knew they would hit well,” Hopson said. “I can’t think of too many pitchers around that they haven’t clobbered. The game’s they’ve lost people outscored them. Nobody’s really shut them down.”

Armstrong and Gough each had two hits for the Trojan offense.

Lake Central 6, Chesterton 1

AT CHESTERTON

SCORING BY INNINGS

Lake Central 110 002 2 – 6 11 1

Chesterton 100 000 0 – 1 6 3

HR – Karissa Inglis, Allison Aguilera (LC). Pitching Summary – Lake Central – Rachel Weaver (7 IP, 6 H, 7 K, 1 BB); Chesterton – Alexis Paz (2 IP, 5 H, 1 K, 2 BB), Taylor Harlow (5 IP, 6 H, 7 K, 0 BB). WP – Weaver (9-3). LP – Paz.

Posted 5/5/2008