BY RYAN METZ
Times Correspondent
GARY | Tuesday's game at The Steel Yard gave the Northwest team a chance to showcase its hitting. On Wednesday night the players wanted to prove they knew a little something about toeing the rubber as well.
Sean Manaea (South Central) and Jerrick Suiter (Valparaiso) combined to strike out nine hitters and didn't allow a hit in the first four innings as the Northwest team defeated North 6-5 in its second and final exhibition of the inaugural All-Indiana Crossroads Showcase Series.
"(Manaea) was really good," Northwest head coach Dave Pishkur (Andrean) said. "He hit the first guy, walked the next guy and then he was pretty much lights out. And Jerrick Suiter -- what an athlete that kid is -- there is really nothing he can't do. He's a catcher, plays outfield and comes in to pitch and throws (in the) low 90s.
"It's fun to watch these kids from different programs and see how talented they are."
Manaea and Suiter, along with their teammates, hoped to draw attention from college scouts in the two-day, six-team event for high school underclassmen.
"We all got a lot of exposure, so hopefully college coaches know are names and who we are," Suiter said. "I think Northwest Indiana is underlooked as a district to play to play baseball, and I think we represented real well."
Jeff Limbaugh (Crown Point) sparked the offense with a 400-foot shot to center field that was initially ruled a home run but taken back and ultimately ruled a double, giving him two for the day and two RBI.
"I think this will be a yearly thing for a long time to come," said former RailCat Eric Blakeley, who organized the event. "This helps with the smaller-school guys against the top talent from bigger schools in front of colleges. As well as it went this year, I think it's definitely going to build every year."
Published in the Northwest Indiana Times on June 25, 2009.
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