BricksCenter

With the Cubs exciting playoff run this fall, it seems fitting to draw inspiration from a legendary Chicago Cub ... Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg. Sandberg won 9 consecutive Gold Gloves and appeared in 10 consecutive MLB All-Star games during his time in Chicago. When he retired, he held MLB records for most homeruns by a second baseman and most consecutive games without an error for a second baseman (123). At the time of his death on July 28, 2025, he was still one of the most beloved Chicago Cubs ever because of his work ethic and old-school values. Two of my favorite quotes from Ryne Sandberg go like this:

"I was taught you never, ever disrespect your opponent or your teammates or your organization or your manager and never, ever your uniform,"

"Get your work in. Work hard at it. Give it your best effort. And if you get an opportunity, be ready for it. That's respect for the game"

Based on those statements, it's easy to see why people loved cheering for him. That's also one of the reasons why we love cheering for the Brickies! Our kids Work hard at it ... Give it their best effort ... and always try to be respectful of opponents, teammates & their purple and gold uniform! This past week was VERY exciting with an IHSAA REGIONAL appearance and some IHSAA SECTIONAL action!!

Take me out to the ballgame ... it's time for BricksCenter!

Girls

On Tuesday night, the Lady Brickies squared off against Class 3A #14-ranked Chesterton in the quarterfinals of the IHSAA Sectional held right here at The Brickyard. In a well-played, back-and-forth first half of action, our girls went TOE-TO-TOE with the area powerhouse Trojans!! With less than 10 minutes remaining in the segment, Chesterton finally broke through the Brickie D-D-D-DEFENSE and scored to take a 1-0 lead into the halftime break. Early in the 2nd half, the Trojans added a second score to extend the margin and then played some keep-away to milk the clock. Our girls BATTLED HARD to seize some momentum and literally gave it everything they had! Unfortunately, it was not meant to be on this night. Eventually, Chesterton would tack on two more scores late in the contest and advanced to the sectional semifinals with a 4-0 win over the Brickies.

Chesterton would go on to defeat Valparaiso 2-1 on Thursday in the semifinals and Portage in the championship match Saturday night by a score of 8-4. The Trojans will face Lake Central in the IHSAA Regional semifinals on Thursday.

The 2025 fall season was one for the books here in H-town. Our girls finished with a record of 12-5, which is the 2nd best season in the last 20 ... only bested by the 2024 season when the Lady Bricks won a school-record 14 games. Some highlights from this fall were a 7-game winning streak that saw our girls outscore their opponents 37-0 (yep, that's 7 straight shutout wins) and junior Kurah Krucina breaking the single-season goal record with 32 - WOW!!

THANK YOU to Coach Toby Provins, his staff, and all of our girls for wearing the purple & gold with pride every time out on the field! WE ARE SO VERY PROUD OF YOU!! With only two seniors on the roster, we are already PUMPED for next fall!

Boys

On Tuesday, the Brickies were down in DeMotte to face the Kankakee Valley Kougars in the first round of the IHSAA Sectional ... and our boys SHINED!! With the score knotted at 1-1 after 40 minutes of play, Hobart opened the scoring flood gates in the 2nd half with 3 GOOOOOOOOOAAAALLS to secure an EXCITING 4-1 VICTORY!! Senior Gabe "scoring goals is his middle name" Rodriguez sent 3 shots into the back of the net for another HAT TRICK and classmate Cooper Evans added 1 for good measure! Senior Tyler Snemis and juniors Gio Alvarado, Jacob Law & Daniel Olague each recorded an assist in the win!

Wednesday night was the semifinal round and our boys squared off against the Valparaiso Vikings for a chance to advance to the championship. The Brickies & Vikings have met in each of the last two sectionals ... with Hobart winning the championship over Valpo in 2023 and Valpo defeating the Bricks in the 2024 semis. Who would take round 3? In an INTENSE first half of play, the Vikings dominated the time of possession, but our boys hung in there and NEVER broke ... thanks to some SPECTACULAR D-D-D-DEFENSE by sophomore goalie Michael Klaich and his supporting cast!

Halftime score: Hobart 0, Valpo 0

Early in the 2nd half, Rodriguez score a GOOOOOOOOAAALL to give the Brickies a 1-0 advantage and then about 6 minutes later he added another on a penalty kick to make it 2-0 Hobart!! With just under 10 minutes remaining in the game, the Vikings got on the board to cut the deficit in half (2-1). Three minutes later, junior Spencer Provins sent a LASER free kick over the out-stretched arms of the Valparaiso goalie to make it 3-1 Brickies and that's exactly how the game finished .... a BRICKIE VICTORY!!! WOW!! WHAT A GAME!! Klaich had a RIDICULOUS 10 saves in the win!

On Saturday afternoon, Hobart returned to Kankakee Valley - the host of the 2025 Boys Sectional - for the championship round. The opponent? Duneland Athletic Conference Champion Crown Point. Early on, our boys picked up where they left off on Wednesday with a GOOOOOOOOOAAALL by Provins just 9 minutes into the contest!! The DAC Champion 'Dogs responded with a goal of their own 5 minutes later to knot the score at 1-1. Crown Point put constant pressure on the net throughout the first half of play and finally broke through the Brickie D-D-D-DEFENSE shortly before the halftime buzzer to take a 2-1 advantage into the break.

90 seconds into the second half, the Bulldogs bit again to extend their lead to 3-1 and unfortunately, from that point they never looked back. As hard as our boys worked to try and manufacture a rally, Crown Point was there to stifle every attempt and ultimately won the game by a 5-1 margin.

As difficult as it is to see a season come to a close, it's always important to find time to reflect on what an AMAZING journey it was and how much was accomplished along the way. The Brickie boys soccer team was under the guidance of their 3rd coach in 3 years - a challenging task. Kudos to Coach Luttell & his staff for bringing our boys along, improving as the season progressed, and finding peak performances when it counted the most! The 2025 season was ... as American rapper Coolio might've said ... a Fantastic Voyage! Our Brickies finished with an overall record of 9-8-2, but won 6 of their last 7 games by a combined score of 27-6 ... a run that included victories over area powerhouse programs Chesterton & Valparaiso!

THANK YOU to our boys for taking us all on an EXCITING post-season run through the sectional and giving us an entire season of moments to cheer & memories to cherish!!

#WEAREONE

After winning Hobart's 7th IHSAA Boys Tennis Sectional CHAMPIONSHIP ... and going BACK-TO-BACK for the first time in school history, the Brickies headed to LaPorte High School on Tuesday for the IHSAA Regional semifinal round. Their opponent was powerhouse South Bend St. Joseph - ranked #6 in Indiana. The Hobart lineup featured seniors Gabe Gutierrez (#1) & Cash Salunga (#2) and sophomore Maverick Becerra (#3) in singles play and the doubles teams of juniors Angel Gomez & Teddy Ho (#1) and senior Jayden Standish & junior Mason Mitchell (#2). Fighting what felt like an uphill battle from the start, our boys served and returned as best they could against a very talented Huskies team. In spite of the Brickie's effort, St Joe won the first set at all 5 positions and never looked back winning 5-0 to advance to the regional final against Chesterton. The Huskies went on to defeat the Trojans 3-2 for the regional crown.

This fall was a FANTASTIC one for Boys Tennis! The Brickies won 12 matches and a sectional championship for the second consecutive season! CONGRATULATIONS to Coach Cade Brumley, Asst Coach Jacob Lewis, and to ALL of our boys for representing H-town so well! WE ARE VERY PROUD OF YOU!!

#SERVINGNOTICE

In the final week of the regular season, the Lady Brickies had 3 games on the docket and some unfinished goals to chase!

On Monday night, our girls were on the road at Hammond Central for a non-conference game against the Wolves. In the first two games, play was TIGHT with the Brickies winning game #1 28-26 and the host Wolves taking game #2 23-25! After the break, Hobart finally got their groove back ... won game #3 25-15 and never looked back en route to a 3-1 VICTORY!! Junior Alissa Hope was DOMINANT at the net with a game-high 18 kills! WOW! Senior Maddie Lams wracked up 37 digs and classmate Kalli Butcher (18) & junior Marin Ray (14) combined for 32 assists in the win!

Tuesday night brought a visit by Hanover Central to The Friendly City. The Wildcats entered the contest with an overall record of 22-4, ranked #24 in class 3A, and undefeated in the NCC. If you recall, they also handed our girls a 0-3 defeat back on September 16th. Game #1 looked a lot like the game on 9/16 with Hanover cruising to a 25-11 win. In our final home contest of the year, the Lady Brickies WOULD NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT!! Hobart rallied to WIN the 2nd game 26-24!! Hanover fought back to take a 2-1 lead with a close 25-22 victory in game #3. Facing elimination points MULTIPLE times, our girls NEVER FLINCHED and eventually WON game #4 by a score of 29-27!!! UNBELIEVABLE!! The 5th & deciding game went back-and-forth, but slowly the Wildcats began to pull away and they ultimately won 15-8 ... leaving town with a 3-2 win. WHOA - this sportswriter was EXHAUSTED after watching our girls go TOE-TO-TOE with one of the best teams in the area ... and INCREDIBLE EFFORT by the Lady Brickies that unfortunately fell a little short on the scoreboard. SO PROUD of our girls for how they WORK WORK WORKed TOGETHER!! Hope finished with 12 kills ... sophomore Bella Cawthon also reached double figures with 10 kills and senior Riley Weber had 8. Cawthon also added 5 total blocks on the night and senior Lena Raygoza had 2. Butcher recorded 18 assists & Ray had 12 ... Lams registered 38 digs and sophomore Ira Hicko finished with 14 in the loss.

On Thursday night, the Lady Brickies were on the road for the regular season finale. Facing the Kankakee Valley Kougars, Hobart WON the first set 25-22 to claim an early 1-0 lead!! KV bounced back to take the 2nd & 3rd games (14-25 & 17-25) and ultimately sealed the deal in game #4 with a 20-25 win.

Hobart finished the regular season with an overall record of 12-17 and placed 6th in the NCC. Our girls will open up post season play on Saturday in the IHSAA SECTIONAL SEMIFINALS over at Chesterton after drawing a bye past round 1. GOOD LUCK LADIES!! WE BELIEVE IN YOU!!

#CANYOUDIGIT

On October 11, 2024, the Morton Governors stole a victory from the Brickies in a 61-58 double OT thriller at the Governors Mansion. For the 2025 game, this rivalry returned to Don Howell Field @ The Brickyard and our boys were prepared to turn the page on what happened and write a new story in purple & gold!

Morton got the ball first and Hobart's D-D-D-DEFENSE ... which was STELLAR all night long ... forced a turnover on downs. The Brickie offense went right to work with a long run by junior QB Aleks Tatum followed by a 32-yard TOUCHDOWN pass from Tatum to classmate Nathan Sobczynski!! Less than 4 minutes into the contest, it was 7-0 Hobart! Early in the 2nd quarter, Sobczynski scampered through the Governor defenders for a LONG run and a few plays later, it was Tatum who plowed into the endzone for another BRICKIE TOUCHDOWN!!! After trading a few punts, Hobart got the ball back with about 2 minutes remaining in the half and made the most of it with another SCORE by Tatum ... this time on a 3-yard run ... to take a 20-0 lead into the locker room!! WOW!!

Morton was FIRED UP coming out of the halftime break and scored to cut the deficit to 20-7. Hobart answered almost immediately with a score of their own on a 56-yard heave from Tatum to classmate Bryce Tolliver who made a SPECTACULAR CATCH in the endzone!! Brickies back up 26-7! The Govs rallied again and scored 11 unanswered points to get within 26-18 by the end of the quarter, but that's as close at it got as the Brickies closed the door with a 30-yard field goal by junior kicker Peter Janda!! Final score: Hobart 29, Morton 18

After surrendering 61 points a year ago, the Brickie D-D-D-DEFENSE had something to prove and they were FANTASTIC!! Senior Josh Diaz, junior Vontrell Jones & sophomore Terry Earvin each recorded 8 tackles ... seniors Logan Peters & Preston Perez both had 2 tackles for loss ... and sophomore punter Michael Klaich (yes, the goalie from our soccer team) punted 3 times for an average of 48 yards per punt!! The Hobart D also got 4 sacks ... 1 each by Peters, Perez, Jones & Earvin!! WOW!!

On the offensive side of things, Tatum was TERRIFIC in completing 9-of-12 passes for 151 yards and two TDs + rushing 21 times for 114 yards and 2 more TDs!! For you math people out there, that's 265 total yards and 4 touchdowns!! Aleks even punted one time for 54 yards. Like I said ... TERRIFIC!! Tolliver finished with 5 grabs for 75 yards and Janda was 3-for-3 on extra points + good on his only FG attempt!!

Hobart is now 6-2 overall with one game remaining in the regular season - a home contest vs Highland - before IHSAA Tournament play begins. DON'T STOP NOW BOYS!!

#DOUBTUS

Our Brickie harriers had the week off from competition after competing in the NCC Championship meet a week ago. When the IHSAA eliminated the "Semi-State" portion of the tournament series and pushed the sectional back a week, it created a gap for teams to get some final training preparations made and heal up any nagging injuries ...which is exactly what the Bricks have been doing.

The IHSAA Sectional will be run at Sunset Hill County Park on Saturday, October 18th. The Boys will race at 10:30am followed by the Girls @ 11:15. Top 5 teams and the top 15 individuals on non-qualifying teams will advance to the IHSAA Regional held at New Prairie on October 25th. WE ARE ... HO-BART! LET'S GO BRICKS!!

#GRATEFULLYDEDICATEDXC

No Events Scheduled

Tuesday

No Events Scheduled

Wednesday

No Events Scheduled

Thursday

9th Football @ Highland

Friday

Football vs. Highland * (SENIOR NIGHT for Football)

Saturday

Girls Cross Country @ IHSAA SECTIONAL (Sunset Hill Farm County Park)

Boys Cross Country @ IHSAA SECTIONAL (Sunset Hill Farm County Park)

Girls Volleyball @ IHSAA SECTIONAL (Hosted by Chesterton High School)

* = NCC Opponent