BricksCenter

"March Madness" is a term/phrase used to describe the excitement surrounding the NCAA Men's basketball tournament each year. Well sports fans, the Brickies are entering "MAY MADNESS" this upcoming week as Track & Field - Girls, Boys & Unified ... along with Girls Tennis starting the IHSAA State Tournament Series with Sectional competition! In fact, the Brickies just finished competing in the inaugural IHSAA Sectional for boys volleyball this past week and in another week, Softball & Baseball get underway!! Like I said ... MADNESS!

The wrap up of spring sports has been EXCITING! In the last 6 days, we've celebrated seniors, cheered on an NCC Champion, and seen SCHOOL HISTORY being made!!

On the edge of your seat yet? Good ... it's time for BricksCenter!

After two years of competing under the designation of "emerging sport" in the eyes of the IHSAA, Boys Volleyball earned "sanctioned" status for the 2024-2025 school year. Do you know what this means? It means that the spring 2025 season is the FIRST OFFICIAL Boys Volleyball season in IHSAA HISTORY and our boys team ... in its 3rd year in existence ... got to compete in the first EVER IHSAA SECTIONAL for Boys Volleyball!!

On Wednesday over at Andrean High School, the Brickies squared off with the Kankakee Valley Kougars in the first round of the State Tournament Series ... and it was an INSTANT CLASSIC!! These two squads clashed twice this spring with Hobart winning both contests ... 3-0 on 4/18 and 3-1 on 5/7. Would the Kougars be able to flip the script in the 3rd installment? In the first set, play was INTENSE - after all, it was the SECTIONAL! BOTH teams tried hard to seize some momentum and it was our boys who finished it off 25-23 to take a 1-0 lead! In the 2nd set, that momentum carried over and the Brickies moved in front 2-0 with a 25-19 win!! Facing elimination, KV rallied with some fantastic points and won the 3rd set 22-25 to cut the deficit to 2-1. Set #4 was the INSTANT CLASSIC! Hobart with a chance to seal the win & advance ... KV trying to tie it up and force a 5th set tiebreaker ... EVERY KID GIVING IT EVERYTHING HE HAD!! It was point-for-point back & forth -- and 25 points wasn't enough to finish it! In volleyball, you have to win by 2 points and the 4th set kept going until the score reached 30-29 with Hobart in the lead! ONE MORE POINT would do it for the Bricks ... and WE GOT IT TO WIN 31-29!!! YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOOOOOOOOOOOAARD .....YES!!!

Final score: Hobart 3, KV 1 and the Brickies advanced to the IHSAA Sectional semifinals! Sophomores Joel Mock, David Camacho & Nathan Sobczynski, freshman Miles White, senior Levi Snyder and juniors Codi Ketchum, Chris Haymon, Kane McCullough & John Osgood were instrumental in bringing this one home!!

Saturday morning, the Bricks BATTLED the host 59ers in the IHSAA Sectional semifinal round. Our boys put up a fight against Andrean, ranked #16 in Indiana, but ultimately fell in 3 sets to close the book on our 24-25 season.

The 24-25 season was one for the history books. It was Hobart's 3rd in competition, but the first ever as an IHSAA Sanctioned sport. The Bricks won more games (5) than the previous two years combined and advanced in the first ever IHSAA State Tournament Series. Not too shabby for a program still finding its way.

THANK YOU to our seniors Levi Snyder & Sebastian Robledo for helping get Hobart boys volleyball off the ground and to Coach Madi Price & her staff for all their hard WORK WORK WORK this spring!!

#SERVINGNOTICE

On Tuesday night, the Brickies served as HOST for the 2025 NCC TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS ... and it was A GREAT NIGHT TO BE A BRICKIE! Against the BEST ... I SAY THE BEST ... that the Northwest Crossroads Conference had to offer, the Brickies turned in some TERRIFIC performances and brought home some hardware!

For the girls, the Brickies got standout performances from a number of student athletes! Senior Taylor Pope added to her already large collection of All NCC honors by winning the Shot Put for the 2nd straight year and placing 2nd in the Discus! Junior Aalliah Otero earned All NCC honors in 3 individual events after finishing 3rd in the 100, 200 and 400m dashes! WOW!! Classmate Cassie Cohen also joined the All NCC team with her 3rd place finish in the 1600m Run! Overall, our girls finished 4th overall out of 7 schools and were just 13 points behind Highland for 3rd. The KV Kougars & Munster Mustangs tied for the 2025 championship.

Here are some of the girls results from Tuesday:

100m Hurdles - sophomore Love Jimenez - 6th

100m Dash - junior Aalliah Otero - 3rd (Honorable Mention All NCC)

1600m Run - junior Cassie Cohen - 3rd (Honorable Mention All NCC)

400m Dash - Otero - 3rd (Honorable Mention All NCC)

300m Hurdles - freshman Rylee Christman - 4th

800m Run - freshman Khloe Reyes - 10th

200m Dash - Otero - 3rd (Honorable Mention All NCC)

3200m Run - Cohen - 5th

Pole Vault - junior Joanna Cantu - 4th

High Jump - freshman Peyton Cotton - 5th

Long Jump - sophomore Marin Ray - 10th

Shot Put - senior Taylor Pope - 1st (1st team All-NCC)

Discus - Pope - 2nd (2nd team All-NCC)

For the boys, it was a chance to seal the deal on a 3rd straight NCC Championship. That's right ... the Brickies were chasing a 3-PEAT! After rolling through the regular season UNDEFEATED at 6-0 for the 3rd year in a row, the Bricks needed a top 2 finish at the conference meet to win ... and our boys were FOCUSED & READY! On the track, senior Willy Shearer was UNBELIEVABLE in winning first place in the 100, 200 and 400 ... for the 2nd year in a row! HOLY COW!! He also ran a leg on the 2nd place 1600-relay team, which gave him All NCC honors in 4 EVENTS!! Also earning All NCC honors on the oval were junior Adrian Stojkoski, who finished 3rd in both the 100 & 200 and ran a leg on the 1600-relay team ... senior Kolin Gladney with a 2nd place finish in the 3200 and classmate Felix Lopez in 3rd place in the 1600 ... and fellow senior Dane Homoky, who simply ran the race of his life and placed 2nd in the 800m run with a 3-second PR!! UNBELIEVABLE!! Seniors Kael Schlosser & Brett Davis joined Shearer & Stojkoski on the 2nd place 1600-relay team.

In the field, Schlosser & sophomore Nathan Sobczynski did some DAMAGE by going 1-2 in the long jump ... senior Deacon Caesar finished 2nd in the High Jump ...and senior Patrick O'Connor earned 3rd place in BOTH the Shot Put & Discus!! AWESOME!!

As you can imagine, with all of these ALL NCC performers, the Brickies wracked up 142 points to outdistance rival Hanover Central by 36 to WIN THE 2025 NORTHWEST CROSSROADS CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP!!! YOU CAN CALL IT A 3-PEAT!! YESSSS!!!!!

WEEEEE ARE THE CHAMPIONS >>> MY FRIEEEEEENDSS!!! YESSS!!! It was a true TEAM EFFORT and an EXCITING NIGHT!! GREAT JOB BOYS!!!

Here are some boys results from Tuesday:

100m Dash - senior Willy Shearer - 1st (1st team All-NCC), junior Adrian Stojkoski - 3rd (Honorable Mention All NCC)

1600m Run - senior Felix Lopez - 3rd (Honorable Mention All NCC), senior Kolin Gladney - 4th

400m Dash - Shearer - 1st (1st team All-NCC), Stojkoski - 5th

300m Hurdles - sophomore Bryce Tolliver - 4th

800m Run - senior Dane Homoky - 2nd (2nd team All-NCC)

200m Dash - Shearer - 1st (1st team All-NCC), Stojkoski - 3rd (Honorable Mention All NCC)

3200m Run - Gladney - 2nd (2nd team All NCC), Lopez - 3rd (Honorable Mention All NCC)

1600m Relay - Shearer, Stojkoski and seniors Kael Schlosser & Brett Davis - 2nd (2nd team All-NCC)

High Jump - senior Deacon Caeser - 2nd (2nd team All NCC)

Long Jump - Schlosser - 1st (1st team All-NCC), sophomore Nathan Sobczynski - 2nd (2nd team All-NCC)

Pole Vault - Sobczynski - 4th

Shot Put - senior Patrick O'Connor - 3rd (Honorable Mention All NCC), senior Luke Juris - 4th

Discus - O'Connor - 3rd (Honorable Mention All NCC)

Now that the regular season has come to an end ... it's TOURNAMENT TIME! The IHSAA State Tournament Series begins on Tuesday for our girls with the SECTIONAL right here at Hobart High School and on Thursday for the boys over at Crown Point. GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!

#RUNBRICKIESRUN

This past week, our girls faced arguably their toughest stretch of the season with 3 games in 4 days against some of the best in not only NWI, but also the state of Indiana.

On Monday, the Brickies were on the road at Munster, ranked #4 in Indiana and undefeated in the NCC. After giving up 2 runs in the bottom half of the first, Hobart responded with a run in the 2nd to cut the deficit in half and try to steal back some momentum! Unfortunately, that's as close as it got as the host 'Stangs showed why they are 23-4 on the year scoring 9 runs over the next 5 innings and using their stellar defense to shut our offense down. Final score: Hobart 1, Munster 11. Senior Taylor Lopez had 2 of Hobart's 3 hits and recorded our lone RBI ... classmate Emili Knestrict also collected a hit and scored.

Wednesday night was SENIOR NIGHT at the Hobart Softball Complex! Prior to varsity warmups beginning, seniors Indy Parkerson, Ladan Weinman, Addi Johnson, Emili Knestrict, Elizabeth Crespo, Hallie Pendleton & Taylor Lopez were recognized along with their families for their dedication & commitment to Brickie softball during their high school careers. Once the festivities concluded, there was a game to play against arch rival Lowell - ranked #3 in class 3A and currently in 2nd place behind Munster in the NCC. This one was a heckuva game through 6 innings as our girls BATTLED HARD to stay close to the talented Devils. Lowell scored 3 in the 3rd and 1 in the 6th, but the Brickies manufactured a run in the 5th when Ladan Weinman doubled to left field, stole 3rd and then scored!! With the outcome still within reach heading into the final inning of play, Lowell exploded for 8 runs to close the door on any hopes of a Brickie comeback and left town with a 12-1 win. Weinman finished with 2 hits with Lopez & sophomore Kylie Bulatovich registering the only other 2 against a strong Red Devil pitcher.

On Thursday, the wheels on the bus went 'round & 'round to Illiana Christian where the Brickies faced off with the top team in the Greater South Shore Conference. The Vikings entered the contest ranked in the top 25 in Class 3A and got their offense going early with 6 runs in the first 2 innings. Hobart tried to get back in it with a run in both the 4th & 5th innings, but it wasn't enough as the hosts plated 6 more to earn a 12-2 win. Knestrict was 2-for-3 at the plate and Bulatovich & senior Hallie Pendleton each finished with an RBI in the non-conference loss.

After a challenging week of competition, the Brickies are 10-13 overall with 1 week remaining in the regular season. Games against Westville, Morgan Township, and Hammond Central await -- GO GET 'EM GIRLS!!

#SHINEBRIGHTONTHEDIAMOND

With 4 games in 5 days, our boys needed to be firing on all cylinders as the regular season winds down to the final two weeks before IHSAA Sectional play begins over at Valparaiso!

On Monday, Hobart was on the road @ Highland for a key NCC matchup ... and our boys SHINED!! The Brickies plated 7 runs in the 2nd inning and never looked back in the easy 9-1 VICTORY!! Sophomore Alex Mays & freshman Michael Klaich each collected 2 hits and scored a run with Mays also driving in 3 RBI! Seniors Alex Martin, Aidan Leonard & Connor Stafford all finished with a hit and an RBI as well! Stafford was MAGNIFICENT on the mound with 8 strikeouts through 6 innings to earn the win and Martin came on in relief to pick up the save in the 7th!

Tuesday was unfortunately a different story as Highland visited The Friendly City and left town with a 3-1 win. In a true pitcher's duel, Leonard squared off with Highland's ace Caden VanderMeyden and neither allowed much offense to occur with each hurler only surrendering 4 hits. Highland was able to capitalize on a few miscues and earned the conference win. Connor Stafford had 2 hits for the Brickies and classmate Ben Sullivan recorded the only RBI for Hobart in the loss.

On Thursday night, Hobart was on the road again, but this time it was up in Michigan to battle the Lakeshore High School Lancers from Stevensville. Lakeshore, ranked #8 in the state of Michigan, was as good as advertised. The Brickies actually held a 1-0 lead through an inning and a half, but the Lancers scored 2 in the 2nd, 2 more in the 3rd and then blew open a close game in the bottom half of the 4th inning with 10 runs. Final score: Lakeshore 14, Hobart 2. Sullivan led the Bricks with 2 hits & an RBI.

Friday was SENIOR NIGHT for Hobart and the Brickies had just enough (9) of them to field an entire team!! Prior to the first pitch being tossed, seniors Julian Alvarez, Landon Koritko, Trey Callahan, Connor Stafford, Jayme Hairston, Ben Sullivan, Alex Martin, Aidan Leonard & Drew Burris were recognized along with their families for their dedication & commitment shown to Brickie baseball over the course of their high school careers. After that, it was GAME ON!! The Brickies put 5 runs on the board over the first 2 innings ...the Bearcats responded with 5 of their own to tie the game ...and then our boys scored 7 more between the 4th-6th innings to close out a PERFECT (except for the wind) SENIOR NIGHT VICTORY 12-7!! Coach Bobby Wineland even got to start all 9 seniors and give them curtain calls one at a time throughout the contest! IT WAS A GREAT NIGHT TO BE A BRICKIE!! Stafford finished with 3 RBI, Sullivan added 2 more ... Koritko scored 3 runs and Alvarez & Callahan each scored twice in the non-conference win!

The Brickies are now 12-11 overall and an even 5-5 in NCC play! The final week of the regular season is upon us ... DON'T STOP NOW BOYS!!

#PUTMEINCOACHIMREADYTOPLAY

On Thursday night, our Unified Track & Field team was scheduled to travel to Griffith for competition. Unfortunately, the ugly forecast of weather caused a cancellation.

Saturday morning was the 2nd Annual Lake County Invitational hosted by Griffith High School. A year ago, the Brickies were CHAMPIONS! This year, our kids finished 4th overall and STILL SHINED BRIGHT!! The girls 4x100m relay was AWESOME in placing first! Team members include sophomores Josie Gray, Brooke Hawkins & Ariella Windsor and freshman Jordyn Shanks!! Some more highlights include sophomore Zayden Syler WINNING the Mixed 100m dash, Windsor placing 3rd in the Mixed 400, senior Jackson Butler finishing 5th in the Long Jump and senior Jayden Garrett earning 2nd overall in the Shot Put!!

All in all, it was a B-E-A-UTIFUL day for a track meet and the Brickies did a GREAT JOB!!

Here are some results from Saturday's Lake County Invite @ Griffith:

Girls 4x100m Relay = sophomores Josie Gray, Brooke Hawkins & Ariella Windsor and freshman Jordyn Shanks - 1st

Boys 4x100m Relay = seniors Jackson Butler & Jayden Garrett and sophomores Zayden Syler & Odin Williams - 2nd

Mixed 100m Dash = Syler - 1st, senior Micah Jennette - 16th, freshman Aniveah Brown - 18th, senior Summer Luttrell - 23rd

Mixed 400m Dash = Windsor - 3rd, Shanks - 13th, junior Delaney Williams - 15th, junior Colton Galliher - 19th

Mixed Long Jump = Butler - 5th, Gray - 7th, sophomore Trinity Garcia - 13th, sophomore Layla Henley - 20th

Mixed Shot Put = Garrett - 2nd, Williams - 6th, junior Bryce Kennard - 19th, senior Lindsay Neyhart - 22nd

With the regular season coming to a close, our kids will be back in action on Saturday at the IHSAA Sectional hosted by Valparaiso High School! GO GET 'EM!!

#CHAMPIONSTOGETHER

On Monday, the Brickies welcomed potential IHSAA Sectional foe Andrean to The Friendly City for a key NCC matchup. Hobart was STELLAR in the #1 spots with senior Natalie Crowley winning 6-3, 6-3 in singles play and the dynamic duo of seniors Isis Fleming & Addy Williams winning 6-0, 6-4 in doubles! Unfortunately, the 59ers were able to earn Ws at the other 3 varsity spots to hand our girls a touch 2-3 defeat.

Tuesday was a road trip to Kankakee Valley. This match was originally scheduled to be played way back on April 17th, but a weather postponement pushed the contest to May. Once again, Crowley was TOUGH AS NAILS winning in straight sets to give the Bricks a 1-0 lead! Junior Emily Cicillian FOUGHT HARD at #2 singles, but fell in a 3rd set tiebreaker for the 2nd consecutive day and the host Kougars were able to win at #3 singles and both doubles spots to earn a 4-1 victory.

After a day off on Wednesday, Hobart was scheduled to play @ Munster on Thursday, but a nasty predicted forecast caused another postponement. This one will be played on Monday.

On Friday, the Brickies squared off with the Michigan City Wolves. Since this one was rescheduled at the last minute, some outside commitments caused some shuffling of the Hobart lineup. Our girls GAVE IT THEIR ALL, but came up short against the talented Wolves and lost 5-0. Isis Fleming lost a TOUGH one at #1 singles and the combo of sophomore Gabby Robles & freshman Val Rodriguez dropped a heartbreaker at #2 doubles 4-6, 4-6.

Hobart is currently 8-7 on the year and has 1 more match to play before the IHSAA Sectional begins on Wednesday. Hobart will once again serve as HOST for the Sectional -- GOOD LUCK LADIES!! WE BELIEVE!!!

#ACES

On Monday, the Bricks were originally scheduled to swing the wrenches at the Boone Grove Invitational, but a conflict with the course caused a cancellation.

Tuesday, Hobart squared off with Munster, the top team in the Northwest Crossroads Conference. Our boys showed consistency and finished around the same team total as they have the last 2 weeks with freshman MJ Scheldberg tying his season best score to earn medalist honors for the Bricks with a 52! Unfortunately, the 'Stangs showed why they are the best in the NCC with all 5 starters driving the green on hole #1 and their top 4 scorers finishing with a 40 or lower. Final score: Munster 156, Hobart 225. Rounding out the varsity lineup for Hobart were sophomores Gavin Roper, Chase Dukes & AJ Garcia.

On Wednesday, the Brickies were on the road again, but this time the destination was Griffith in a non-conference match against the Panthers. The Panthers only had 3 players, so Hobart took Garcia, junior Lu Cohen and freshman Cody Paterson to square off with them. AJ was the top finisher for Hobart with a 62 followed by Cohen & Paterson. When combining the 3 scores for each player, Griffith edged our boys 188-194 in a very competitive match at Scherwood Golf Club.

Saturday morning had our boys at the Kankakee Valley Invite. A scheduling conflict at Sandy Pines forced a change of venue for the Invite this year and the Bricks ended up at Chesapeake Run Golf Club in North Judson. Against a field of 18 teams, our boys played well and finished 16th ahead of North Newton & Hammond Central. Chase Dukes earned top honors for Hobart after shooting a 98 for 18 holes! Gavin Roper was the next Brickie to sign his score card with Scheldberg, Garcia and sophomore Trevor Paterson rounding out the Hobart lineup. Lake Central placed first in the team standings.

Weather permitting, our boys will be busy this week with dual matches on Tuesday & Wednesday followed by the Lake Central Invite on Saturday. Hit 'em long & straight boys ... and try to avoid the snowmen! :)

#BETHEBALL

#NANANANANANANANA

On average, only about 1 in 13 high school athletes get the chance to compete at the next level, which is about 7%. This covers all divisions of the NCAA (I, II & III), NAIA and the Junior College level. So, when our Brickies get that opportunity, we CELEBRATE ...and recently, we've been celebrating A LOT!!

On Wednesday, senior Brogan McDonald signed with Monmouth College to continue her education and swimming career! The Fighting Scots compete in the NCAA Division III level and are members of the Midwest Conference. Brogan is a 4-year letterwinner and ALL-NCC swimmer for the Brickies!!

On Friday, senior Taylor Pope signed with Indiana Wesleyan University to continue her education and track & field career! The Wildcats compete in the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) and are members of the Crossroads League. Taylor is a 4-year letterwinner, ALL-NCC, Sectional & Regional champion, and IHSAA State Finalist thrower for the Brickies!!

CONGRATULATIONS BROGAN & TAYLOR!! WE ARE VERY PROUD OF YOU AND EXTREMELY EXCITED TO SEE WHAT YOU DO AT THE NEXT LEVEL!!

#COLLEGE

CONGRATULATIONS to 2023 Brickie graduate Cody Johnston for winning the pole vault competition at the BIG 10 Outdoor Track & Field Championships!! Not only did Cody place first, but he also set a NEW BIG 10 CHAMPIONSHIP and SCHOOL RECORD after clearing 18'06" for the win!! WOW!!

Cody, a sophomore vaulter for the University of Illinois, was a 2-time IHSAA State Champion for Hobart (2022 & 2023) and now joins his grandpa JJ and father Jim as BIG 10 CHAMPIONS!! AMAZING!!!

#BRICKIEPRIDE

Girls Tennis @ Munster *

Baseball vs Lowell *

Softball vs Westville

JV Baseball @ Lowell *

JV Softball vs Whiting

Tuesday

Girls Track & Field @ IHSAA SECTIONAL (Hosted by Hobart High School)

Baseball @ Lowell *

Softball @ Morgan Township

Boys Golf @ Hanover Central *

JV Softball @ Hanover Central *

JV Baseball vs Lowell *

Wednesday

Girls Tennis @ IHSAA SECTIONAL (Hosted by Hobart High School)

Boys Golf vs River Forest/Tri-Township

Softball @ Hammond Central

Thursday

Girls Tennis @ IHSAA SECTIONAL (Hosted by Hobart High School)

Boys Track & Field @ IHSAA SECTIONAL (Hosted by Crown Point High School)

Baseball @ Whiting

JV Softball @ Andrean *

JV Baseball vs Calumet Christian

Friday

Girls Tennis @ IHSAA SECTIONAL (Hosted by Hobart High School)

Softball vs Andrean *

JV Softball @ Illiana Christian

Saturday

Unified Track & Field @ IHSAA SECTIONAL (Hosted by Valparaiso High School)

* = NCC Opponent