BricksCenter

You would've thought that the Itsy Bitsy Spider went up the water spout this past week because DOWN CAME THE RAIN and nearly WASHED the entire week OUT! Mother Nature must've been listening to motivational speaker Matt Foley, because a little sun & wind decided to join us on Friday. Thanks to a lot of hard work by our grounds crew, baseball staff & softball staff ... and some additional sunshine ... the fields were ready to roll on Saturday and our kids FINALLY got to field some grounders somewhere other than the Frank Kurth fieldhouse! If April showers really do bring May flowers, we are in store for a HUGE bloom next month!

Now that we safely navigated the first week of April ... it's time for BricksCenter!

One of the nice things about being an indoor sport in the spring is that no one cares if it rains! :)

The Brickies opened up the 2024 season ... the 2nd in school history ... this past week with games against Merrillville and Andrean.

On Tuesday, Hobart was @ Merrillville to face the Pirates. In a competitive first game, the hosts put together a short run midway through the contest and won 15-25. The second game showed the same result on the scoreboard as the Bricks fell behind 2 games to none. In the third game, our boys BATTLED and stayed within reach of the Pirates until the final point was scored making it 20-25 Merrillville. The 3-0 defeat was a tough start to the season, but the level of competitiveness our boys showed against a school from the Duneland Athletic Conference was absolutely encouraging when you consider this is only our 2nd year playing! Sophomore Christian Haymon led the Brickies with 4 kills ... classmate Codi Ketchum had a team-high 4 assists ... and junior Levi Snyder & freshman Joel Mock each recorded 5 digs in the loss.

*On a side note, the Brickie JV team earned a THRILLING 2-1 VICTORY over the Pirates for their first win in school history!! CONGRATULATIONS GUYS!!

Thursday night, the Brickies welcomed NCC rival Andrean to The Friendly City. The 59ers entered the contest with a 6-0 record having only dropped 4 games/sets all year. Playing their home opener, our boys were ON FIRE early on ... jumping out to an early 6-0 lead and playing even to 14-8! Unfortunately, Andrean put together a run to climb back in it and secured the game's final 2 points to win a thriller 22-25. Over the next 2 games, the visitors found their groove and earned a 3-0 sweep with 17-25 & 14-25 wins. As competitive as the Merrillville game was on Tuesday, this one was even better! In spite of the loss, our boys are showing improvement and went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the area! Senior Jacob Ramirez had 6 kills and 7 digs to lead Hobart ... classmate Jacob Lewis registered a team-high 2 blocks ... Ketchum finished with 11 digs and 7 assists and Mock successfully received 20 serves in the defeat.

Hobart is now 0-2 on the year with 3 games coming up this week! LET'S GO GUYS - YOU CAN DO THIS!!

#SPIKEBALL

It was a week filled with rescheduled games that got rescheduled again & again until Saturday FINALLY provided an opportunity to play ... and our boys took advantage! Having missed Northwest Crossroads Conference games against Munster on both Monday and Tuesday, Saturday involved a doubleheader to knock out both makeup games in one day!
Key note* - Munster High School has a turf infield, but their outfield is grass and still looked more like a swamp than a baseball field on Saturday morning, so both games were played here at HHS! Again, THANK YOU to our grounds crew and baseball staff for working so hard to get our place ready to play!!

Game 1: Since Munster was scheduled to host Hobart on Monday, the first game of Saturday's doubleheader had the 'Stangs listed as the "home team". In their first at bat in the bottom half of the first, Munster scored ... and then added two more runs in the 2nd to take an early 3-0 lead. The Brickies scored their first run when senior Carlos Santana singled to score a runner and cut the deficit down to 3-1! Unfortunately, Munster tacked on 2 more runs before the Brickies could add another and won the first contest 5-2. Overall, it was a well-played game by both squads even though the scoreboard didn't show what we hoped it would in the end.

Game 2: After a 25-minute break, it was time for game #2 and this time the Brickies were the home team. With no runs scored in the first inning and a half, Hobart got on board in the bottom of the 2nd when a 2-out single by senior Nick Sobczynski scored juniors Aidan Leonard & Ben Sullivan for a 2-0 Brickie lead! After Munster cut the lead in half (2-1) with a run of their own in the 3rd, the Brickies lit up the scoreboard for 7 runs in the bottom half of the inning and took a COMMANDING 9-1 advantage!! WOW!! Hobart added another in the 4th and nearly registered a "mercy rule" finish in 5 innings, but couldn't manufacture the additional run. Like any good team would, the Mustangs rallied with 5 runs in the 6th inning to make it a 10-6 ballgame, but got no closer as junior Drew Burris came on in relief to close the door and secure the BRICKIE VICTORY!!! Senior Gabe Nunez picked up the W on the bump for Hobart as he pitched well and got some help from the field to earn the conference win!

Hobart is now 4-1 on the year and 1-1 in NCC play. Three more games (... maybe 4 if we can find one more reschedule date) dot the landscape for our boys over the next 6 days. DON'T STOP NOW BOYS!!

After a few weeks of swinging the rackets inside the upper gyms, our girls finally got on the court against another school this past Friday over at Valparaiso! The Vikings were a tough season opener for the Brickies and defeated our girls 5-0. Still, Hobart collectively played some really good points and as Coaches Kenny & Cade said, "we know what we need to work on going forward."

Each season is a journey and one of the reasons we play a team like Valpo early on is because it gives us a chance to see where we are and what we need to do by the end of May to compete for another IHSAA Sectional title. Based on what we saw Friday over at Valpo, the match was much closer than the final score might indicate. The Brickies have the pieces to make a postseason run ... now it's time to get back to WORK WORK WORK!

#SERVINGNOTICE

Throughout the past week, game after game was postponed until Saturday, when the Brickies were able to get out on the field and play! It was the 2024 home opener for Hobart and the opponent was county line rival Portage.

The Bricks wasted no time in getting on the board as our girls plated 4 first inning runs to take an early lead! After that initial 4-0 advantage, this one became a complete slugfest! Portage scored 12 runs over the next 6 innings ... but Hobart would see 15 MORE runs cross the plate and WIN 19-12!! HOLY COW!! The Brickies belted 24 hits over 6 innings and scored at least 1 run in every single at bat - UNBELIEVABLE! After hitting in the Frank Kurth fieldhouse cages most of the week, our girls were dialed in and ready to go! Senior Keirys Click went 5-for-5 with 2 doubles, 4 RBI & 4 runs scored! Junior Taylor Lopez was 4-for-5 at the plate with 4 RBI, a double and 2 runs scored! In total, Hobart had 10 different players register a hit ... the longest of the day came from sophomore Riley Weber in the very first inning when her shot cleared the fence for a HOMERUN!! WHAT A HOME OPENER!! Senior Morgan Ellenberger and juniors Ladan Weinman & Addisyn Johnson also had extra-base hits for the Brickies. In the circle, seniors Ella Hornak & Ellengerger combined to strike out 8 Portage batters in the win.

The Brickies are now 2-0 for the 2nd consecutive year and should be busy this upcoming week now that it appears Mother Nature may cooperate with some sunshine & clearer skies! GOOD LUCK LADIES!!

#GOBRICKSGO

Softball vs Hebron (V & JV)

Baseball @ Hanover Central *

Girls Tennis @ Crown Point

Boys Volleyball vs. South Central

JV Baseball vs Hanover Central *

Tuesday

Boys Golf @ Brickie Scramble

Girls Track & Field vs. Andrean *

Boys Track & Field vs. Andrean *

Unified Track & Field @ East Chicago

Baseball vs Hanover Central *

Boys Volleyball vs. Illiana Christian

JV Baseball @ Hanover Central *

Wednesday

Softball @ Highland * (V & JV)

Girls Tennis vs. Lake Station

9th Baseball @ Crown Point

Thursday

Baseball vs. Illiana Christian

Girls Tennis vs. Kankakee Valley *

JV Baseball @ Merrillville

Friday

Boys Volleyball @ Kankakee Valley *

Softball vs. Andrean

JV Softball @ Andrean *

9th Baseball @ Portage

Saturday

Girls Track & Field @ Hobart Little 5 Invite

Boys Track & Field @ Hobart Little 5 Invite

Girls Tennis @ Hobart Invite

Softball vs. Hanover Central (V & JV)

* = NCC Opponent