PBR DAILY ROUNDUP

Wednesday April 25

By Drake Skleba

Catholic Blue

No. 1 Mount Carmel (23-0; 9-0) crushed No. 2 St. Laurence 16-2 in five innings (See Drake Skleba’s story)

No. 5 Providence (16-6; 7-2) defeated No. 17 St. Rita 6-2 behind Celtic senior RF KennyKing. King was a one-man wrecking crew against St. Rita (15-6;7-2). King hammered a double, a long bomb, and plated five runs for the Celtics. Bradley-bound Brady Wilkin (3-0) fired a two-hitter at the Mustangs.

Brother Rice (15-8; 6-3) romped past Loyola 9-2 behind two-RBI nights from sophomore Kevin Biondic and senior Sean McGrath.

Catholic White

De La Salle (15-8; 7-4) defeated St. Ignatius 7-5 behind Western Michigan-bound Pat Haynes, who had two hits and two RBI to lead the Meteors. Junior Ricardo Ramirez picked up the win on the mound and senior Scott McGurn chipped in with a pair of hits.

Fenwick (14-8; 6-5) kept pace with De La Salle as the Friars squeaked past hard-luck St. Joseph 4-3. Friar junior Paul O’ Toole’s bases-clearing double was the big blow for Fenwick.

DuPage Valley

Glenbard North (14-7; 7-2) swept away West Aurora 4-3 on Wednesday.

Wheaton North (14-8; 7-2) lost to Glenbard East 4-3 on Wednesday. (See Seth Kenny’s Scouting Notes).

Naperville Central (13-8; 7-2) moved into a first-place tie with Glenbard North and Wheaton North with a 4-1 win over Wheaton Warrenville South on Wednesday. Glenbard North invades Naperville for a big DVC showdown double-header at 10 on Saturday morning.

East Suburban Catholic

No. 13 Marist (18-5; 6-0) swept away Marian Catholic 5-4 behind three-hit efforts from Redhawk junior Cody Bohanek and University of Notre Dame-bound Mike Hearne. Junior Ian Woodward picked up the win on the mound for the ESCC- leaders.

No. 8 Nazareth (20-2; 5-1) slipped past Benet Academy (See Sean Duncan’s Scouting Notes).

Jackie Robinson North

Lane Tech (10-10; 7-0) defeated Northside Prep 4-2. Indian starting pitcher Jack McLaughlin (4-4) fired the first six innings striking out six and Smith came into the game in the seventh and struck out the side to nail down the save and the win for the JR-North leaders. 

Taft (19-2;5-2) defeated Clemente 3-2 on a sac-fly in the fifth by Eagle senior Ray Cekus. Eagle starting pitcher senior Matt Griffith went the distance against Clemente (12-3-1; 5-2).

Jackie Robinson South

Simeon (16-6; 6-1) defeated Harlan 7-2 behind a two-hitter from sophomore Darius Day (7-1). Day had an RBI at the plate with a sac-fly. Louisville-bound Corey Ray had a big two-run double for the JR-South leaders.

Mid-Illini

Morton (17-4; 7-1) swept away No. 24 Washington 10-4 on Wednesday. Washington falls to (18-5; 6-2) after dropping its third straight contest.

Bartonville Limestone (17-3; 7-1) blasted East Peoria 10-2 behind the Johnson brothers. Senior Logan plated three Rocket runs and freshman Dominic plated two for the M-I co-leaders.

Mid-Suburban East

Rolling Meadows (14-8; 6-2) blanked Elk Grove 7-0 behind a one-hitter from Mustang junior Matt Dennis (5-1). Junior C Matt Dolan had two hits and three RBI to lead the ‘Stangs past the Grenadiers.

On Friday an early season preview of the MSL championship game will take place when East leader Meadows travels to West leader Fremd in Palatine at 4:30.
Hersey (15-4; 5-3) shutout Wheeling again 5-0 behind Huskie Brad Moore, who fanned nine and allowed two hits in six innings. Miami of Ohio-bound Tyler Perkowitz led the Huskie attack with two hits and two RBI.

Surging Prospect (8-13; 5-3) swept away Buffalo Grove 7-5. Knight sophomore Jackson Wrede hammered a three-run bomb in the first inning. Junior A.J. Compton fired two-hit ball over four innings for the Knights in relief. Knight senior Shane Joyce had the big blow for Prospect when he cleared the bases with a huge double in the sixth. Illinois State-bound Jack Landwehr chipped in with a double and scored two runs.

Mid-Suburban West

Hoffman Estates (8-13; 3-5) surprised Barrington 8-1 behind a complete-game masterpiece by Hawk Jimmy Ward. Holy Cross-bound SS Kevin Grudzinski hammered a big two-run double for HE. Barrington falls to (15-7; 5-3)

Mississippi Valley

No. 15 Troy-Triad (18-3; 6-0) destroyed Mascoutah 22-3 in six innings. The Knights, who have now won 10 in a row, were led by senior Andy Range, who had four hits and four RBI. Junior Luke Infanti had three hits and three RBI and Senior Dylan Johnson chipped in with a pair of hits and three RBI. Senior Ty Lewis (4-1) picked up the win on the mound for the MVC leaders.

Waterloo (7-8; 4-1) outslugged Jerseyville 20-10 on Wednesday.

Highland (15-5; 4-2) defeated Civic Memorial 5-0 behind a four-hit shutout from Bulldog junior Austin McCloud. Junior Jake Haberer had two doubles and plated three Bulldog runs.

North Suburban Lake

Libertyville (14-6; 5-1) swept away arch-rival Stevenson 8-4 on Wednesday at Libertyville. Wildcat senior Dar Townsend picked up the win on the mound with a solid six-inning performance and junior Jason Buss nailed down the save for Libertyville. Junior Matt Vogt had two hits and three RBI to lead the Wildcat attack. Sophomore Evan Skoug chipped in with a pair of hits, including an RBI double. Libertyville trails No. 9 Mundelein (19-3; 6-0) by a full game in the NSC-Lake standings.

Lake Zurich (14-7; 5-3) blasted Zion Benton 11-0 I five innings behind Bear Ryan Spector’s one-hitter. Spector struck out six to improve to 4-0 for the Bears this season.

North Suburban Prairie

Vernon Hills (17-5; 5-1) blasted Wauconda 10-1 behind a four-hitter from Cougar junior LHP Tyler Feece (6-1). Feece had 10 strikeouts. Wauconda falls to (13-7; 4-2).

S. Illinois River-River Ohio

No. 11 Benton (21-3) did not need extra innings to dispatch DuQuoin on Wednesday. The Rangers won another slugfest 11-7 over the Indians in a SIRR-crossover. Ranger 1B Ethan Hughes hit a three-run bomb, his second dinger of the season. J.J. Johnson, Trey Garrett and Mason Childers all plated a pair of runs for the SIRR-Ohio champs. J.J. Johnson picked up the win on the mound (2-0).

Southwest Suburban Blue

Sandburg (14-4-1; 4-2) slid past Lockport 4-3. Eagle senior Matt Farrington (4-1) allowed no earned runs in his 5 inning performance.Lockport falls to (12-9; 3-3).

Lincoln-Way East (12-7; 4-2) defeated Joliet Central 5-1 behind St. Joseph’s College-bound RHP Mark Chemello (5-1). Chemello fired a three-hitter at the Steelmen with five strikeouts.

Homewood-Flossmoor (15-5; 4-2) nipped Joliet West 5-4 to stay atop the whacky SWS-Blue standings. Viking senior Steve Roman had a sac-fly for the eventual game-winner for H-F.Heartland Community College-bound LHP Danny Lietz hit a solo-shot for the Vikings and fired two scoreless innings to nail down the save. Joliet West falls to (12-11; 4-3)

On Friday night at 7, H-F will travel to Ed Flink Field in Lockport to battle the Porters in a huge Southwest Suburban Blue battle. You can watch the game live at www.highschoolcube.prepbaseballreport.com. The PBR’s own Drake Skleba will provide the play-by-play. The Southtown Star’s Pat Disabato and the Sun-Times News Group’s Randy Whelan will provide color for this SWC-Blue battle.

Lincoln-Way Central (13-8;3-3) won in dramatic fashion at home in New Lenox on Wednesday. Knight senior SS Jack Krull won it for L-WC with a picture-perfect suicide squeeze bunt in the bottom of the seventh.

Southwest Suburban Red

No. 16 Lincoln-Way North (18-5; 6-0) defeated Bradley-Bourbonnais 5-1 behind Phoenix junior Jake McCabe (5-1). McCabe struck out eight Boilermaker hitters in his complete-game masterpiece. McCabe helped himself when he ripped a double plating two big Phoenix runs.

Andrew (16-6; 6-0) defeated Thornton 7-3 behind T-Bolt junior Ryan Forrest. Senior Pat McKeown (4-0) fired a two-hitter at Thornton.  Forrest had two hits and two RBI to dispatch the Wildcats on Wednesday and keep the T-Bolts tied with L-W North atop the SW-Red leaderboard.

Stagg (10-9; 4-2) continued to roll with a 5-0 white-wash of Lincoln-Way West. Charger junior Steve Kubiak (1-3) fired a five-hit shutout at the Warriors and helped himself with a pair of hits and an RBI at the plate. Junior Mike Farnan singled and tripled and plated two Charger runs as the streaking Chargers stayed in the hunt in the SWS-Red. Stagg travels to Tinley Park today to face SWS-Red co-leader Andrew at 4:30.

Southwest Prairie

No. 3 Plainfield North (20-1; 10-1) won its 20^th victory of the season, smashing Plainfield East 7-1 behind junior RHP Brendan Miller (6-0). Miller struck out 11 Bengals in his solid six-inning stint. University of Notre Dame-bound Joey Cresta and fellow senior Caleb Kissel led the Tiger attack.

Upstate 8 Crossovers

St. Charles North (12-7; 7-3) defeated Waubonsie Valley 7-2

Nonconference

No. 9 Mundelein (19-3) defeated No.20 Prairie Ridge 5-1 behind senior Jared Mandel (6-0). Mandel had a solid six-inning stint for the Mustangs allowing just one run and striking out five Wolves hitters. Prairie Ridge falls to 16-5. Ryan Borucki went deep with a pair of teammates aboard for the big-blow in the Mustang’s win.

Mount Vernon (19-5), which has a three-game lead in the South Seven Conference, won this nonconference affair 6-5 over Herrin. Ram senior Zane Xanders improved to 4-0 with the win on the mound for MV. Ram junior Landon Thomas had a double and two RBI to lead the SSC-leaders.

Glenbrook North (16-7) defeated Jacobs 5-3. Jacobs falls to (12-7).

Aurora Christian (18-5) outslugged Plano 11-8 on Wednesday. Red-hot eagle senior Josh Haugen had a perfect 4-for-4 day at the plate with three RBI. NIU-bound Bobby Kuntzendorf drove home two Eagle runs.