Prep Baseball Report

IHSBCA Summer State Elite 8 Is Set



By Drake Skleba
Senior Writer

And then there were eight.

On Monday,142 schools began their quest to be a member of the Illinois High School Coaches Association/Phil Lawler Summer State Tournament Elite 8. St. Laurence, Prospect, Nazareth Academy, Glenbrook North, Crystal Lake South, Downers Grove South, Joliet Catholic Academy and Prairie Ridge all punched their tickets to Naperville and Lisle with regional championships on Thursday.

Elite 8 play will begin at 10 a.m on Monday at North Central College in Naperville and at 1 at Benedictine University in Lisle.

The East Suburban Catholic Conference has sent two representatives to DuPage County.2012 IHSBCA/Phil Lawler Summer Classic runner-up Joliet Catholic Academy and 2010 IHSBCA/Phil Lawler State Champion Nazareth Academy return from the mighty ESCC.

The Fox Valley Conference Valley Division sends a  pair of Crystal Lake schools to the Elite 8. Rivals Crystal Lake South and Prairie Ridge are primed to make the FVC Valley proud.

From arguably the state’s best baseball conference, the Chicago Catholic League Blue Division, the Vikings of St. Laurence return to the Elite 8 for the third time in five years. A little over a month ago at Silver Cross Field in Joliet, Providence defeated St. Rita in an all-CCL Blue Class 4A State Championship Game 4-1.

From the Mid-Suburban League East, the Knights of Prospect bring a 24-5-1 summer record to Naperville. The Central Suburban League North is represented by perennial CSL North champion Glenbrook North. Out of the West Suburban Conference Gold Division, the Mustangs of Downers Grove South will have a short 5-10-minute bus ride to Lisle.

The tournament features a plethora of highly-respected high school baseball coaches. Jared Voss (Joliet Catholic Academy) and Lee Milano (Nazareth Academy) have been a fixture at Silver Cross Field in Joliet. Voss has two Class 3A State Championships in 2009 & 2013 while Milano has brought home Class 3A fourth and third place trophies to La Grange Park in 2011 & 2012. Pete Lotus (St.Laurence) has won or shared the mighty CCL-Blue title four of the last five years. Ross Giusti (Prospect) is the dean of Mid Suburban League coaches and his Knights finished  third in Class 4A in 2011. Darren Orel at Downers Grove South has won numerous WSC-Gold titles during his tenure in Downers Grove and this past spring the Mustangs made the Class 4A Elite 8.Glen Pecoraro’s Wolves were the Cinderella story of 2014 finishing fourth in Class 4A. Brian Bogda (Crystal Lake South) has turned the Gator program around winning the ultra-loaded FVC-Valley in 2013 and bringing his summer Gators to two of the last 3 Phil Lawler Summer Classic Elite 8’s.Glenbrook North’s Dominic Savino’s Spartans have won 100 baseball games in the four Spartan seasons with Savino at the helm.

In 2013, St.Rita defeated defending IHSBCA/Phil Lawler Summer State Champion Lyons Township. St. Rita’s Jake Shepski (Notre Dame) took home the Jack Kaiser Most Valuable Player Award. Starting on Tuesday you can watch all of the tournament action LIVE at www.highschoolcube.com

The complete tournament and HighSchoolCube schedule is below.  

MONDAY, JULY 21

NORTH CENTRAL COLLEGE

10:00 St. Laurence (13-2) vs. Prospect (24-5-1)  

12:30 Nazareth Academy (21-11) vs. Glenbrook North

 3:00 LOSERS ELIMINATION GAME

BENEDICTINE UNIVERSITY

1:00 Crystal Lake South (18-5-3) vs. Downers Grove South

4:00 Joliet Catholic Academy (15-0) vs. Prairie Ridge

7:00 LOSERS ELIMINATION GAME

TUESDAY JULY 22

NORTH CENTRAL COLLEGE

12:30 QT. FINAL

LIVE (www.highschoolcube.com)
3 PM QT. FINAL

LIVE (www.highschoolcube.com)

BENEDICTINE UNIVERSITY

10:00 QT. FINAL  

LIVE (www.highschoolcube.com) Drake Skleba on the call

12:30 QT.FINAL

LIVE (www.highschoolcube.com) Drake Skleba on the call

WEDNESDAY JULY 23

05:00 SEMIFINAL 1
LIVE (
www.highschoolcube.com) Drake Skleba on the call

07:30 SEMIFINAL 2 LIVE
LIVE (
www.highschoolcube.com) Drake Skleba on the call

THURSDAY JULY 24 

07:00 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
LIVE (
www.highschoolcube.com) Drake Skleba on the call

7.23.14 IL Class of 2016 Slide