Prep Baseball Report

No. 4 St. Laurence rallies to hand No. 1 St. Rita its first loss



By Drake Skleba
Senior Writer

CHICAGO -  Trailing 5-1 in the top of the sixth against top-ranked St. Rita and its University of Tennessee-recruit junior right-hander Tyler Halas, things looked quite bleak for No. 4 St. Laurence. Fresh off a heart-wrenching 2-1 10-inning loss to St. Rita in Burbank on Monday, the Vikings looked like a second-time victim for the unbeaten Mustangs.

Ignited by a two-run bomb from Austin Peay-bound catcher TJ Marik, St. Laurence erupted for five runs in the top of the sixth, added two more runs in the top of the seventh, and went on to hand St. Rita  its first defeat of the season, 8-5, on Wednesday at St. Rita.

St. Rita (26-1; 11-1) opened up a 5-1 lead after four innings of play. After St. Laurence (22-2; 10-2) picked up a run in the top of the first, the Mustangs responded with two of their own on a booming RBI triple from University of Notre Dame-bound Jake Shepski and a RBI single from senior first baseman Nick Goldsmith. In the bottom of the third, Shepski walked and Halas hammered a two-run shot over the left field fence for a 4-1 Mustang lead. St. Rita added a fifth run in the bottom of the fifth.

St. Laurence senior first baseman Roger Wilson led off the fateful sixth with a walk. Marik hammered a shot off Halas that landed in the general direction of Halas’ bomb, beyond the left-field fence, to bring the Vikings within 5-3. St. Rita head coach Mike Zunica called on Mustang closer Shepski to put out the fire. Shepski came into the game, a perfect six-for-six in save opportunities this season.

Viking senior right-fielder Mike Miller greeted Shepski with a booming double to the base of the right-field fence. Senior centerfielder Kevin White bunted for an infield single to set the Vikings up with runners on first and third. The following is the strange part of the Viking sixth … the normally rock-solid Mustang defense imploded.

Shepski, in an attempt to pick off White at first, threw wildly allowing Miller to score and White to advance to second. After the first out was made, White stole third while Viking No. 9 hitter Sean Burnette was at  the plate. Burnette topped a roller to Halas, now playing third base, who fired a strike to Mustang senior catcher Nate Soria, who dropped the ball attempting to tag White out at the plate with White scoring the tying run.

Shepski threw wildly at first trying to pick off Burnette and the fleet-footed Burnette raced  all the way to third, from where he would score the lead run on a wild pitch.

Marik would drive home a third run in the top of the seventh with a sac-fly and Miller followed with a prodigious blast that nearly stopped traffic on 79th Street to complete the Viking onslaught.

“Aewsome. That is the only to describe how I am feeling right now,” said Marik. “My first two at bats were horrible. It felt so good to help my teammates out when I hit that homer. Without Frankie Greco we would have never won this game.”

Junior Frank Greco fired 3.1 innings of scoreless relief, allowing just one hit to pick up the win. Viking ace right-hander Mike Kornacker entered the game with two Mustangs on and one out in the bottom of the seventh. Kornacker disposed of the final two Mustang threats to nail down the save for Greco (4-0).

“I took it one pitch at a time; one batter at a time,” said Greco. “I knew I had to hold them down so we had a chance to come back. I am very happy with my performance tonight.”

“This was just such a great victory,” said Miller. “I’m seeing the ball very well right now and having a blast.”

This is only the second of a possible four meetings between these two parochial school powers located just four miles from one another, connected by 79th Street. The two will meet in a Steven M. Bajenski Memorial Tournament quarterfinal on May 22 at Standard Bank Stadium in Crestwood. The two will more than likely receive the top two seeds at the Class 4A Burbank Reavis Sectionals to be played at Reavis on June 4,5 & 7.

“Wow, it really looked bad for us,” said St. Laurence head coach Pete Lotus. “We owe this victory to Frankie (Greco), who was magnificent in relief for us. And without his effort we would never have won. TJ, after struggling early in the game, really ignited us and Mike Miller has been really hitting for us as of late.”

For St.Rita, the Mustangs’ impressive winning streak has ended, but they still hold a one-game lead over St. Laurence in the Chicago Catholic League Blue. The Mustangs will travel to Mount Greenwood for an 11 a.m. date with Brother Rice while the Vikings will travel to Glenview where they will meet the Loyola Ramblers for a Saturday night game at 7.
“That is a very good baseball team who can really hit the baseball,” said Zunica. “We made some errors today; but that’s baseball. We will regroup and we will be fine.”

Related Content

2014 IL Top Prospect Slide