St. Laurence, JCA move on to Elite 8

July 18, 2014

By Drake Skleba
Senior Writer

OAK LAWN - In St. Laurence’s last at bat in its Richards Regional semifinal on Wednesday, the Vikings scored five times in the bottom of the sixth to roll past Oak Forest 7-2. In Thursday morning’s Richards Regional Championship Game, St. Laurence (13-2) hit the top-seeded Knights of Chicago Christian with six runs in the top of the first. Behind John Riordan, the Vikings cruised to a 9-3 victory and a 10 a.m. Phil Lawler Classic first-round date at North Central College in Naperville on Monday. The Vikings will meet Prospect (24-5-1), who defeated St. Viator 7-6 in eight innings to win the Lake Park Regional. For the third time in five years, St. Laurence head coach Pete Lotus’ Vikings will be a participant in the Phil Lawler Classic Elite 8.

The six-run Viking first inning was highlighted by an RBI single from senior Frank Greco. Riordan followed with the first of his three singles in the game, plating a pair of Viking runs and Jack Cavanaugh followed with the first of his two RBI singles on the day.

Riordan, who was the winning pitcher in Monday’s 3-2 win over Marist and also picked up the win over Oak Forest on Wednesday in the semis, toed the rubber for St. Laurence. As they did in their 4-2 victory over Mount Carmel on Wednesday, the Knights responded to a rough top of the first with a three spot of their own. Two of the three runs charged to Riordan were unearned.

St. Laurence picked up a pair of runs in the third on the second RBI single from Cavanaugh and a sac-fly from Nick Verta.

Riordan settled in and allowed just a pair of singles to the Knights over the next four innings. The Vikings won four games to take home the Richards Regional title and John Riordan was the winning pitcher in three of them. At the plate, in the Viking semifinal and championship games, Riordan was 4-for-6 with a double and two RBI.

“I really struggled with my curveball early,” said Riordan. “I calmed down and pitched well after the first inning. I was looking fastball at the plate and hit the ball hard on the ground. On the bunt, I’m not known for my speed but the third baseman was playing back and I had to lay it down. We are a young team that no one thought much of and it’s really exciting for us to be going to state.”

This is the 39th season of the Illinois High School Coaches Association/Phil Lawler Summer State Tournament. St. Laurence won the summer state championship in 1981.

“A couple of big hits in the first inning got us off to a great start,” said St.Laurence head coach Pete Lotus. “John really settled down and pitched great for us to win his third game of the regional. I can’t say enough about the kids. To have lost so much from this spring and to be going to state is an outstanding achievement. The Phil Lawler Classic is an outstanding tournament at two great venues and we get to play against great competition. I am thrilled that the kids will be able to experience it next week.”

For Chicago Christian (15-4), the tremendous run to state for head coach Eric Brauer’s Knights, fell one-game short. Don’t feel too sorry for the Knights as they should be among the upper-level Class 2A teams in 2015.

JCA Walks Past Sandburg to win Lockport Title

By Drake Skleba
Senior Writer
LOCKPORT - Benefitting from nine walks, five Sandburg errors and four passed balls, Joliet Catholic Academy (15-0) walked past Sandburg 12-5 to win the 2014 Lockport Regional Championship at Ed Flink Field on Thursday night. With the win, the undefeated Hilltoppers will advance for the second time in three years to the Phil Lawler Classic Elite 8. On Monday at Benedictine University in Lisle, the Hilltoppers will meet Prairie Ridge at 4. Prairie Ridge defeated Warren 7-5 to win the Libertyville Regional Championship on Thursday afternoon.

Joliet Catholic Academy scored two in the first inning and added three in the second for a quick 5-0 lead over the Eagles. With future Purdue Boilermaker right-hander Nick Dalesandro on the mound for the Hilltoppers, the large crowd at Ed Flink thought they would be in for a quick night.
In the top of the third, four Hilltopper errors led to five unearned Eagle runs and amazingly the game was tied at 5-5.

In the bottom of the fifth the charitable Eagles returned the favor. JCA scored five times on just two hits to mount an insurmountable 10-5 lead. The Hilltoppers benefitted from three bases on balls and two Sandburg errors in the inning.

After a scoreless fifth, Dalesandro concluded his game-winning performance. Dalesandro allowed no earned runs and seven hits in his five innings of work. Dalesandro struck out eight including the side in the second on just nine pitches.Dalesandro plated a pair of Hilltopper runs with 735 feet of sac-flies.
“It was a team victory,” said Dalesandro. “We made some mistakes tonight but we are a team and we always have each other’s back. I just pitched to my defense and they made some errors but made some great plays behind me as well. On to state on Monday and I will definitely be there.”

Hilltopper closer Mike Quiram finished off the Eagles with two scoreless innings in relief of Dalesandro. Quiram finished the game with a flourish, punching out the final two Eagle batters. Quirm had a big day at the plate as well, with two singles and two bases on balls.

“We played hard and took advantage of their mistakes for a big win,” said Quiram. “I got behind a couple of times at the plate but just hit the ball to right. I was seeing the ball well all night. All I wanted to do is throw strikes and paint the outside corner and it worked. We are going to continue to grind out wins as a team, as we have all summer.”

Joliet Catholic Academy will be gunning for its second IHSBCA/Phil Lawler Summer Classic state championship next week. The Hill won the 1983 IHSBCA State Championship. JCA finished second to Lyons Township in 2012.

“Sometimes after four games in four days, you get games like this,” said JCA head coach Jared Voss. “The kids have played a lot of baseball and this happens. Nick did a good job for us on the mound; unfortunately we left a lot of plays on the field. Mike Quiram has been our closer all summer and did a great job for us tonight in his extended two-innings of work.”

St. Laurence, JCA move on to Elite 8

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