Class 3A Final Four Preview
June 8-9, 2012

By Drake Skleba

In 2011, the amazing Knights of Kaneland shocked the state by routing Oak Forest 11-3 and taking the Class 3A state championship trophy back to Maple Park. This year a new champion will be crowned about 2 p.m. on Saturday at Silver Cross Field in Joliet.

La Salle-Peru, Triad High School of Troy, Nazareth Academy of La Grange Park and Cinderella Marian Catholic of Chicago Heights make up this year’s Class 3A Final 4.

Will the mighty Knights of Triad take the trophy back to the Metro-East area of St. Louis? How about La Salle-Peru’s beloved head coach Bill Booker’s Cavaliers. In a stunning decision last month the La Salle-Peru school board refused to extend the contract of the 20-year L-P head coach. The Cavaliers, rallying behind their coach, have destroyed their five tournament opponents by a combined 42-1 score.

Maybe the mighty East Suburban Catholic Conference will take home the trophy? Nazareth Academy and Marian Catholic will face off in Semifinal 2 on Friday, guaranteeing the ESCC of a member being in the championship game Saturday afternoon.

Class 3A Semifinal

Friday, 10 a.m.

Triad (32-8) vs. La Salle-Peru (33-6)

Troy Triad - Representing the Metro-East section of St. Louis, the Knights are the “big boppers” of the Class 3A Final Four teams. Winners of the always tough Mississippi Valley Conference, Triad boasts one of the top-hitting trios in the state.

The Knights are led by their senior C Dylan Johnson, who has hit at a torrid .449 clip with three homers and 48 RBI. Junior 1B Keaton Wright has plated a team-high 49 and his four bombs lead the Knights to go along with his .426 BA. Senior

Andy Range has homered and drove home 37 ribbies and his hitting at a robust .402 clip.

On the mound, the Cahokia Conference champions are led by senior ace RHP Ty Lewis (10-1), who has a 2.19 ERA. Junior RHP Lucas Infante has been the Knights solid No. 2 with an 8-1 record and a 2.66 ERA. 6-foot-4 junior RHP Jordan Felax (5-3) leads the Knight staff with a 1.95 ERA.

This is the Knights first trip to state and head coach Jesse Bugger is 132- 57 in his fifth year at the Madison County school.

La Salle-Peru - As stated above, L-P has terrorized the Class 3A field thus far to a tune of 42-1 in the Cavaliers’ five tournament games. The Cavaliers are led by their 6-foot-2, 220 pound ace RHP Mike Lynch. Lynch has been perfect with his 12-0 mark and miniscule 0.53 ERA. Lynch has 89 strikeouts in his 77 innings of work.

Sophomore RHP Noah Lamboley (10-1) has emerged as ace No. 2 for the Cavs. His 0.77 ERA trails Lynch by only 0.22. Lamboley has 88 K’s in his 78 innings of work.

Senior RHP John Hiester (5-1) checks in with a 2.41 ERA has been a solid No. 3 for L-P. Hiester is the team’s leadoff man. On May 4 in a game with Streator, he was plunked three times. The third time was the painful charm and the 55^th in his career, to set an Illinois record for career HBP’s.

The Northern Illinois Big 12 West champion Cavaliers are led at the plate by Western Iowa-bound C Cody Booker. Booker has hammered the baseball at a .452 clip with 13 doubles and 30 RBI. Senior Casey Huebbe has plated 27 with his .345 BA. Senior Levi Ericson has driven home 25 and hit at a .314 clip this season.

This is the fifth trip to state for L-P. In 2009, under Booker, the Cavaliers finished fourth. Booker is 374-264-5 in his 20^th season at the helm of the La Salle County school.

Semifinal 2

Friday, Noon

Nazareth Academy (30-9) vs. Marian Catholic (23-17)

Nazareth Academy - For head coach Lee Milano and his staff, Joliet’s Silver Cross Field will be familiar territory having led the Roadrunners to a fourth place finish in 2011. The Roadrunners are led by their senior ace LHP Dominic Purpura. Purpura is 8-1 on the mound with an outstanding 1.43 ERA. Purpura can hit too as evidenced by his team-leading .375 average with 12 ribbies. 

Miami of Ohio University-bound Ryan Marske has been the big run-producer for the Roadrunners in 2012. Marske is hiting .364 with, 11 doubles, three homers and 30 RBI. Marske is also 3-2 on the mound for Nazareth.

Sophomore Tim DalPorto has 11 doubles and has plated 25 for the ‘Runners with a gaudy .359 average. 6-foot-4, 210 pound sophomore RHP Jake Bartels has emerged as a dual-threat for Nazareth this season. Bartels is 7-2 on the mound with a 2.01 ERA. Bartels is hitting .355 with 11 doubles and 20 RBI.

This is the second trip to state for the Roadrunners having finished in fourth, under Milano in 2011. Milano is 301-163 in his 13^th season at the Cook County school.

Belated congrats to Lee on win No. 300 in the Glenbard South Sectional Championship game. The Roadrunners defeated St. Joseph 7-4 on June 2.

Marian Catholic - Marian Catholic isn’t really the rags-to-riches story that they have become. We at the PBR had the Spartans picked No. 8 in the state in our 2012 Preseason Issue. We had MC picked right behind JCA in the mighty ESCC. With Arizona State-bound RHP Brett Lilek, University of Iowa-bound Devin Pickett and Western Illinois University-bound RHP Robert Nunn, big things were expected for the Spartans.

It didn’t happen, at least initially. The Spartans struggled in the ESCC, finishing a paltry 5-13. What did happen was a thrilling 7-5 Lincoln-Way West Sectional Semifinal victory over Oak Forest and University of Louisville-bound RHP Kyle Funkhouser. The crowning moment came on Monday behind senior LHP Ben Santori’s three-hit shutout of highly-ranked Simeon 1-0 in eight innings in the Standard Bank Stadium Super-Sectional on Monday.

Lilek singled home Pickett with the eventual game-winner, in the top of the eighth to dispose of Simeon on Monday. The future Sun Devil is 6-4 on the mound with a 2.43 ERA. Lilek has fanned 78 in his 55 innings pitched this year. At the plate Lilek is .303 with one homer and 21 RBI.

Junior 3B Brad Bohlen leads the Spartans with 29 RBI and has a .283 average. Pickett has plated 20 with a .274 clip. Senior CF Rob Cifelli leads the Spartans with a .320 clip and has swiped an amazing 53 bases this spring.

Santori is 3-2 on the mound with a 2.67 ERA and Spartan junior RHP Rob Wasso has pitched well for MC, with a 5-3 mark and a 2.20 ERA.

This is the first trip for the Spartans to state. Head coach Phil Wail is 63-85 in his fourth season at the Cook County school.