By Drake Skleba
Senior Writer

Sunday March 22

NONCONFERENCE

No. 4 St. Rita 1, No. 32 Benet Academy 0 (8 INNINGS)
A classic battle between two of Illinois’ best teams took place at 7740 South Western Avenue on Chicago’s South Side on a frigid Sunday afternoon. With the game scoreless, St. Rita junior Mateo Zunica singled and went to second on a an errant throw to lead off the Mustang bottom of the eighth. After one out, University of Tennessee-bound Tyler Halas was plunked by Redwing pitcher Danny Minik. Michigan State-bound SS Marty Bechina was intentionally walked to load the bases. Up to the plate stepped Esteban Martinez, whose frozen rope to left scored Zunica, making a winner of Connor McAlilly (1-0). St. Rita (4-0) RHP Matt Lenzen and Benet Academy’s Mike Powers hooked up in a classic pitcher’s duel through five innings. Minik (0-1) matched Lenzen with a pair of goose eggs in the sixth and seventh. Powers allowed just two hits in his five shutout innings of work with four strikeouts. Lenzen allowed six hits and had four strikeouts in his seven scoreless innings. McAlilly hung another goose egg on the Redwings in the eighth.   

No. 33 Prospect 7, Lutheran South 4 (MO)
Prospect (1-1) rallied past their opponents from St. Louis, scoring five runs in the bottom of the sixth to erase a 3-2 LS lead and go on to victory in Tampa, Florida on Sunday. The Knights batted around in the sixth. Jake Caviani doubled and Dominican University-bound Mike Piotrowski singled to lead off the inning. Presbyterian University-bound Lucas Karz crushed a ball over the centerfielder’s head for a triple, plating Caviani and Piotrowski, giving the Knights a 4-3 lead. RBI singles from Jack Courtney, Trey Compton and Matt Nadler concluded the five-run Knight explosion.

Maine South 6, No. 28 Carmel 2
Maine South (2-0) cruised past the Corsairs at Lenz Field in Jacksonville. Kyle Zajdel (1-0) threw 5.1 innings of shutout ball, allowing five hits with six strikeouts to pick up the win. David Fleita singled, scored a run, and plated a run to lead the Hawk attack. Caleb DeMarigny was on base three times with two singles and a base on balls. Carmel (1-3) was led by Griffin Norton who singled, tripled and drove home a Corsair run.

Princeville 6, Red Bud 3
Princeville (2-0) trailed the Musketeers 1-0 after four innings, before scoring twice in the fifth to take the lead, 2-1. The Princes exploded for four big runs in the sixth to put away the victory at Lenz Field in Jacksonville. After two out in the fifth, Brandon Crose singled, stole second and scored the tying run on an RBI single from Luke Cokel (2-for-4, R, 3 RBI). Cokel stole second and score the lead run on another clutch-two-out RBI single off the bat of Brett Down. Mitch Janssen went deep with a man on in the sixth, for a 4-1 Princes lead, and Cokel would plate a pair on his booming double, for a 6-1 cushion for Princeville

Princeville 5, No. 43 St. Joseph-Ogden 1
In a battle of two of the top senior pitchers in the state, Princeville’s Bradley-bound Mitchell Janssen (1-0) outdueled St. Joseph-Odens’ EIU-bound Cole Berry. Janssen allowed an unearned run, three hits and had eight strikeouts in his complete-game victory over SJ-O (3-1). With the score tied 1-1, the Princes erupted against Berry in the top of the sixth. Brett Down singled, stole second and scored the lead run on an RBI single from Zach Simmons. Evan Bultemeier singled. Janssen helped himself with a booming two-run triple to give the Princes a 4-1 lead. Janssen would score on a groundout to complete the scoring. 

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