By Drake Skleba

 

NAPERVILLE- Led by senior catcher Jimmy Frankos and junior closer Jesus Saavedra, Maine South hung on to defeat St. Viator 5-4 in the final opening round game of the 2011 Phil Lawler/IHSBCA State Tournament finals. At 9 am, head coach Bill Milano?s Hawks blanked Central Suburban League South Division rival Niles West 5-0 to win the Palatine Regional Championship game and advance to the Elite 8.

 

The Hawks hopped on their bus for their Elite 8 opening round 3 o?clock game with St. Viator.

 

Marian Catholic, Neuqua Valley and Prairie Ridge advanced to the winner?s bracket with Maine South in other opening-round action on Monday.

 

St. Viator (14-10) also had a 9 am regional championship game at Lake Park. The Lions defeated Schaumburg 4-1.

 

Maine South (17-10) jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead behind RBI singles from senior DH Keenan Kelly and Frankos (3-for-4, BB, 2B 2 RBI). St. Viator closed to 3-2 after three innings on RBI singles from Mike McGrath and Joe Rossi.

 

Maine South picked up a pair of runs in the fourth on another RBI single from Frankos and a booming RBI double from Notre Dame-bound CF Kyle Richardson.

 

?I was really seeing the ball well at the plate today,? said Frankos. ?I waited back really well on a couple of curve balls and had a great day.?

 

The Lions answered with a pair of runs off Maine South starting and winning pitcher junior Mike Virgilio to close to 5-4 after five. Lion senior1B Cosimo Canella singled home a run in the two-run fifth.

 

Enter Jesus Saavedra. The junior would fire two hitless innings of relief to nail down his first save of the summer. Jesus made it interesting, plunking three Lion batsmen, two in the bottom of the seventh. Along with a Hawk miscue, Saavedra proceeded to strike out the No. 3 & 4 hitters in the Lion lineup with the sacks full of Lions. Jesus Saves!

 

?It was my first save of the year. The pressure was really on in the seventh. I was happy to come up with the big strikeouts to end the game.?

 

Jesus? brother, senior SS Rocky Saavedra, had a 3-for-4 day at the plate for the Hawks.

 

St. Viators? Brian Wilhite added a pair of hits for the Lions.

 

?We pitched well today and played defense,? said Milano. ?Jimmy Frankos is our leader and did a great job at the plate and behind the plate. Jesus was really tough in relief for us and St. Viator battled us. A good win over a fine team and it?s great to move on.?

 

Maine South will meet Marian Catholic (16-9) in a winner?s bracket game at 12:30 at Benedictine University in Lisle. St. Viator will meet Machesney Park Harlem (18-2) in a loser?s bracket battle at Benedictine at 10 am.

 

Neuqua Valley 6 St. Joseph 2

LISLE- Neuqua Valley (20-8) rolled past St. Joseph 6-2 in an opening round game at Benedictine University. Wildcat senior Nick Blackburn (2-0) pitched and hit the ?Cats into a 12:30 winner?s bracket game on Tuesday against Prairie Ridge, at North Central College in Naperville.

 

Blackburn fired a six-hit masterpiece at the Chargers, striking out 10. Blackburn helped himself with a clutch two-run single in the Wildcat?s five-run third inning explosion.

 

?I was able to throw strikes and stay ahead in the count,? said Blackburn. ?My defense helped me out with some fine plays. I didn?t hit the ball hard on my two-run single but it got the job done.?

 

Wildcat juniors Matt Wollnik got the big Wildcat third started with an RBI single to give the ?Cats a 2-0 lead. Blackburn made it 4-0 with his single and junior CF Jeff Evak (2-for-3, 2 RBI) singled home a pair to make it 6-0.

 

St. Joseph (19-5) broke through against Blackburn in the sixth. Charger senior 2B Stephen Scatassa and starting pitcher Trayvon Johnson had RBI singles to bring the Chargers to 6-2. Blackburn picked up his ninth and tenth strikeouts in the game in the seventh.

 

Wildcat junior 1B Cody Coll had a single and plated the first Wildcat run with a sac-fly. Purdue-bound senior CF Jack Amaro had two hits for the Wildcats

 

Neuqua Valley associ te head coach John Fumagalli led the Wildcats to victory in place of Wildcat head coach Robin Renner, who is vacationing in Hawaii.

 

?We were a little fortunate today. Some days you hit the ball hard and they?re outs and other days, like today, you don?t hit the ball hard and they drop in,? said Fumagalli. ?I?d rather be lucky than good. Nick Blackburn really battled for us today on the mound.?

 

St. Joseph will meet Lincoln-Way North in a loser?s bracket game at 10 at North Central College in Naperville.

 

Prairie Ridge 4, Lincoln-Way North 2

LISLE - Prairie Ridge (36-20) rallied for the Wolves 36^th win of the summer, defeating Lincoln-Way North 4-2 in an opening round game at Benedictine University in Lisle. With no varsity players involved in travel ball this summer, Wolves head coach Glen Pecoraro had his complete squad on weekends all summer and the Wolves played doubleheaders every day. Whew!

 

In Monday?s thrilling come-from-behind win the Wolves tied the game at 2-2 in the fifth on junior CF Jordan Getzelman?s sac-fly. Getzelman had a perfect day at the plate with a walk and a single and a pair of stolen bases. In the bottom of the sixth, three Lincoln-Way North errors led to the winning runs behing scored.

 

Senior C Matt Krenz singled to open up the fateful sixth. A botched play at second on Wolve senior 1B George Frost?s sac-bunt put two on and nobody out for senior RF Nick Samuels. Samuel hit a topper to third for an infield hit and two runners scored when the Phoenix third baseman fired the ball down the right field line.

 

?We played a good close game today,? said Pecoraro. ?2-2 in the sixth and we put the ball in play and they didn?t execute and we came away with the victory.

Tyler Tennant did a great job in relief for us in tight spots.?

 

Senior LHP Tyler Tennant fired three scoreless innings in relief of Wolves 6-foot-3, 195 pound LHP Lucas Keller. Keller allowed just two runs and three hits in his four-inning stint.

 

?We played our hearts out today,? said Tennant. ?We played small-ball to get this win today. I started out a little rough but settled in to pitch well and pick up the win.?

 

Wolve junior Brandon Klendworth had an RBI single for PR.

 

Phoenix senior 3B Jack Troike doubled home a run for the Phoenix and senior 2B Andy Ricker added an RBI single in the Phoenix two-run fourth inning which put the Phoenix up 2-1 after four. Senior Joe Cairo was the tough-luck loser on the mound for L-W North.

 

Lincoln-Way North (17-3) will meet St. Joseph at 10 am on Tuesday morning at North Central College in Naperville.

 

Marian Catholic 5, Machesney Park Harlem 2

Western Illinois-bound RHP Robert Nunn fired a five-hit gem to lead the upstart Spartans to a 5-2 victory over Machesney Park Harlem (18-2). The 6-foot-4, 180 pound Nunn used his fine defense to shutdown the hard-hitting Huskies from the Rockford-area, striking out only two in his complete-game masterpiece.

 

The Spartans have now added NIC-10 power Harlem to their already impressive list of victims in the 2011 Lawler Classic. To win the Richards Regional the Spartans outlasted Catholic Blue powers St. Laurence 11-8 in the semis and Mt. Carmel 9-8, in the championship game.

 

Marian Catholic could only muster two hits against Harlem starting pitcher Cody Dietz. Spartan junior SS Eric Callaghan put the Spartans up 2-1 with a clutch two-out two-run double in the Spartan fifth.

 

The Spartans would add a run in the sixth and two in the seventh to bust open this contest. Spartan junior C Pat Swanson had the other Spartan hit a single in the seventh.