Monday, March 29 Roundup

By Drake Skleba

 

No. 2 St. Rita rolled past Richards 7-5 behind the booming bats of junior Joey Filomeno and sophomore Stefano Belmonte. Filomeno and Belmonte each hammered their second home runs of the season and Filomeno evened up his record at 1-1 on the mound. St. Rita improves to 4-1 on the season.

 

No. 3 Sandburg senior RHP Ryan Billo (2-0) won his second game of ’10, defeating Oak Lawn 5-2. The Evansville recruit allowed a pair of runs and three hits while striking out seven Spartans in 6 1/3 innings of work.

 

No.6 Harrisburg was led by University of Illinois-bound senior SS Reid Roper. In a 9-3 victory at No. 30 Edwardsville, Roper doubled twice and hammered two solo homers to lead the Bulldogs to 7-0 record. Earlier in the day, Roper went 3-for-3 with a homer and four RBIs to lead the Bulldogs past Chicago Simeon 11-0. Freshman RHP Ryne Roper (2-0) fired six shutout innings to pick up the win. Brother Reid Roper has hit safely in 11 of his last 12 appearances at the plate. The future Fighting Illini has four homers and four doubles in those dozen at bats.

 

No. 7 Stevenson improved to 2-0 with a 6-4 win over Prospect. Senior RHP Merrick McGrady (1-0) picked up the win on the mound for the Patriots. Senior RHP/SS Kyle Ruchim picked up his first save of the season. Ruchim added two hits and an RBI.

 

No. 8 Providence cruised past Marist 10-1 to improve to 5-1. Junior Sam Travis was 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs to lead the Celtic attack. St.Rita transfer senior Dan Potempa continued his hot-hitting with a homer and 3 RBIs. Starting pitcher junior Brandon Magallones (1-0) allowed a run and a hit over four innings to pick up the win for the Celtics.

 

No. 10 Warren improved to 4-0 with a pair of wins downstate. Junior pitchers Pat Oliver and Ryan Kennedy picked up victories over Vernon Hills and Marion. In the 10-0 win over Vernon Hills Oliver drove home a pair of runs. Kennedy struck out six in three scoreless innings of work in a 13-0 win over Marion. Tim Bodine, Pat Colburn and Mike Herrmann each drove home a pair of runs for the Blue Devils.

 

No.15 Mt. Carmel (4-1) blasted Washington 15-1.

 

No. 17 St. Laurence rode the arm and bat of junior Kyle Wood to a 3-2 win over Stagg. The Purdue-recruit allowed two hits and struck out seven in 5 2/3 innings on the mound to improve to 2-0. Wood also hammered a clutch two run double for the Vikings. 6-foot-3 senior closer, John Rafferty, slammed the door on the Chargers with 1 1/3 innings of relief, striking out 3. St.Laurence improves to 5-0.

 

No. 18 Stanford Olympia fell to Metamora 4-2.

 

No. 26 Minooka improved to 3-1 with an 11-6 win over Lincoln-Way East. Texas University-bound RHP Mike Foltynewicz improved to 2-0 on the mound for the Indians. Foltynewicz allowed two unearned runs and three hits in three innings of work. He struck out one and walked one. Junior Dakota Brown drove in four runs and was a home run short of the cycle for the Indians.

 

No. 27 Lemont (1-2) was stunned by Bolingbrook 10-5.

 

No. 29 Grayslake Central (3-1) split a pair of games at Disneyland in Orlando, Florida.The Rams lost to Elizabeth Forward (Pa.) 3-2 and bounced back against another Pennsylvania squad, Shipley, routing the Pennsylvanians 12-2.Senior RHP Matt Murphy (2-0) picked up the win against Shipley. Junior Derek Idstein had two hits and a pair of RBIs against Shipley.

 

No. 30 Edwardsville (4-1) defeated Chicago Simeon 8-4 behind a 3-for-3 day by senior 3B Michael Failoni. Adam Meyers and Zach Sedlacek had a pair of hits and RBIs for the Tigers. Winning pitcher Bryce Cantrell (1-0) threw four shutout innings in relief to pick up the win. Later in the day the Tigers fell to No.6 Harrisburg 9-3. Failoni had two hits, including his first home run of the season. Failoni is hitting .643 to lead the Tigers.

 

No.34 Waubonsie Valley improved to 1-1 with a 16-1 win over West Aurora….The Warriors scored 11 runs in the first inning…..Junior Harry Vickers was 3-for-3…..

 

No. 35 Normal West (2-3) fell 7-6 to Limestone. Seniors 1B Jason Cullen and C Jason Birlingmair homered for the Wildcats. Limestone (4-1) squeezed past No. 35 Normal West behind the booming bat of sophomore Robbie “Goose” Gossmeyer. The hard-hitting second baseman launched a pair of two-run blasts to lead the Rockets to victory. Senior 1B Connor Webster also had a two-run homer for the Rockets.

 

No. 36 Rock Falls improved to 4-1 with a 7-0 whitewash of Freeport. Junior Jake Junis and senior Trevin Hippen each drove in a pair of runs and Hippen picked up his second victory on the mound for the Rockets. Hippen struck out eight and allowed five hits in six innings.

 

Marian Catholic (2-2) defeated Bishop McNamara 10-0 behind sophomore left-handed pitcher Brett Lilek. The 6-foot-3 Lilek fired a five-inning no-hitter while striking out 11 Fighting Irish hitters. Lilek is currently ranked No. 1 in the Class of 2012 by the Prep Baseball Report. Lilek improves to 2-0 for 2010.

 

Hersey (5-0) defeated Notre Dame 4-0 behind a one-hitter by senior RHP Steve Danilak (IPFWU). Danilak (2-0) gave up a leadoff double in the bottom of the seventh for the only Don hit.

 

St. Charles East improved to 3-0 with a 13-4 romp of Dundee-Crown for new head coach Dave Haskins, formerly of Prairie Ridge…

 

Burlington Central’s (5-0) senior catcher Austin Jarvis had three hits, including a home run and drove in four runs to lead the Rockets past DeKalb 9-0. The homer was the fourth of the season for Jarvis, who earned The Porsche Exchange Player of the Week honors.

 

Belleville East (5-1) rolled past Trenton-Wesclin 11-1. Lancer senior first baseman Derek Steiner (Lincoln College) went 4-for-4 with a homer and three RBI.

 

Nashville (6-0) remained perfect behind an 11 strikeout performance by Hornet pitcher Dillon Meier, as the Hornets crushed New Athens 11-1 in five innings. Brett Warchol hit a two-run homer for the undefeated Hornets.