Monday, May 3

 

By Drake Skleba

 

In the Catholic League: De La Salle (16-7; 9-4 White) stunned No. 10 Providence (19-6; 11-1 Blue) when the Meteors exploded for five runs in the bottom of the seventh to upend the Celtics 5-4 in Bronzeville on Monday. With the defeat, Providence falls into a first place tie in the Catholic Blue with No.5 St. Rita. The two Catholic League powers meet in New Lenox on Wednesday. The PBR’s Drake Skleba will be on hand for the huge Catholic League Blue showdown.

 

No. 5 St. Rita (22-3; 11-1) crushed Loyola 9-1 in a Catholic Blue contest. NIU-bound LHP Anthony Andres improved to 7-0 on the mound for the Mustangs with a solid six-inning performance against the Ramblers. Senior CF Mark Payton went deep again for the Mustangs, his eight of the season, and the Mustang dynamic duo of junior Joe Filomeno and sophomore Stefano Belmonte continued their torrid hitting. Both Filomeno and Belmonte had three hits and drove in three Mustang runs.

 

Brother Rice’s (18-7; 9-3) Koziol brothers were at it again on Monday. LSU-bound Kevin Koziol blasted a three-run bomb in the top of the seventh to break up an 11-11 tie and lead the Crusaders to a much-needed 14-11 win over St. Ignatius. Koziol finished with four RBI and received help from younger brother, sophomore Ryan, who had four hits and drove home three runs for the two-time defending Catholic Blue champs.

 

Fenwick (12-9; 6-6 White), after shutting out Brother Rice on Saturday, did it again to snake-bitten No.16 Mount Carmel, 1-0. Junior John McGann fired a complete game six-hitter at the Caravan. Junior Tyler Sewall had a pair of hits for the Friars. The loss was a big blow for Mt. Carmel (18-7, 8-4 Blue), as the Caravan fall three back of Blue co-leaders Providence and St. Rita.

 

In the Big Northern East showdown between Burlington Central (23-1; 6-0) and Hampshire (9-8; 4-1), B-C crushed the upstart Whip-Purrs, 17-2, behind a complete game performance from junior RHP Nick Hahn, who improved to 7-0. Hahn homered along with sophomore Tanner Scott and senior catcher Austin Jarvis. For Jarvis, the blast was the 11^th of the season for the former Porsche Player of the Week.

 

Junior Sam Klein had a 5-for-5 day and senior Zach Romando and Scott each drove in five Rocket runs. The win was the Rockets’ 17th consecutive since suffering their only loss of the season on March 30, 4-1, at Centralia.

 

In the Interstate 8 North: Lisle’s (17-7; 7-3) Clemson-bound RHP John Surber led the Lions to a 12-1 five-inning rout of Westmont. Surber improved to 5-0 on the mound with a complete game performance. Surber struck out 9. Surber took care of the offensive side of things for the Lions with a 4-for-4 day, including his eighth homer of the year and drove home a pair of RBI for the Lions…

 

Seneca (9-17, 3-8) senior T.J. Lindsey helped out Lisle by unloading on Coal City (13-11; 6-5).  Lindsey had three hits, including a home run and drove in seven Fighting Irish runs as Seneca stunned Coal City 14-13 in eight innings. Lindsey picked up the win on the mound.

 

Plano (7-20, 1-10) stunned I-8 North leader Sandwich 6-2 behind junior RHP Alex Ramirez. Ramirez fired a complete-game masterpiece at the division leading Indians, striking out 10. Reaper junior Vance Smith had a pair of hits and RBI to lead the Reapers to their first I-8 victory.

 

Interstate-8 South leader Herscher’s (16-7; 9-1) 5-foot-11 155 pound senior Brock Pfeiffer had a pretty fair day on Monday in the Tigers 16-6 romp over Wilmington. All the hard-hitting senior, who aptly wears No.1 on his Tiger jersey, did Monday, was go 5-for-5 and hammer three homers and drive in nine runs.

 

No. 2 Stevenson (23-1) crushed Evanston 11-1 in five innings in a nonconference affair on Monday. Senior 1B Patrick Wilson had four hits, including a homer and a pair of doubles, and drove home three Patriot runs in the rout. Senior 2B Teddy Heiser also went deep for the Patriots and drove in a pair. Junior LHP Tyler Radke fired a complete game, striking out nine Wildkit hitters and improving to 5-0.

 

In the Suburban Christian Blue, Marmion (14-7; 10-2) routed St. Francis 15-2.

 

Marian Central Catholic (17-6; 9-3) senior LHP Dave Luczak fired a complete game four hitter in leading the Hurricanes past Montini 4-2. Luczak struck out four and improved to 4-1 on the season.MCC and Montini will meet today in Woodstock.

 

In the Suburban Christian Gold: Immaculate Conception (21-9.10-3) was led by Knight junior catcher Jose Godinez. Godinez hit for the cycle as the Knights blew out Aurora Central Catholic 11-1 in six innings. Senior LHP Kevin Nutley improved to 4-2 on the mound for the division leading Knights.

 

Aurora Christian (15-10; 7-5) struck for three runs in the bottom of the sixth to stun Wheaton Academy 6-5 on Monday. Eagle 6-foot-1 sophomore Mitch Holtz had two hits and drove home three Eagle runs. Sophomore Bobby Kutzendorf improved to 4-2 on the mound with the win as Aurora Christian kept pace with division leading I-C.

 

In the topsy-turvy Mid-Suburban League, Palatine’s left-handed hitting sophomore Trey Cannon bombarded MSL East leader Hersey (17-6.6-3) in a crossover affair on Monday. The hard-hitting sophomore drove home five Pirate runs in leading Palatine (12-10; 5-3) past Hersey 12-11…

 

West leader Fremd (12-9; 7-2) helped Hersey out by defeating Buffalo Grove 12-8. Junior Jim McGlade hammered a grand slam homer to lead the Vikings past the Bison (12-10; 5-4). Viking junior lefty Kurt Kaufman picked up the win in relief…

 

Barrington’s John A. Logan J.C. recruit 6-foot-4 RHP Sean Buchholz (4-2) fired a complete game five-hitter as the Broncos routed defending MSL champion Rolling Meadows 9-2. Buchholz struck out 11 Mustangs and received offensive support from junior SS Jack Scheffler, who plated three Bronco runs. Barrington improves to 14-11 and 5-4 in the MSL West.

 

In the South Suburban Red, Richards (18-8, 10-2) stayed in the hunt with SSC-Red leader Shepard, as the Bulldogs rolled past Evergreen Park 9-1 on Monday. Richards received a complete game, nine-strikeout performance from UIC-bound LHP Jon Ryan. The multi-sport star Ryan improved to 5-1 on the mound for the Bulldogs. Bulldog 3B senior Benjamin Dafgard launched his 11^th home run of the season in the Bulldog romp.

 

In the South Suburban Blue: Lemont (14-7; 9-2) pulled within a half game of Blue Division leader Oak Forest (15-6; 10-2) with a 13-3 pasting of Bremen. Senior RHP Kyle Cyr improved to 5-2 on the mound for the Indians. Junior Dan Lombardo tripled home a pair of runs for the Indians. Cyr had a good day at the plate as well with three hits.

 

In the Jackie Robinson South: Simeon (18-6; 10-2) and two-time defending Public League Champions Whitney Young (14-10; 10-2) both won on Monday and grabbed a share of the Jackie Robinson South title.

 

Simeon sophomore LHP Shane Brown improved to 4-1 on the season in leading the Wolverines past Kenwood 4-3.The super-soph fanned 10 and allowed but one earned run. Blake Hickman  had a pair of hits for the victorious Wolverines.

 

Whitney Young snuck past Morgan Park 7-6 on Monday behind the booming bats of sophomore 3B Tim Sonnenfeldt and senior Ynabon Cabrera-Loos. Sonnenfeldt launched a three-run homer and Cabrera-Loos had a solo shot to lead the Dolphins to victory.

 

Lockport (16-7) was led by their red-hot junior second baseman Matt Skrzypiec in a 4-2 nonconference win over Oak Forest on Monday. Skrzyypiec hammered a three-run homer to lead the Porters to victory.