By Drake Skleba

 

JOLIET ? After battling through two and a half months of wind and rain and sleet and snow, the 2011 Illinois high school baseball season will come down to one game.

 

No. 1 vs. No. 2.

 

No. 1 Providence Catholic (37-3) made the clock strike midnight on the Cinderella-run of Prospect in the first Class 4A semifinal at Silver Cross Field, 9-1.

 

Then No. 2 Lyons Township (36-4) ousted No. 6 Mt. Carmel 4-1 behind another stellar pitching performance from Lion senior right-hander Zach Remijas (11-0). Remijas pitched into the seventh, allowing one run and five hits. Lion sophomore right-handed closer Keith Lehmann nailed down the last three outs of the game to pick up the save.

 

With the Celtic and Lion victories, the top-two ranked teams in the state of Illinois will battle for the Class 4A State Championship around 5 p.m. Saturday.

 

The West Suburban Silver Division champion Lyons stuck for two runs in the first inning against Mt. Carmel (34-8). Valparaiso-bound Lion SS Spencer Mahoney singled to lead off the Lion first. Junior second baseman Steve Heilenbach ripped a double with Mahoney stopping at third. Mahoney would score on a ground ball off the bat of Lion ISU-bound first baseman Brian Rodemoyer, which was booted by the Caravan second baseman. Later in the inning, Heilenbach would score on a sac-fly by Penn-bound DH Connor Cuff.

 

Mt. Carmel?s University of Illinois-bound starting pitcher John Kravetz (11-4) and Remijas would put goose eggs up on the board over the next four innings. Remijas (11-0) was especially tough with runners on base.

 

In the third inning, the Caravan would get their first two hitters on base on a Lion miscue and a single by leadoff man Chris Sujka. Remijas would retire the next three hitters to get out of trouble.

 

In the fourth, the Caravan threatened again with two on and two out, but Remijas came up with a huge strikeout to end the Caravan threat.

 

In the fifth, the Caravan had runners on second and third and two out. With the huge Caravan contingent screaming for a hit, the crafty Remijas induced Caravan junior Tyler Laurish to bounce back to the mound and turn the Caravan away, again.

 

?I?m not an over-powering pitcher,? said Remijas. ?I changed speeds and threw a good curveball tonight. I made some good pitches with men on base.?

 

LT would pick up a couple of huge insurance runs after two out in the sixth. Lehmann doubled home Rodemoyer (2-for-3, run) and the Lion sophomore would score on another clutch two-out single by Nick Pett.

 

Sujka led off the Caravan seventh with a walk. Lyons Township head coach George Ushela opted to go to his closer, catcher Lehmann. Remijas received a thunderous ovation from the large LT crowd.

 

Lehmann retired the first two hitters he faced before giving up an RBI single to Caravan junior first baseman Sam Kint. Lehmann, one of the top prospects in the Class of 2013, struck out the final Caravan hitter to set up the No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown tomorrow evening. Despite catching the entire game, Lehmann?s fastball registered at 86-88 mph, topping at 89. His 72-74 mph curveball also showed late bite.

 

?Zach Remijas did what he has done for us all year,? said Ushela. ?That?s why he is 11-0. We hit the ball well tonight. The Catholic League is very good but the West Suburban Conference had five schools in the Sweet 16. The quality of our conference helped with our great tournament run.?

 

No. 6 Mt. Carmel will battle Prospect (26-9) for third place at 3 on Saturday afternoon.

 

?Our guys played hard,? said Mt. Carmel head coach Brian Hurry. ?Remijas was tough when he had to be. He mixed his pitches well. We just couldn?t get the big hit against him.?