Saturday May 1

 

By Drake Skleba

 

In the Big 12: No.18 Normal West (17-5; 5-0)  made it 13 straight wins as the white-hot Wildcats outslugged Champaign Centennial 13-7 & 14-8 in Champaign on Saturday. In the Big 12 conference opener, junior RHP Kyle Vaughn improved to 6-0 on the mound with the game one victory. Senior 1B Jason Cullen hit a three run-dinger and junior Adam Seifert had three hits and drove in three runs. Seifert (1-0) picked up the win on the mound in the nonconference second game Wildcat win. Junior Erik Sipes homered and had three hits. ISU-bound Brock Stewart had four hits in game two. Vaughn and junior Trey Rogers also chipped in with three hits each. Centennial falls to 13-9 and 5-2 in the Big 12.

 

Bloomington (14-8; 6-1) was ambushed in Danville by the Vikings 8-5 and dropped into second place with the defeat. Senior 3B Dylan Johnson had a pair of triples and three RBI to lead the Purple Raiders in defeat… Normal Community (14-9; 4-3) swept Urbana 5-1 & 5-3.Seniors Colton Anderson (3-1) and Dan Bartosik (4-2) picked up the wins on the mound for the Ironmen.

 

In the Catholic League: No.5 St. Rita’s Arizona State-bound centerfielder Mark Payton led the Mustangs past No. 15 Mt.Carmel 5-4 in a crucial Catholic Blue showdown at Haggerty Field on Saturday.

 

 Payton hit a two-run bomb off of Mount Carmel’s starter, Illinois-bound John Kravetz (3-3) in the first inning to give the ‘Stangs a 2-0 lead. With the game knotted at 4 in the top of the seventh, Payton struck again and launched his seventh home run of the season to give St. Rita (21-3; 10-1 Blue) the lead and the game.

 

St. Rita junior LHP Joe Filomeno (4-1) picked up the win on the mound for the Mustangs with help from senior RHP John Starcevich who picked up the save by shutting down Mt.Carmel (18-6;8-3 Blue). The hard-luck Caravan fell once again by one run in Catholic League action this season. All three of the Caravan’s defeats have been heart-breaking one-run losses. Earlier this season Mt.Carmel fell 5-4 in eight innings to Catholic Blue leader, No.11 Providence and also fell a run short to Catholic White leader No.3 St. Laurence, 7-6. The Caravan honored their fallen teammate Steve Bajenski, who died on August 28, 2009 due to complications from heart surgery. In a pregame ceremony, “Budge” as he was fondly remembered, had his number retired.

 

No. 11 Providence (19-5; 11-0 Blue) defeated Loyola in the Catholic Blue 9-6 on Saturday. Celtic junior 3B Sam Travis homered and had four hits and drove in three, to keep the Celtics a game up on St. Rita in the Catholic Blue. Junior RHP Brandon Magallones (3-2) slammed the door on the Ramblers, firing 5 1/3 shutout innings of relief and stiking out 8 to pick up the win.

 

After knocking of St. Laurence on Thursday, Brother Rice (17-7, 8-3 Blue) was surprised by Fenwick (11-9; 5-6 White) in a Catholic League crossover 2-0 on Saturday. Friar Tyler Sewell fired a two-hit shutout striking out four.

 

In the Catholic White: No.3 St. Laurence (23-2; 11-1 White) moved a step closer to the Vikings fourth White Division crown in five years with a 6-2 win at De La Salle (15-7; 8-4 White ). Viking junior RHP Mike Chimera improved to 5-1 on the mound after-firing a four-hitter at the Meteors. Chimera struck out four. Senior 2B Joe Sadowski hit a three-run homer and senior LF Josh Johnson hit a solo shot and had three hits to pace the Viking attack. The homers were the third of the season for Sadowski and Johnson.

 

No. 7 Downers Grove South (20-5; 11-0) swept away Morton behind arguably the best 1-2 pitching punch in the state. Louisville-bound junior RHP Nick Burdi (5-0) fired a two-hit masterpiece, as the Mustangs defeated Morton and their ace RHP Jeremy Wilson 3-0. Burdi struck out eight. Mustang junior 3B Matt Wivinis had a pair of triples and plated all three Mustang runs. Wilson who threw a complete game falls to 3-4 on the season.

 

In game two, Wivinis continued his assault on Morton pitching. The hard-hitting junior hammered two more triples and had three hits and drove in five to lead DGS to an 8-4 win. Senior RHP Jake Rone fired a complete game victory to improve to 8-0. Junior Jacob Wolf went deep for the West Suburban Gold leaders.

 

No.2 Stevenson (22-1) routed Buffalo Grove 15-3 in a nonconference win on Saturday.

Northwestern-bound senior SS Kyle Ruchim continued his hot hitting, hammering two more home runs and plating six Patriot runs. Earlier in the week Ruchim had another two-run game with seven RBI.

 

In the Metro Suburban, Illiana Christian (15-7; 7-2) evened things atop the MSC with a sweep of Riverside Brookfield (11-10; 7-2) in Lansing on Saturday. The Vikings won 2-1 and 9-2. In game one, the Vikings were led by their 6-foot-4 senior LHP Vince Van Schouwen (3-1), who fired a complete game four hitter at the Bulldogs. Van Schouwen struck out nine. Junior Austin Evenhouse drove home the Viking game winner. In game two, Evenhouse started on the mound for the Vikings and fired a complete game victory to improve to 3-2 on the season. Evenhouse defeated R-B senior LHP Alex Brown (3-3) who had shut the Vikings out 1-0 on Monday in Riverside. Illiana Christian junior Zack Van Beek was a single shy of hitting for the cycle, having homered, doubled and tripled and driving in four runs.

 

In the Central Suburban: Maine South (14-5;8-0) defeated Maine East 11-1 in five innings behind a complete game from junior RHP Will Krug(3-1). Krug struck out four. University of Illinois-bound Ronnie Muck continued his hot-hitting with two hits, including a three-run homer…CSL North leader Maine West (14-6.7-1) defeated Glenbrook South 9-6 to drop Glenbrook South (14-7; 6-2) two back of CSL-South leader Maine South.

 

In the Du Page Valley: Wheaton Warrenville South (11-12, 4-7) stunned Wheaton North 12-7 in the first game of their twin-bill with cross-town rival Wheaton North (19-4; 9-2). Tiger senior second baseman Joey Tedeshi had three hits and a pair of RBI to lead the Tiger attack. Wheaton North bounced back in game two crushing the Tigers 12-0 in five innings. Senior RHP Nick Norder improved to 5-0 on the mound with the complete game shutout. With the first game defeat the Falcons fall two games behind No.4 Naperville Central (20-2, 11-0), who swept a doubleheader against Naperville North (18-4; 8-3) on Saturday.

 

In the East Suburban Catholic: No.16 Carmel (17-4; 8-0) swept past Marist 6-4 and 8-6 as senior first baseman Chris Divarco had quite a day. In game one Divarco hammered two homers and drove in five as the Corsairs rallied past the RedHawks.Junior RHP Daniel Mooney picked up the win and Corsair senior RHP closer Nick Battalini nailed down the save. In game two Divarco had a pair of hits and an RBI as the Corsairs struck late to complete the sweep. Senior CF Derek Jordan went deep for the Corsair game-winner.St.Joseph’s College-bound LHP Cale St. Claire (4-1) picked up the win and Battalini slammed the door on Marist in the bottom of the seventh to pick up another save for the lights-out Corsair closer.

 

No.6 Warren (22-3) was led by their super-sophomore RHP Pat Kenney as the Blue Devils routed Fremd 11-0 in five innings. Kenney allowed one hit and struck out three in his complete game effort. Kenney also blasted his 11^th home run of the season. Blue Devil junior 3B Kevin Colburn went deep twice driving home four as the Devils rolled past the Mid-Suburban League West leaders from Fremd.

 

In the Upstate 8: St. Charles North (20-3; 11-2) swept away Streamwood 2-1 & 5-1 on Saturday. In game one, North Star RHP Jared Shurtleff fired six solid innings allowing one run and struck out six Streamwood hitters, and improved to 6-0 on the season. Heartland Community-College-bound RHP Kevin Borst picked up the save for Shurtleff.

 

In game two, University of Nebraska-bound Ryan Richardson homered and had four hits and junior Jake Bergren hit a two run shot to help junior LHP Paul Waner improved to 4-0 on the season Warner fired a complete game two-hitter striking out 8.

 

More from the Upstate 8: Amazing South Elgin (15-4; 10-3) stayed in the U8C race with a 22-0 and 13-1 blitz of rival Elgin on Saturday. Storm heroes were aplenty on Saturday. Junior Kenny Lowden and senior catcher Kyle Kinyon had 4-for-4 game one performances. Lowden homered and drove in six runs while Kinyon plated a pair. Junior John Menken homered and drove in four. In game two junior Daniel Heine was 3-for-3 with 5 RBI.