PBR Daily Roundup

May 21

By Drake Skleba

 

Class 2A Regional Championships

Beecher

Chicago Christian (30-7) slipped past Beecher 5-4 in eight innings.

 

Beardstown

Pleasant Plains (32-4) defeated the host Tigers 5-1 behind Cardinal senior hurler Danny Reiser, who went the distance and struck out 10. Senior Cale George had a big double with the bases loaded which drove home a pair of Cardinal runs.

 

Coal City

Wilmington stunned I-8 North champ and hosts Coal City, 14-5.

Wildcat senior Dan Van Duyne homered and had three hits to lead the Wildcat attack.

 

Effingham St. Anthony

Defending Class 2A Champion Teutopolis (28-2) rolled past Sullivan 10-0.

 

Herscher

Herscher (29-4) outslugged Manteno 10-8 to advance to the Reed-Custer Sectional on Thursday. Tiger 6-foot-4 LHP Jordan Ruckman (8-1) picked up the win on the mound and added three hits and three RBI. Junior LHP Matt Webber nailed down the save and had two hits, including a homer and drove in three Tiger runs. Herscher will meet Wilmington on Thursday in Braidwood at 4. Manteno closes out a great season for the Panthers at 23-8.

 

Class 1A Regional Finals

Carrollton Regional

Carrollton (26-1) defeated Hardin-Calhoun 3-0 behind a no-hitter from SIU-bound RHP Sammy Coonrod (9-0). Sammy Coonrod added three hits and two RBI for the Hawks. Younger brother, junior Jimmy Coonrod, had two hits and drove in the other Hawk run. The Hawks will meet Whitehall (North Greene) (12-10) at the Carlinville (Blackburn College) Sectional at 4:30.

 

Nonconference

No. 1 Providence (30-3) slipped past Lockport 6-5 in New Lenox on Saturday. Celtic senior Dan Wetzel hit a grand slam in the third to erase a 3-2 Porter lead. The short-lived Porter lead came off the bat of St. Joseph College-bound 2B Matt Skrzypiec, who hammered a three-run shot in the top of the third.

 

Lockport (22-12) will get another shot at the Catholic Blue when No. 5 Mt. Carmel (26-6) comes a calling to Ed Flink Field in Lockport, Monday at 4:30. The Porters are 1-2 against the powerful Catholic Blue, defeating Brother Rice 8-2 and falling to No.4 St. Laurence 10-2.

 

No. 2 Lyons Township (30-3) blasted Fremd 10-0 in five innings. Senior RHP Zach Remijas (8-0) and sophomore RHP Keith Lehmann combined for a three-hitter at the Vikings. Illinois State-bound Brian Rodemoyer hit a grand slam and Brian Kelly and Tom Walsh went deep with a man on for the West Suburban Silver champs.

 

No. 4 St. Laurence (26-6) blasted Benet Academy 11-1 behind red-hot Viking 3B Mike Chimera and catcher Bryan Villanova. Chimera and Villanova both had three hits and drove home three runs. One of Chimera?s hits left the ball park. University of Illinois-bound RHP Charlie Naso (6-2) fired five shutout innings at the Redwings allowing four hits and striking out seven.

 

The Catholic Blue co-champs open regional play at home on Wednesday at 4:30, against Monday?s Stagg-Eisenhower winner.

 

No. 5 Mt. Carmel (27-6) defeated New Trier 3-1 behind the Caravan?s University of Illinois RHP John Kravetz (9-2). Kravetz was spectacular as he allowed just one hit in his six innings of work. The future Fighting Illini hurler struck out nine Trevian hitters. Caravan sophomore SS Jerry Houston doubled a home a run for the Caravan.

 

No. 8 Glenbrook North (28-3) defeated Libertyville 7-1. 6-foot-5, 210-pound RHP Alex Hemerling (8-1) allowed a run and three hits to lead the Spartans past the Wildcats (19-13). Spartan senior Brett Synek homered and singled and drove home two Spartan runs for the Central Suburban League champs.

 

No. 10 Nazareth (28-5) smashed Hinsdale Central 7-2 behind Roadrunner junior LHP Dom Purprua (8-1). Purpura fired a six-hitter at the Red Devils. Lewis University-bound Roadrunner SS Michael Barajas went deep for the 11^th time this season, with a man on, to break the school record for homers.

 

No. 11 Moline (29-4) split a twin-bill with St. Viator (19-13) in Moline on Saturday. The Maroons took the opener 5-2 but dropped the nightcap 4-3. Lion junior 1B Cosimo Canella and senior 1B Brian Pichardo went deep for the Lions in the game two victory. Lion senior pitcher Andy Bertagna picked up the win.

 

No. 12 Stevenson (26-4) defeated Cary-Grove 4-3 in eight innings. Patriot senior LHP Blake Fiedelman (5-0) picked up the win on the mound for the North Suburban Conference champs. Cary-Grove falls to 23-9.

 

No. 15 Lincoln-Way North (27-3) blasted Shepard 14-4. Phoenix senior 1B Brandon Collins continued to assault the baseball with two hits and three RBI. Phoenix 3B Alex Eaton chipped in with three hits and Steve Snedden plated a pair of Phoenix runs for the Southwest Suburban Red champs.

 

No. 17 Normal West (27-7) lost 3-1 to Oak Forest (22-4) and the Bengals? University of Louisville recruit junior LHP Kyle Funkhouser (9-0). Funkhouser fired a three-hitter at the Big 12 co-champs, striking out nine Wildcats. Wildcat senior Kyle Vaughn had two of the three hits for West. Wildcat sophomore RHP Alex Jefferson (3-2) suffered the loss on the mound.

 

No. 25 Mundelein (26-6) defeated Highland Park 5-3 behind senior Luis Carrasco, who had two hits, including a two-run triple to lead the Mustangs past the Giants.

 

Lemont (22-7) outslugged Stagg 11-9 behind a three hit-six RBI day from Indian University of Illinois-bound Josh Ferry.

 

Naperville Central (20-12) defeated Barrington 12-2 in five innings on Saturday. Redhawk junior RHP Ian Lewandowski (8-2) fired four scoreless innings on the mound against the Broncos. With his bat, Lewandowski had two hits, including a two-run homer.

 

Brother Rice (12-14) smashed Andrew 8-1 behind junior RHP Ryan Koziol. Koziol fired four shutout innings at the T-Bolts on the mound and had two hits and three RBI at the plate.

 

Hersey (19-14) swept away the Fox Valley Conference champs from McHenry (24-11) by 8-7 and 11-7 scores. The Huskies first game triumph was in nine innings. Huskie Aaron DeGeorge won the opener with a blast in the ninth. In game two, Huskie Coastal Carolina-bound Joe Perricone went deep twice  and Hersey?s Tyler Perkowitz hit a solo shot against the Warriors.

 

Lincoln-Way East (21-10) cooled off red-hot Joliet Catholic Academy 10-0 behind a four-hitter from Griffin hurler Mark Chemello (7-1). JCA falls to 21-9.

 

Lincoln-Way West (18-12) defeated Crete-Monee 7-5 as Warrior junior RHP  Matt Sutor improved to 3-0 on the mound.

 

Normal Community (22-11) slipped past Bradley-Bourbonnais 8-7 on Saturday. Ironman senior Brent Turner hit a two-run bomb and drove in three ironmen runs. Junior Eric Fight continued his torrid hitting with three more hits and senior Brandon Taylor chipped in with two RBI for the Big 12 co-champs.