Saturday May 8

 

By Drake Skleba

 

In Big 12 action on Saturday, Bloomington (18-9; 7-1) swept Champaign Centennial, 15-3, in the conference opener and 7-5 in the nonconference nightcap. Purple Raider senior Ryne Dicken drove home six runs in the Big 12 opener and was the winning pitcher in the nonconference nightcap.

 

Senior Derek Gliwa (5-2) struck out 11 Charger hitters in the Purple Raider romp. Dicken improved to 6-0 on the mound in the game two win. Bloomington, who trails Normal West (21-6; 7-0) by one half game hosts the Wildcats in a Big 12 showdown on Tuesday at Bloomington. 

 

In the Chicago Catholic Blue, No.10 Providence (23-7; 14-1 Blue) routed No.5 St. Rita 18-7 to sweep their series with St. Rita and move one step closer to the Catholic Blue crown. Providence junior RHP Brandon Magallones (4-2) was lights out in picking up the win on the mound for the Celtics. Magallones fanned nine in his five-inning stint.

 

Magallones struck out the side in the Rita third, fanning the heart of St. Rita’s potent middle of the lineup. Celtic junior first baseman Collin McEnerey and junior catcher Dan Potempa plated three Celtic runs to lead the offensive assault on the fifth-ranked Mustangs (23-5; 12-3)

 

Brother Rice (20-8; 12-3) stayed in the hunt as sophomore Ryan Koziol hammered a three-run bomb and drove in four Crusader runs in a 15-7 Crusader romp of Loyola. On Monday, the Crusaders travel to New Lenox to face Blue Division leading Providence.

 

Edwardsville (18-7) stunned No. 8 Chatham Glenwood. In the Edwardsville Tiger Classic at Edwardsville High School, the host Tigers exploded for seven runs in the fourth inning and defeated No.8 Chatham Glenwood 10-3 on Saturday. Senior 1B Tim Messer homered and had three hits and three RBI to lead the Tigers.

 

Senior Tyler Mikrut chipped in with two hits and two RBI making a winner of Tiger starting and winning Bill McFarland (4-0). Edwardsville defeated Highland in a wild tournament finale 18-17.

 

Chatham Glenwood (19-4) defeated Joliet 7-6 in nine innings to finish second to Edwardsville in the Tiger Classic.

 

In the DuPage Valley, No.4 Naperville Central (23-4; 14-1) and No.13 Naperville North (22-5; 12-3) kept pace as the Redhawks and Huskies completed series sweeps of Wheaton North (20-7; 10-5) and Glenbard East.

 

Naperville Central’s Kansas State-bound LHP Shane Conlon had a no-hitter with one out in the seventh. Conlon settled for a one-hitter as the Redhawks defeated Wheaton North 2-0. Conlon fanned 10 and improved to 6-0 on the season. Redhawk seniors RF Bobby Czarnowski and CF Matt Cmiel plated the Redhawks runs…Naperville North hammered Glenbard East 19-0 behind University of Maryland-bound Charlie White. White fired a complete game two-hitter and hit a two-run homer to lead the Huskies. Huskie senior 1B Andrew Arenson went deep for North a well.

 

The defending Class 2A champions from Stanford Olympia (23-7) defeated Mahomet Seymour 5-2 and won the 2010 Cornbelt Conference Tournament at Horenberger Field at Illinois Wesleyan University on Saturday night.

 

Olympia senior right handed pitcher Clint Stroud improved to 7-1 on the season with a solid 6 2/3 inning performance. Stroud stuck out seven and senior RHP Spencer Pratt retired the final Mahomet Seymour (19-8) hitter to pick up the save.

 

M-S committed four first inning errors which led to four unearned Spartan runs and this game was over early. Pratt had two hits for the Spartans. Mahomet-Seymour’s Jason Ziegler had a pair of hits for the Bulldogs. Ziegler fired a no-hitter at Normal U-Highon Fiday in the semifinals.

 

Mahomet Seymour’s junior starting and losing pitcher Drew Vannoy deserved a better fate and falls to 4-3 on the season….Normal U-High (15-10) defeated Bloomington C.Catholic 6-3 for third place. BCC falls to 17-9…

 

In the Upstate 8 on Saturday, No.19 St. Charles North (23-4; 15-3) swept past Lake Park 12-3 and 8-6. North Star Central Michigan-bound catcher Matt Stevens had three hits and drove in three to lead the North Stars in game one. Junior 3B John Munyon chipped in with three hits and three RBI. Senior Austin Schuetz (2-0) fired a complete game six-hitter for the game one win.

 

In game two, the North Stars defeated Lake Park 7-6 scoring four runs in the top of the seventh to steal the game two win. Nebraska-bound senior SS Ryan Richardson drove home a pair of runs in the game two win and had a five-hit day in the twin-bill.

 

Waubonsie Valley (17-8; 13-4) kept pace with STC North with a doubleheader sweep of

Bartlett 8-2 and 9-2 on Saturday.Warrior junior LHP Matt Murphy improved to 4-2 on the season with a complete game five-hitter. In game two, Warrior winning pitcher Sean Smith (6-2) fired a complete game at the Hawks and had a pair of hits and two RBI as the Warriors stayed in the hunt for the U8C title. Warrior Valparaiso-bound senior 3B homered for the Warriors.

 

In the Metro Suburban Illiana Christian (19-7, 10-2) and Riverside-Brookfield (14-10; 10-2) kept pace with twin-bill sweeps.

 

Illiana Christian defeated Elmwood Park 4-2 & 1-0, behind senior LHP Vince Van Schouwen and junior RHP Austin Evanhouse. In game one, Van Schouwen fired three scoreless innings in relief to improve to 5-2 on the season. In game two Evenhouse fired a one-hitter at the Tigers, striking out 11 in the thrilling 1-0 Viking win.

 

Riverside-Brookfield unloaded its big bats and rolled past Fenton 13-5 and 11-1. Bulldog senior Alex Cebular doubled twice and drove in a pair of runs in game one. Matt Scott and Vito DeRango chipped in with a pair of hits Junior pitchers Dave Tortorici (3-1) and Chris James (2-0) picked up the wins in the twin-bill sweep.

 

Don’t look now, but Sandburg is getting hot .. The PBR’s No.3 preseason pick struggled early but are on fire now. On Saturday, behind junior RHP Nick Bates, who struck out six in his 4 2/3 hitless inning performance, the Eagles swept past Clemente 8-2 and 12-2. In the game two romp the M & M boys, junior Mike Malfeo and senior Matt Mangold, led the Eagle attack. Malfeo hammered a two-run homer and Mangold doubled home a pair of runs as the Eagles rolled. 6-foot-4, 215 pound junior RHP Justin Theisen improved to 2-0 on the season with the win.

 

Sandburg (19-8) has now won 10 straight and are in a virtual tie for first place with No.18 Lincoln-Way Central (17-5; 6-1) in the tough Southwest Suburban Conference Blue Division.

 

Lincoln-Way West (16-11) swept Streator (22-6) in a twin-bill on Saturday. The Warriors won a pair of thrillers 10-6 and 9-8 over the NCIC-Reagan Division leaders. Warrior RHP Cody Vogler (6-3) picked up the game one victory on the mound and hammered a pair of homers and drove in five Warrior runs. Junior Kevin Kintzel added a pair of RBI in the game one win

 

In game two, junior Travis Wysong had three hits and drove in four runs. Junior Dan Fifer chipped in with three hits and two RBIs. Junior Jim McHale picked up the game two win on the mound to improve to 4-4 on the season.

 

In the West Suburban Gold, No.6 Downers Grove South (24-5; 13-1) swept Addison Trail 6-1and 7-1 to move a step closer to their third consecutive WSC Gold title. Mustang junior sensation RHP Nick Burdi struck out 14 in his game one complete game two hitter. With the win the University of Louisville recruit improves to 6-0. In game two, Parkland College bound senior RHP Jake Rone improved to 9-0 on the campaign with a complete game two-hitter. Mustang junior Jacob Wolf was 4-for-8 in the sweep with four RBI for DGS.

 

…Lyons Township (19-9; 12-5) took over the top spot in the Silver with a twin-bill sweep of Downers Grove North 5-4 and 12-1 in six innings.

In game one, junior RHP Connor Cuff improved to 6-0 on the mound with a complete game performance striking out seven Trojan batsmen. Junior 1B Brian Rodemoyer singled home sophomore Steve Heilenbach with the game-winner for the Lions. Cuff had a big two-run single which was followed by a two-run triple from lion 3B Tom Walsh in the Lion four-run explosion in the Lion sixth.

 

In game two, the Lions rolled 12-2 in six innings. Rodemoyer hammered his seventh dinger of the season and drove in five Lion runs as junior RHP Zach Remijas improves to 5-1 with the six-inning victory.

 

Hinsdale Central (12-12; 8-6) shutout last-place Proviso West twice, winning 12-0 and 10-0 in five innings, to stay in contention for the WSC Silver crown. Senior Will Pahos improved to 5-1 on the season with a five inning shutout. 6-foot-5 senior RHP Drew Kornak improved to 2-3 as Kornak duplicated Pahos’ white-wash performance of the Panthers. Red Devil junior SS Matt Anderson had a 4-for-6 twin bill with a homer and five RBIs to lead the Devils.

 

Lyons Twp. will host DG North on Tuesday and Oak Park-River Forest will host Hinsdale Central in a twin-bill at Oak Park on Saturday.

 

No.13 Granite City (21-5) split a nonconference double header with Mascoutah, losing the opener 9-2 and then coming back behind University of Louisville-bound catcher Jake DePew 12-2. DePew hammered his ninth blast of the season with the bases juiced for the Warriors in the game two win.

 

Senior Cody Daily added a three-run homer in the game two romp. Junior 2B Brandon Whitt chipped in with three hits and three RBI. DePew and Daily homered in the 9-2 game one loss to Mascoutah (19-9).