Thursday May 13

 

By Drake Skleba

 

No. 1 Harrisburg improved to 34-0 with a 9-3 win over Carbondale. SIU-bound Kollin Dowdy homered and had three hits and three RBI for the Bulldogs. University of Illinois-bound SS Reid Roper chipped in with a pair of hits and two RBI.

 

No. 19 IVC (26-5) crushed Pekin 11-1 in six-innings behind their red-hot Bradley-bound catcher Derek Sprout and senior LHP Cody Kentzel. Sprout homered three times and drove in five Grey Ghost runs. Sprout has five dingers and an even dozen ribbies in his last two games. Kentzel improved to 7-1 on the season, as the senior lefty struck out 10 and allowed a run and three hits.

 

In the Big 12, No.11 Normal West (23-6;10-0) all but wrapped up the Wildcats’ third straight Big 12 title with a 9-0 romp over Bloomington (18-11;7-3).  Junior right-hander Kyle Vaughn improved to 8-1 allowing two hits over six innings and striking out eight.

 

Wildcat senior first baseman Jason Cullen drove home a pair of runs for West and senior catcher Jake Birlingmair chipped in with three hits and an RBI for West, which won for the 19^th time in their last 20 games.

 

In the Southwestern Conference: Belleville East (21-5; 10-3) defeated Belleville West 3-0 behind a five-hit shutout by senior Steven Sotiropoulos (5-0). Sotiropoulos fanned five in his complete game masterpiece. The win was the seventh in a row for the Lancers as they stay ½ game behind SWC leader No. 14 Granite City (23-5;10-2), who defeated East St. Louis 21-0 on Thursday. O’Fallon (16-11; 9-2) played Alton on Thursday.

 

No. 17 Minooka (25-7; 14-4) completed its sweep of Plainfield Central, 1-0, behind a one-hit shutout by junior right-hander Joe Pershey. Pershey fanned seven and improved to 7-2 on the season as the Indians stayed in the hunt for the Southwestern Prairie title. Junior DH Sean Macko singled home Indian senior catcher Niko Capodice, with the game winner.

 

In the Fox Valley Fox: Huntley (20-6; 13-4) rallied past McHenry 5-4 to pull into a first place tie with the Warriors.Red Raider senior RHP Jeremy Ahillen fired four shutout innings in relief to pick up the win and improve to 5-1.Ahillen struck out 6 McHenry (18-7;13-4) hitters. Red Raider freshman Bryce Only had two hits and an RBI for Huntley. The two clubs meet again in Huntley this afternoon at 4:30

 

Defending Valley champ Cary-Grove (17-10; 12-5) defeated Jacobs 9-7 stay one game back of the leaders. Senior Eric Chandler led the Trojans attack with a two hits and a pair of RBI. Cary-Grove hosts McHenry Saturday morning at 10.

 

In the Western Sun: DeKalb (18-6; 13-4) took over first place in the WSC as the Barbs defeated Geneva 5-3 on Thursday. Barb senior right-handed ace Ben Dallesasse improved to 8-1 on the season, firing a complete game five-hitter at Geneva (19-8; 12-5). Dallesasse struck out six. Barb junior first baseman Jake Jouris hit a big two-run homer for the Barbs. The two WSC powers will conclude their series in Geneva on Friday.