Thursday May 6

 

By Drake Skleba

 

No.3 Naperville Central (22-4; 13-1) defeated Wheaton North 4-2 in eight innings. Redhawk 6-foot-2 senior RHP Tim Roetter picked up the win in relief. Wheaton North (20-6; 10-4) senior ace RHP Mike Coduto (5-1) suffered his first defeat of the season after five wins. Naperville Central leads No.14 Naperville North (21-5, 11-3) by two games in the DuPage Valley Conference race.

 

No. 4 St. Rita (23-4; 12-2) rolled past Brother Rice 8-2 behind junior LHP Joe Filomeno (5-1), who fired a complete game with eight strikeouts and also drove home a pair of runs for the Mustangs in a Catholic Blue battle. The Mustangs will meet Catholic Blue leader No.10 Providence (22-6; 13-1) at St.Rita on Saturday at 11. Kevin Koziol hit a home run in the loss for the Crusaders.

 

No. 5 Plainfield North (22-4; 13-2) fell again to Minooka (22-7; 11-4) in the Southwest Suburban Prairie 7-3. Minooka was led by senior catcher Niko Capodice, who drove in three runs for the Indians.

 

No. 6 Downers Grove South (22-5) defeated Glenbard West 1-0 in a West Suburban crossover game on Thursday. Junior RHP John Dillon fired a two-hit shutout, striking out nine to improve to 4-0 on the season.

 

No. 10 Providence (22-6; 13-1 Blue) defeated No. 9 St. Laurence 5-2 behind junior LHP Matt Trowbridge, who scattered eight hits and improved to 5-1 on the season. Junior battery mate, catcher Dan Potempa, drove home three Celtic runs...St. Laurence (24-4; 11-3 White) will meet De La Salle (17-8; 10-4 White) in a Catholic White Division showdown at Laurence on Saturday at 11.

 

No. 11 Carmel (19-5) fell 4-0 to Crystal Lake South in a nonconference game on Thursday. Gator RHP Mike Benson (4-1) had a four hit shutout of the hard-hitting Corsairs. Crystal Lake South improved to 15-9 on the season

 

In the Southwestern Conference, Edwardsville (15-7; 6-5) hit five homers and routed SWC leader O’Fallon 16-4 on Thursday. Senior Tyler Mikrut went deep twice, his sixth and seventh homers of the season, for the Tigers. Senior 3B Michael Failoni, junior Eddie Akers and senior 1B Tim Messer all homered as the Tigers knocked O’Fallon (14-9, 8-2) into a first place tie with Granite City.

 

No. 13 Granite City (19-4; 8-2), behind a complete game performance by senior LHP Zach Pearman, rolled past Collinsville 11-4 and into a first place tie with O’Fallon. Warrior senior catcher Jake DePew hammered his sixth home run and drove in a pair. Senior 3B Cody Daily doubled and plated three Warrior runs…

 

Belleville East (18-5; 7-3) blasted East St.Louis 20-2 to stay a game behind the leaders…Belleville West (14-7; 7-4) hammered Alton 16-6 to stay in the hunt.

 

Big 12 Conference leader No.15 Normal West (19-5; 7-0) blanked Decatur Eisenhower 14-0 in five innings behind Wildcat freshman hurler Matthew James. James fired a five-inning shutout and struck out 9 as the Wildcats won their 15^th consecutive game. Sophomore Wes Sery and junior catcher Brandon Zwaga homered for West.

 

In the battle for the Southwest Suburban Blue top spot, No.18 Lincoln Way Central (17-5; 6-1) defeated Lockport 3-2 in 11 innings. Knight senior SS Kevin Kojs doubled home the game winner in the bottom of the 11^th. Lockport falls to 17-8 and 5-2 in the Southwest Suburban Blue. The two squads will meet in Lockport on Monday.

 

In the Central Suburban South, No. 20 Maine South (16-6; 9-1) defeated New Trier 2-0 behind 6-foot-3 senior RHP Jesse O’Connor. O’Connor improved to 4-0 with a complete game four-hit shutout, striking out eight.

 

Defending Southwest Suburban Conference-Blue champ Sandburg (17-8; 7-2) pulled into second place in the Southwest Suburban Blue as the Eagles defeated Lincoln-Way East 5-4 in eight innings. Sandburg junior Nick Bates had a big RBI double for the Eagles.

 

Cornbelt quarterfinals action: Mahomet-Seymour (18-7) defeated Rantoul 6-0 behind a complete game shutout from junior Andrew Lawson. Lawson struck out five and improves to 8-0 for the Bulldogs this season.

 

Normal U-High (14-9) will meet Mahomet-Seymour in today’s semifinals after the Pioneers 4-1 win over Pontiac. Pioneer RHP Connor Brown fired a complete game gem striking out 11 Indians and improves to 4-2 on the season.

 

Bloomington Central Catholic (17-7) sophomore RHP Ben Mier struck out 13 and led the Saints to a 10-0 six-inning romp over Eureka. Senior 1B Chris Highland had three hits and drove home two Saint runs. Senior Tyler Johansen drove in a pair and Creighton-bound senior catcher Andrew Holt drove home a saint tally.

 

Two-time defending Class 2A champion Stanford Olympia (21-7) defeated Prairie

Central 9-1 behind a 13-strikeout performance by senior RHP Josh Zimmer. Zimmer also homered. Senior 1B Clint Stroud had two hits and drove in three for the Spartans. Junior Chase Hainline chipped in with a double and a triple as the Spartans rolled to a 6:30 semifinal matchup with BCC.

 

Mount Vernon (21-4) routed Cahokia 20-0 in five innings. Tiger Southern Indiana University-bound James Mulvaney fired a five inning no-hitter at the Comanches. Mulvaney was 3-for-3 with four RBI at the plate as the Tigers clinch a tie for the South Seven Conference title.