Tuesday, April 13 Roundup

 

By Drake Skleba

 

York’s Pisani pure Perfection: York senior left-handed pitcher Matt Pisani faced 21 Hinsdale Central batters in the Dukes’ 6-0 West Suburban Silver victory on Tuesday, and retired all 21 of them in order. Indeed, Pisani fired a perfect game at the Red Devils. Pisani struck out 7 in improving to 2-1. Junior catcher Kyle Leone had two hits and drove in two Duke runs. York improved to 8-6, 4-2 in WSC Silver play. Hinsdale Central falls to 4-7-1 and 1-2 in the WSC Silver.

 

No. 3 Downers Grove South (12-2; 3-0) swept its three-game West Suburban Gold opening series with Willowbrook 11-1 on Tuesday in Villa Park. Junior RHP Matt Wivinis fired a two-hitter at the Warriors and improves to 2-1 on the season. Senior Pat Korienek drove in four for the Mustangs.

 

No. 11 Warren’s senior LHP Zach Schneider allowed two hits and struck out nine and junior Pat Oliver hit a pair of three-run homers in leading the Blue Devils to a 9-0 romp over No. 18 Grayslake Central (10-2). Schneider improved to 4-1 on the season. Blue Devil Tanner Erbach struck out three in the seventh to close things out for the Blue Devils (10-2). Junior 3B Kevin Colburn drove in the other three Blue Devil runs and had two hits.

 

No.1 Harrisburg (19-0; 5-0) defeated Murphysboro 4-1 as University of Illinois-bound Reid Roper outdueled Murphysboro’s talented junior left-hander Dylan Craig. Roper improved to 5-0 on the mound with a complete game. Both pitchers put goose eggs on the board through the first four innings. Junior Nick Borders put the Bulldogs on the board in the fifth with an RBI single. Harrisburg added another run on a Murphysboro miscue and then Roper helped his own cause with a booming RBI double.

 

Roper allowed one run and five hits while striking out seven. Craig allowed five hits and struck out eight as Murphysboro falls to 9-5 and 3-2 in the SIRR-Ohio.

 

Streator’s (10-2; 3-0) Josh Eplin came off the bench to launch a game-winning three-run blast to lead the Bulldogs to a 5-2 NCIC-Reagan showdown win on Tuesday,over La Salle-Peru. The dramatic home run made a winner out of Bulldog ace left-hander Drew Sabol (4-0). Sabol allowed one hits and struck out 11 in outdueling La Salle-Peru (4-7; 1-2) ace RHP David Suarez (3-1). Suarez gave up seven hits and struck out 12.

 

Whenever No. 12 Chatham Glenwood (7-1; 3-0) and Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin get together, you know the fans of these Capital City-area schools will be in for a treat. On Tuesday, at venerable old Lanphier Park, Glenwood outslugged its rivals SHG 20-16 in a Central State 8 Conference game.

 

SHG (4-6.1-2) battled back from an 11-0 deficit to storm ahead 15-12. That’s when Glenwood’s 5-foot-10,170-pound senior Chris Sekardi decided to hit his first career homer for the Titans. With teammates on every base, Sekardi launched a grand slam blast to give the Titans a 16-15 lead. SHG would tie things up at 16. Titan senior Dallas Henderson (2-for-5; 2 RBI) would give Glenwood the lead for good with a 2-run single in the sixth.

 

Eastern Illinois-bound Titan catcher Jacob Reese had three hits, including a triple and three RBIs. St.Joseph’s College recruit CF Jared Turner had three hits and an RBI and senior 3B/RHP Jake Ingold added a pair of hits and picked up the save on the mound, firing two scoreless innings for the Titans. The win was the 21^st straight CS8 win for Glenwood.

 

SHG first baseman Jared Jachno had a pair of hits, including a three-run homer and drove in four for the Cyclones. Third baseman Michael Reavy added three hits and three RBIs.

 

Prairie Central (8-4; 2-1), behind a five-hit complete game by senior Jeremy Peters,  defeated Stanford Olympia 7-3 in a Cornbelt Conference game on Tuesday. Peters struck out 4 and drove in a pair of runs to help his own cause. The two-time defending Class 2A champs fall to 9-3 and 1-1 in the Cornbelt.The Spartans will host IVC (14-0) in the Prep Baseball Report Game of the Day, Wednesday at 4:30.

 

Downers Grove North’s Illinois State-bound LHP Joe Claver pitched and hit the Trojans to a 5-2 West Suburban Silver win over Oak Park. Claver was 3-for-4 with an RBI at the plate, and scattered eight hits in a complete-game performance and picked up the win to improve to 2-1 for the Trojans (5-5; 3-2).

 

St. Charles East’s (8-4;2-2) junior LHP Wes Benjamin improved to 4-0 on the mound in leading the Saints to a 3-0 Upstate 8 victory over defending Upstate 8 champs Neuqua Valley on Tuesday. Benjamin allowed 4 hits and fanned 9. In 25 innings, Benjamin has 33 strikeouts with only three walks and has not allowed an earned run.

 

Highland Park’s senior RHP Tyler Goldstein fired a five-hit shutout at New Trier, leading the Giants to a 3-0 Central Suburban crossover win at Duke Childs Field in Winnetka. Goldstein improves to 2-1 on the season. Highland Park improves to 6-3-1 and 1-0 in the CSL North. New Trier falls to 2-6 and 0-1 in the CSL South.

 

Vernon Hills continued to roll in the North Suburban Conference Prairie Division with a 3-2 eight-inning victory over the defending champion Lakes. Vernon Hills starting pitcher Scott Kempel drove in the tying and winning runs for the red-hot Cougars. Kempel pitched into the eighth inning when he as relieved by winning pitcher Cesar Gallegos. Brian Palmer (1-for-2, RBI) plated the first Cougar run and Chris Marras chipped in with a pair of hits. VH improves to 5-6 and 3-0 in the NSC Prairie. The two clubs will meet in Lake Bluff on Wednesday.

 

No.5 Naperville Central (10-1; 2-0) blanked West Aurora 12-0 in five innings behind the pitching of senior LHP Shane Conlon. Conlon struck out six and improves to 3-0 on the mound for the Redhawks. Northwestern-bound shortstop Nick Linne hit a two-run homer and senior RF Bobby Czarnowski had a pair of hits and drove in three.

 

No.14 Naperville North (8-2; 1-1) fell to Glenbard North 4-2 in a DuPage Valley Conference game on Tuesday in Carol Stream.

 

Belleville East (10-4; 3-2) stunned No. 14 Belleville West 6-3 in a Southwestern Conference battle on Tuesday. Belleville East senior Sean May fired a three-hitter at the Maroons and improved to 4-1 on the season. Senior Derek Steiner’s clutch two-out –two RBI single broke up a 2-2 tie and led the Lancers to their fifth straight win.

 

West senior LHP Sean Hulse (3-2) suffers the defeat on the mound. Hulse hammered his second homer of the year, a two-run shot for the Maroons. Junior Andrew Wayt also homered for Bellville West.

 

With the Belleville West loss, a three-way log-jam now exists at the top of the SWC standings. Belleville West (8-3; 4-1), Granite City (12-2; 4-1) and O’Fallon (8-6;4-1) share the lead.

 

No. 15 Granite City blasted East St. Louis 16-0 in five innings on Tuesday. O’Fallon slipped past Alton 6-5 as O’Fallon’s 6-foot-3 senior first baseman Matt Meadows had two hits and drove home four Panther runs in the win over the Redbirds.

 

Belleville West travels to Granite City Thursday in a battle of Southwestern Conference leaders at 4:30.

 

Herschers’s (10-4; 3-0) junior RHP Justin Walter fired a no-hitter at Peotone in leading the Tigers to a 5-2 Interstate 8 South conference win.

 

Lisle (10-4; 2-1) bounced back from their Monday defeat to Sandwich and rolled past the Indians 7-2, in an Interstate 8 North game in Sandwich on Tuesday. Senior RHP John Koloski improved to 4-1 with a complete game performance. Clemson-bound Jon Surber and freshman Ryan Van Valkenberg each had two hits and drove in a run for the Lions.

 

Leyden’s Jeremy Stawychny fired a two-hit shutout and fanned 14 in leading the Eagles to a 5-0 West Suburban Gold victory over Addison Trail. With the win Stawychny improves to 3-0 and the Eagles are 7-5 overall and 3-3 in the WSC Gold.

 

No. 2 Minooka (13-2; 4-0) was led by the sophomore Josh Jimenez (4-0) in an 11-1 Southwest Prairie win at Oswego East on Tuesday. Jiminez scattered five hits and struck out six in six innings of work. Junior Dakota Brown continued his red-hot hitting with a three-hit, three RBI day for the Indians.

 

No. 9 Plainfield North’s (10-1; 4-0) junior RHP Sean Renzi improved to 4-0 on the mound in leading the Tigers to a 13-1 six-inning romp of  Plainfield South. Renzi struck out 11, and was equally impressive at the plate, as he homered, had three hits and three RBI in North’s Southwest Prairie win. Catcher Zac Pacanowski also homered and drove in two as the Tigers won their eighth consecutive game.

 

Lake Park’s (9-1;3-0)  junior RHP Kevin Steger fired a complete game three-hitter and led the Lancers to a 5-1 Upstate 8 Conference win at Bartlett on Tuesday. Steger struck out 7 and gave up an unearned run in improving to 2-0 on the season. Senior Ryan Rapshus led the Lancer offensive attack with three RBIs.

 

De Kalb (9-1; 4-0) improved to 4-0 in the Western Sun Conference with a 10-0 victory in six innings over Batavia. Barb pitcher Ben Dallasasse fired a four-hit shutout at the defending Western Sun champs. Dallasasse struck out six and drove in a pair of runs with his bat.  

 

No. 4 Stevenson (8-1; 1-1) crushed Zion Benton 15-0 in five innings behind a one-hitter from senior LHP Kory Cutler. Senior Patrick Wilson homered for the Patriots.