Wednesday, March 23 recap

Daily Roundup     
March 23
By Drake Skleba

No. 5 St. Laurence (5-1) was stunned by Lincoln-Way East, 2-1, in Burbank. Lincoln-Way East (1-0) made the 24-mile trip to Burbank for the Griffins? opener on Wednesday. Due to wet grounds in Frankfort, the game was moved to St. Laurence.

The Griffins? No. 9 hitter, senior Joe Piersanti, singled home the game-winner
in the bottom of the seventh, breaking up a 1-1 tie, and sending the Griffin faithful
back to Frankfort happy.

No. 10 Glenwood (2-0; 2-0) crushed Springfield 16-0 in five  innings, as the defending Class 3A champs rolled. Senior RHP Patrick Woerner fired a five-hit shutout at Springfield (2-3; 0-2). Titan senior SS Jake Fulks and senior OF Michael Fiausch had two hits apiece and Nathan Prindle homered for Glenwood.

No. 11 Harrisburg (3-0) blasted Du Quoin 13-3 behind sophomore RHP Ryne Roper. Roper (2-0) was masterful in his 4 ? inning  performance. The super-soph struck out 11 and allowed one hit. Senior 1B Isaac Behme drove in six Bulldog runs with a grand-slam homer and a two-run double.

Du Quoin (1-1) was led by SIU-bound SS  J.C. Davis, who had a perfect 3-for-3 day for the Indians.

No. 29  Palatine (1-2) outslugged No. 14 Cary-Grove 11-7 in six innings. Palatine senior RF Dan Haze led the Pirates to their first win of 2011. Haze doubled three times and drove in three runs. Senior RHP Alex Miramontes evened his record at 1-1 with 2 ? shutout innings of relief.

No. 14 Cary-Grove (1-1) had a defensive meltdown as the Trojans committed seven errors. The last Palatine five runs were unearned in a game played in 32-degree weather and snow flurries.

The defending Class 2A Champs No. 21 Teutopolis (1-0) won its season opener 8-0 over Mattoon in T-Town on Wednesday. Senior LHP Derek Thompson fired a two-hit shutout at the Green Wave before a host of MLB scouts. Wooden Shoes senior C Derek Repking helped out his future John A. Logan College battery-mate when he launched a mammoth three-run shot in the Shoes six-run fourth.

No. 22 Illinois Valley Central (1-0) blasted East Peoria 17-0 in five innings. Grey Ghost senior RHP Braden McIntyre threw a two-hit shutout and added a pair of hits and two RBI. The Grey Ghosts had 14 hits and nine players had an RBI.

No. 31 Normal West (3-1) bounced back from the Wildcats loss to Moline on Tuesday and defeated another Western Big 6 member Rock Island, 10-0 in five innings. Sophomore RHP Matthew James (1-0) was magnificent in his first varsity start for West. James fanned nine and allowed one hit in his five-inning stint.

Senior Garrett Cook and sophomore Alex Jefferson each blasted two-run homers for the ?Cats. Senior Eric Sipes chipped in with three hits and three RBI.

No. 48 Minooka (1-0) held off Andrew in the Indians season-opener, 4-3. Junior LHP Josh Jiminez (1-0) pitched three scoreless innings while fanning three to pick up the win.

Herscher (4-0) squeezed past Morris 4-3 behind senior 1B Tyler Evans. Evans, who hit 12 homers in 2010, slugged a three-run homer and Spike Engelman drove home the game-winner for the Tigers, making a winner of RHP Matt Webber (2-0).

 
Bishop McNamara improved to 3-0 with a 13-2 pounding of Paxton-Buckley-Loda in five innings on Wednesday. Freshman Drew Nichols, struck out eight and allowed just three hits in his complete-game performance. Fighting Irish senior 1B Zach Duffield went 2-for-2 with a two-run homer  and three RBI.

Vernon Hills (1-1) blanked Waukegan 1-0 in eight innings in the conclusion of a suspended  game from March 18. Cougar Ryan Knoff?s bloop single to center scored Chris Marras, who had doubled for the game-winner in the bottom of the eighth.Tyler Feece (1-0) picked up the win on the mound for Vernon Hills.

Taylor Ridge (Rockridge) blasted Ridgewood  18-0 in five innings behind a no-hitter from junior LHP Cody Hinson. Hinson fanned 12 to lead the Rockets to their season-opening victory. Hinson, added two hits and two RBI for his solid opener.

Washington (4-0) ripped Peoria Notre Dame 10-4 behind junior RHP Isaac Fisher (2-0). Fisher had two hits and drove in a Panther run. Sophomore Mason McCoy doubled and tripled and drove in three. Junior Charlie Ludoff and senior Ryan Grebner each went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI.

Hersey (2-0) blanked Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 6-0. Coastal Carolina-bound Joe Perricone  hammered a  two-run blast for the Huskies. Eric Stoltzner chipped in with two hits and an RBI.

University of Illinois recruit SS Michael Hurwitz led SHG with two hits.

Anna-Jonesboro (2-0) scored five times in the first inning and hung on to defeat Shawnee 7- . Wildcat junior 3B Brady Wright had two hits and two RBI to lead the ?Cats to the home win in Anna.

Mascoutah (5-0) blanked Belleville East 5-0 behind a complete-game six-hit shutout from senior Jordan Nekola (2-0), who lowered his ERA to a minscule 0.53. Nekola helped himself with a perfect 3-for-3 day at the plate with a double and an RBI.

Indian senior SS Tycen Wager went 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two RBI.