Wednesday, March 30 recap

Daily Roundup     
March 30
By Drake Skleba

No. 2 Downers Grove South (3-1) fell 6-5 to Chandler (Az.) Hamilton (13-4), in the Horizon, Arizona High School Invitational Tourney. The Mustangs scored four times in the top of the first but could not hold the lead against one of the best teams in Arizona. Miami of Ohio-bound Jacob Wolf doubled home a pair of runs for DGS.

No. 3 Nazareth (6-0) blasted Ridgewood 11-1. Junior LHP Eddie Gengo improved to 2-0 on the mound for the Roadrunners. Miami of Ohio-bound Ryan Powers had two hits and drove home a run.

No. 4 St. Rita (6-0) blasted No. 26 St. Charles East 9-3. Junior 3B Stefano Belmonte hit a two-run homer and senior T.J. Verdun drove home a pair of Mustang runs.

No. 6 New Trier (2-1) fell 7-6 in eight innings to Glenbard South (3-2) in the Miner Classic in Marion. Glenbard South was led by Billy Strohl (1-0), who allowed two earned runs in his complete-game gem. Strohl and Raider Tony Tenuta had RBI singles in the eighth to give Glenbard South head coach Mike Riley a signature win for the program.

No. 9 Mt. Carmel (5-0) rolled past Evergreen Park 8-2 behind University of Kentucky-bound senior 1B Jeff Boehm and sophomore SS Jerry Houston. Boehm had two hits and plated three Caravan runs while Houston chipped in with two hits and two RBI.

No. 10 Chatham Glenwood (4-0; 4-0) won a wild one at South Park in Chatham.
The Titans outslugged Rochester 16-13 in a Central State 8 thriller on Wednesday.
Rochester (3-2; 2-2) behind the powerful bat of Joe Gilson, jumped out to an 11-1
lead. Gilson homered twice, including a grand slam, and would drive in eight runs for the day.

Glenwood would cut the lead to 11-4 and then the Titans would explode for 10 runs in the bottom of the fifth to claim the wild CS8 victory. Titan senior Michael Fiaush drove in three runs and Kollin Taylor would add four ribbies, as each had RBI hits in the 10-run explosion. Louisiana Tech-bound Phil Maton and junior C Alex Bee homered for the Titans.

No. 11 Harrisburg (5-1) was blanked 3-0 by Mundelein (6-0) in the Miner Classic in Marion.

No. 19 Stevenson (1-0) won its season-opener 14-7 behind Harvard-bound Mike Martin, over No. 29 Palatine (1-4). Martin, the only returning position player from the Patriots, 2010 Class 4A third-place squad, went 4-for-4 and scored four times. Senior 2B Barry Saks and Illinois recruit junior SS Adam Walton each had two hits and three RBI.

No. 20 Neuqua Valley (3-0) scored seven times in the first inning and never looked back as the Wildcats crushed No. 48 Minooka 12-2 in five innings. Junior RHP Nick Blackburn (1-0) struck out six in his complete-game win.

No.22 Illinois Valley Central (4-0) blasted Dunlap 16-6. Senior C Alex Bradley homered and senior Dan Semnter had a two-run blast as the Grey Ghosts rolled.

No. 24 St. Charles North (3-1) defeated No.14 Cary-Grove 6-3 in the Miner Classic in Marion. Cary Grove (2-3) was led by University of Illinois at Springfield recruit Tyler Lau, who tripled home a pair of runs for the Trojans. The Trojan defense once again had its problems, committing five errors.

St. Charles North played a second contest on Wednesday and defeated Marion 7-6.
North Star junior Jake Johansmeier continued his torrid hitting with a homer.

No.27 Lockport (2-0) crushed Thorton 17-1 in five innings in a Southwest Suburban crossover game. Porter senior SS Tommy Hook led the Porters with two hits and five RBI.

No. 32 Naperville Central (2-1) defeated Waubonsie Valley 6-4 behind junior RHP Ian Lewandowski (2-0). Lewandowski singled home the first Redhawk run and then pitched four solid innings on the mound. Senior left-handed hitting Connor Philbin tripled home another ?Hawk tally as the defending Class 4A champs rebounded from their loss to Oswego on Tuesday.

No. 33 Simeon (6-0) continued to impress on Wednesday. The young and talented Wolverines slipped past Stagg 3-2 for their sixth consecutive win. Freshman LHP Darius Day (1-0) pitched and hit the Wolverines to another victory. Day doubled home the tying run and then slammed the door over the last four innings with one-hit shutout relief. The fantastic freshman struck out six Charger hitters. Darien Clifton singled home the game-winner in the fourth to give the Woverines the 3-2 winning margin.

No. 34 Burlington Central (2-2) stumbled in the finale of its trip to southern Illinois, losing at Highland 9-7. Highland (5-2) scored three times in the bottom of the sixth to pull out the win. Burlington Central will be in Darien today for the PBR Game of the Day, as Rocket head coach Kyle Nelson visits his alma mater, Hinsdale South (1-0) at 1. Yours truly will be in Darien for Nelson?s  homecoming.

No. 38 Huntley (3-0) struck for five runs in the seventh to shock DeKalb 11-8 in DeKalb. Sophomore Bryce Only had two hits and drove home three Red Raider runs. Junior Jake Perkins homered and Nick Corpolongo chipped in with two hits and three RBI.

No. 40 Oak Forest (2-0) defeated Rich Central 5-2. Bengal Tom Livingston?s two-run single in the bottom of the fifth broke up a 2-2 tie and sent the Bengals to a hard-fought victory over Rich Central (4-1). Junior John Zuber (1-0) fired three shutout innings in relief to pick up the win. Zuber added a pair of hits at the plate. Bengal starting pitcher, freshman LHP Brian Richard, pitched four solid innings and added two hits for the Bengals.

No. 41 Mundelein (6-0) blanked No. 11 Harrisburg 3-0 behind senior LHP Dante Martinez. Martinez (2-0) fired a four-hit shutout at the hard-hitting Bulldogs striking out 10. Senior leadoff man 2B Charlie Gandolfi and senior C John DeVito tripled home runs for the unbeaten Mustangs.

The Mustangs destroyed Cobden 16-1, later in the day, as a grand slam from Mustang Isaac Alleman highlighted a 10-run seventh inning for Mundelein. Junior LHP Jared Mandel (1-0) struck out eight in his complete-game gem.

No. 47 York (3-0) slipped past No. 46 Benet Academy 5-4. Senior 1B Joe Boozell,
senior 3B Joey Grollo and senior Phil Ganser drove home runs for the Dukes. University of Chicago-bound R.J. Gatto drove in two runs for Benet (1-2). York will host No. 33 Simeon (6-0) on Friday at high noon in Elmhurst. Sean Duncan will be there for the PBR Game of the Day, weather permitting.

Highland Park (3-1) blanked Champaign Central 12-0 behind sophomore Brett
Shimanovsky (2-0). Shimonovsky fired a two-hit shutout and struck out six for the Giants. Junior C Jason Goldstein led the Giant attack with two hits and two RBI. Highland Park will travel to South Park in Chatham and meet the defending Class 3A Champs from Chatham Glenwood today at 4.

Geneva (1-1) defeated Aurora Christian 2-0 behind Viking senior RHP Matt Williams. Williams fired a three-hit shutout and struck out 15 in leading the Vikings to their first win of 2011. Willams had a pair of hits at the plate, as well. Viking Eric Melin homered for the first Viking run and the Vikings picked up an unearned run to complete the scoring.

Aurora Christian (2-2) was led by senior Brent Minta, who singled and walked for the Eagles. Junior Mitch Holtz falls to 1-2 on the mound for Aurora Christian.

West Aurora (3-0) blasted Freeport 11-3 behind Cody Love who homered and drove in four Blackhawk runs. Blackhawk Austin Wyeth (1-0),  picked up the win on the mound for the undefeated Black Hawks.

Marian Catholic (4-1) defeated Crete-Monee 8-7 on Spartan senior Jeff Lepellere?s two-run single in the sixth. Junior Devin Pickett tripled in a pair of runs for the Spartans.

Herscher (5-1) pounded Pontiac 9-2 behind junior Jordan Ruckman, who had three hits, including a pair of doubles for the Tigers. Matt Webber improved to 3-0 on the mound for Herscher. Webber fanned seven.

Lisle (6-1) crushed Hinckley-Big Rock 12-0 in five innings, behind junior 1B Ty Howell, who went 4-for-4 with two RBI and junior Nick Olson, who fired four shutout innings for the win on the mound.

Richmond-Burton (3-1) slipped past Marian Central Catholic 3-2. Rocket junior Ray Wojciechowski (2-0) allowed one run and four hits in his six-inning stint on the mound
for the win. Wojciechowski fanned seven MCC (1-1) hitters. Rocket senior C.J. Daniels had an RBI single.

Galesburg (5-2) defeated East Peoria 6-5 behind Streak Luke Johnson, whose two-run bomb in the top of the seventh gave the Streaks the win. Chad Johnson also hit a two-run homer for visiting Galesburg.

Washington (6-1) blasted Granite City 10-1 behind Panther senior Nick Dalfonso who homered and drove in four runs.

Wheeling (1-1) defeated Fenton 2-1 behind Wildcat Matt Hart. Hart struck out nine in his 5 ? innings of work to pick up the win. Peter Durbin had a perfect 3-for-3 day for Wheeling with an RBI.