By Sean Duncan

LISLE - All season long, Ottawa Marquette and its two standout juniors, RHP Joe Ceja and SS/RHP Mason Snyder, have dominated the Class 1A headlines. And rightfully so. Both Ceja and Snyder are two of the top Class of 2011 prospects in the state, each having already verbally committed to the University of Louisville.

But on Tuesday, Westminster Christian’s dynamic sophomore duo of Ryan Perez and Kevin Elder not only stole the limelight, they gave the spectators at Benedictine University a performance they won’t soon forget. Perez and Elder combined to throw a no-hitter as Westminster Christian surprised Marquette 2-0 in the Class 1A Benedictine University Supersectional, sending the Warriors (28-10) to the state semifinals for the second time in four years.

“We knew they were good,” said Elder, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound right-hander. “But we’ve been playing big schools all year and we weren’t going to back down from anybody.”

This small-school enrollment supersectional had big-time arms on display, with four pitchers registering 86-plus mph with their fastballs. Perez (11-0) is a 6-foot sophomore switch-pitcher – that’s right, he pitches from the left and right sides. On Tuesday, Perez only stayed from the left side, as he was more than effective. He displayed an 83-85 mph fastball, touching 86, coupled with a big 12-to-6 curveball and a changeup, mixing in an occasional knuckleball to further confound Marquette’s offense.

Through four innings, Perez had six strikeouts, walked none and hit one batter; only Marquette’s Zac Worsley made solid contact against Perez, a slicing liner to right field to lead off the bottom of the first inning, but Warriors right-fielder made a diving catch to rob a hit.

As dominant as Perez was, Warriors coach Jeff Moeller took him out of the game. What? To the outside spectator, the move seemed ridiculous, but this had been the formula all year during the Warriors’ school-record 30-win season.

“It’s a one-two punch,” said Moeller. “You see Ryan with his big curveball, and all of sudden you’ve got this monster throwing at you.”

It didn’t take long to understand Moeller’s move. Elder came in pumping 87-88 mph throughout his three-inning stint, touching 89 mph, from two different arm slots. What’s more, he also threw a slurve that later morphed into an unhittable hard-biting slider in the tougher situations. In three innings, Elder struck out eight batters, striking out three in each the sixth and seventh innings.

“Me and Ryan have been pitching together for four or five years,” said Elder. “We always go four and three (innings), three and four (innings). I knew I was coming in. I came in with a lot of confidence. I just knew I had to shut them down.”

Westminster’s offense provided all the offense for the sophomore duo in the fourth inning. Catcher Frank Oliver (2-for-2) singled with one out, and advanced to third on Joe McGannon’s single. Elder’s sacrifice fly to right field plated the first run, and McGannon came around to score on Andrew Mason’s RBI single.

Westminster put runners on first and second in the top of the sixth against Marquette starter Tanner Barra (7-2). Snyder came into relief from shortstop and proceeded to walk the bases full before he got out of the jam using an 83-86 mph fastball to strike out the next two hitters.

Marquette (31-7) threatened in the bottom of the sixth, putting runners on first and second with two outs and Snyder, who’s one of the top hitters in the junior class, coming to the plate. After a lengthy battle, Elder got a strikeout with an 89-mph fastball.  

In the top of the seventh, Ceja came in to put Westminster down quietly. Ceja, a 6-foot-5, 235-pounder who’s the No. 2-ranked junior in the state, had just pitched on Saturday, yet his fastball was at 88-90 mph.

Elder struck out all three in the seventh to seal Westminster’s return trip to the state tournament.

“That was huge,” said Perez. “Now we got two more wins to go.”

Westminster will play Lebanon in the Class 1A state semifinal Friday at Joliet’s Silver Cross Field.