PBR DAILY ROUNDUP

April 5. 2012

By Drake Skleba

Catholic League Crossovers

No. 1 St. Laurence (13-0; 3-0 Blue) received a scare from Catholic White co-leader De La Salle (7-6; 3-2 White) and prevailed 5-4 in a thriller at Viking Field on Wednesday. You can watch a rebroadcast of this Catholic League thriller at

http://prepbaseballreport.highschoolcube.com/

 De La Salle loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the seventh against St. Laurence, clinging to a 5-4 lead. Viking sophomore RHP Brad Wood squared off with Meteor senior RF Matt Ramirez. Wood fell behind 3-1 and it looked like the Meteors were going to knot things up. Wood fired a blazing fastball down the middle for strike two and then fanned Ramirez on a tremdous breaking ball that Ramirez swung over to end the game.

In an error-filled contest, St. Laurence junior RHP Kevin Smith (3-0) prevailed over De La Salle’s Western Michigan-bound RHP Pat Haynes (2-3). Wood pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to nail down the save for Smith. Smith allowed two earned runs in 5 2/3 innings. Four of the five runs Haynes allowed were unearned.

No.2 Mount Carmel (13-0; 3-0 Blue) kept pace with No.1 St. Laurence by crushing Gordon Tech 9-0 on Thursday. Caravan junior Jason Gasser fired a three-hitter at the Rams. Caravan junior C Tom Hayes hit a three-run bomb for MC. Junior Justin Sanchez chipped in with two doubles and a pair of RBI.

Brother Rice (9-2; 3-0 Blue) defeated Fenwick 3-2 in Mt. Greenwood on Thursday. Crusader senior RHP Garrett O’Neil (3-1) went the distance on the mound and then made himself the winning pitcher when he went deep for the red-hot Crusaders. Fenwick falls to (7-3; 3-2 White 1-3).

St. Rita (7-4; 2-1 Blue) hammered Bishop McNamara 15-4 in six innings. Mustang sophomore Jake Shepsky had a big day against the Fighting Irish. The super-soph drove home seven runs with two doubles, two singles and a solo shot for good measure. Mustang University of Louisville-bound C Zack Soria went deep with a man on and added a single.

Loyola (4-9; 2-1 Blue) defeated St. Joseph 5-3 behind Rambler juniors J.T Trimble and Fred Smart. Trimble picked up the victory on the mound and Smart took care of the Rambler offense with a double, triple and drove home three of the five Rambler runs. 

Corn Belt

Stanford Olympia (3-5; 1-1) slipped past Pontiac 2-1 behind Spartan junior Dennis Jenkins, who fired a one-hitter at the Indians on Thursday. Pontiac (4-10; 0-2) received a triple from Indians junior Jon Roberts.

Fox Valley Crossovers

McHenry (8-4; 1-0 Valley) rolled past Woodstock North 9-2 behind a complete-game performance from Warrior Kevin Maher (3-0). Warrior junior Kevin Gehrke had two hits and plated two runs to lead the Warrior attack. Warrior senior 3B Kyle Clark had three hits and drove home a Warrior run.

 Huntley (6-4; 1-0 Valley) outslugged Crystal Lake Central 14-11 in the Red Raiders FVC opener on Thursday. Trailing 11-8 in the fifth, Red Raider sophomore SS Matt Sullivan had a big two–run double to bring the Red Raiders within 11-10. Red Raider sophomore C Mark Skonieczny hammered a two-run triple for the eventual game-winner to lead the Red Raiders past the Tigers.

Interstate 8 Crossovers

Coal City (5-5; 1-0 North) blasted Reed-Custer 10-0 in five innings as Coaler senior Brandon Willis fired a four-hit shutout with three strikeouts.

Metro Suburban

Fenton (6-5; 2-1) slammed Timothy Christian 8-1 on Thursday.

North Suburban Lake

Lake Zurich (10-2; 2 -0) kept pace with Mundelein and Stevenson with a 6-5 win in nine innings over Warren on Thursday. In a completion of Wednesday’s suspended contest, LZ junior Dom Demicco ripped a game-wining single and sent the large crowd gathered in Bear Country home happy.

South Seven

No.18 Mount Vernon (13-2; 3-0) blanked Carbondale 3-0 behind a four-hit shutout from 6-foot-4 senior Jared Anthis (4-0). Seniors Josh Gately (2 RBI) and Zach Jones (RBI) had the big hits for the Rams

South Suburban Crossovers

No. 20 Oak Forest (6-3; 2-1 Blue) defeated Oak Lawn 9-1 behind sophomore 1B Brian Richard. The super-soph plated five Bengal runs with a single, double and a home run. Oak Lawn falls to (6-5; 2-1 Red)

Lemont (6-4; 2-1 Blue) blasted Evergreen Park 9-2. Indian senior leadoff man Kyle Milinowisch homered and singled and drove home two Indian runs. Indian junior C Billy Hayes chipped in with a pair of hits and a pair of RBI.

Richards (6-5; 2-0 Red) smashed TF North 14-4 in five innings. Bulldog 1B Lou Castro and SS Jake Beiringer led the Bulldog assault on the Meteors.

S. Illinois River-River Ohio

No.19 Benton (12-2; 3-0) blasted Frankfort 13-3 in six innings. Ranger senior C Trey Garrett had two hits and five RBI to lead the Benton onslaught on Thursday. Beau Gibbs went deep for the Rangers and senior Mason Childers improved to 2-0 on the mound for the Rangers.

Southwest Prairie

Plainfield South (7-3; 3-0) completed its sweep of archrival Plainfield Central, defeating the Wildcats 6-4. Cougar sophomore closer Enrique Perez put out a Central fire in the seventh to pick up the save.

No. 6 Minooka (8-4; 2-1) fell to Plainfield East 9-5 on Thursday. If you are a highly-ranked team, you are in deep trouble against the Indians. If you are a sub .500 team, the Indians seem to relax. Plainfield East (5-6; 1-2) did just that in Plainfield on Thursday.

Bengal senior C Ed Fetchko had a perfect 4-for-4 day with a double and drove home four runs to lead the Bengals past the highly-rated Indians.

No. 5 Plainfield North (8-1; 2-1) won its rubber-game with Oswego 7-4 behind Tiger senior Alex Starks who plated a pair for the Tigers.

Southwestern

No. 14 Alton (9-2; 3-1) fell to Belleville West 7-2 on Thursday. Belleville West (7-3; 3-1) pulls into a three-way tie for first with O’Fallon and Alton.

No. 15 Edwardsville (7-2; 2-2) was blanked by O’Fallon 5-0. Panther junior Ethan Wild (4-0) threw a five-hitter at the Tiger sophomore Jeff Hahs and senior Cory Beyersdorfer hit the first two Panther bombs of 2012. Both were solo shots. Two-time defending SWC champs O’Fallon improves to (8-4; 3-1)

Suburban Christian Crossovers

Marmion (7-4; 3-0 Blue) nipped Walther Lutheran 4-3. Cadet senior Mike Pipp had the big hit for Marmion when he ripped a two-run double, which made junior Connor Riley the winning pitcher. Riley struck out eight Bronco hitters in five innings.

Upstate 8 Crossovers

Geneva (8-1-1, 1-0 River) slipped past Bartlett 4-3. Geneva junior RHP Andy Honiotes, who is ranked 6^th in the Class of 2013, pitched well into the seventh. Honiotes was relieved by NIU-bound Matt Williams (WP), who wrapped up the 7^th with the game tied at 3-3.

Stetson-recruit Matt Brandys singled to leadoff the fateful seventh and scored the game-winner, sending the large contingent of Viking faithful home happy. Brandys was 2-for-3 in the game with a stolen base.

Neuqua Valley (7-3; 3-0 Valley) blanked Elgin 2-0 behind a three-hitter from Wildcat junior RHP David Gerber. Wildcat senior 1B Joe Grabarits went deep for the U8C Valley leaders.

Nonconference

No. 4 Oak Park (8-1) slipped past Downers Grove South 4-3 in a WSC crossover on Thursday.

No. 8 Andrew (8-3) rallied for three runs in the seventh to defeat Lincoln-Way Central 5-4. The game marked the first game for Lincoln-Way Central since the passing of Knight senior Tommy Schuman. There was a pre-game ceremony honoring the memory of the fallen Schuman, who passed away over night last Friday. Our heart-felt sympathy goes out to the Schuman family and the entire Lincoln-Way Central family. Lincoln-Way Central falls to 7-3.

No. 13 Simeon (10-3) fell 8-1 to Harrisburg (9-3-1) as the Chicago-Deep South series was split between the two powerhouse baseball programs. Harrisburg junior Ryne Roper was 2-for-3 with 2 RBI and Bulldog starting and winning pitcher Tyler McGowa, helped his own cause with a booming two-run double. McGowan fired a three-hitter at the 13^th-ranked Wolverines.

No. 17 Marist (8-2) blanked Harlan 10-0 in five innings on Thursday. University of Notre Dame-bound LHP Mike Hearne (4-1) fired a one-hitter at the Falcons and struck out five. The five-inning shutout was the fourth consecutive shutout for the Redhawk staff.

No.21 Carmel (7-3) outslugged Palatine 10-8 behind Corsair senior Blake Bucsa. 

No. 22 Lincoln-Way North (7-2) blanked Joliet West 2-0 in a Southwest Suburban crossover on Thursday. Phoenix junior Alex Neufeld had the game-winning RBI single for LWN.

No. 23 Niles West (10-1) slipped past Lake Forest 4-3 behind Wolves starting pitcher Kyle Colettta. Coletta fired a complete-game gem at the Scouts and helped himself with a booming two-run triple.

Sandburg (5-2-1) slipped past Bradley-Bourbonnais 6-5 on Thursday. Eagle senior Zach Reks and junior Justin Joy each drove in a pair of Eagle runs.

Prairie Central (9-1) rolled past the Minutemen of Lexington 9-2 behind Hawk sophomore Devin Crews who drove in five PC runs on Thursday.

Chatham Glenwood (10-2) defeated Troy-Triad 4-0 behind a no-hitter from Titan senior Josh Staggs (2-0). Staggs struck out two and let the Titan defense do their thing as Stagg fired a no-no at the Knights. Titan senior Sean Dowling doubled and tripled and drove home three of the four Titan runs.

PBR Executive Director Sean Duncan will be in Normal on Friday for the big Central Illinois showdown between Glenwood and Normal West (10-2) on Friday at West at 4:30.

Lisle (10-5) defeated previously undefeated Manteno 2-1 behind junior Ryan Van Volkenberg. Van Volkenburg fired a six-hitter at the Panthers. Manteno (12-1) picked up its only run on a Lisle error.

Herscher (13-3) blasted Westmont 13-3 in five innings, behind a three-run bomb by Matt Webber and a two-run shot by NIU-bound Jordan Ruckman.

Homewood-Flossmoor (7-2) defeated Lincoln-Way West 7-5 in a SWSC crossover on Thursday. Viking senior C Steve Roman had three hits and plated two Viking runs.

Glenbrook North (7-4) blasted Buffalo Grove 8-1 behind junior RHP Brad Margolin, who fired a two-hitter at the Bison. Margolin fanned eight. Black Hawk College-bound John Boidanis had two hits and three RBI to lead the Spartan attack.

Lockport (6-4) shutout Stagg 4-0 as three different Porter pitchers combined for a one-hit whitewash of Stagg. Porter senior Nick Davito (3-2), junior Eric Duzan and junior Connor Ryan combined for the shutout. Porter senior 2B Josh Altmann led the Porter attack with two hits, including a double and drove in two Porter runs.

Maine South (6-3) hammered Libertyville 10-0 in a five inning contest on Thursday.  Hawk senior Rocky Saavedra fired a five-hitter at the Wildcats and University of Notre Dame-bound Kyle Richardson had a pair of doubles and drove home a run. Saavedra helped himself with a pair of RBI.

Stevenson (6-3) defeated Fremd 2-1 on a game-winning single from University of Illinois bound Patriot SS Adam Walton. Fremd falls to 7-3

Rolling Meadows (6-3) fired its second consecutive shutout as the Mustangs blanked Glenbard North. Mustang senior Eric Lowe (2-0) fired a three-hitter at the Panthers. Lowe had three hits at the plate to help himself. Mustang senior Mike Olson drove home a pair of Mustang runs and junior John Burkiewicz launched his first home run of 2012.

Highland (7-1) slipped past two time defending Class 2A Champs Teutopolis 2-1 in Highland on Thursday. Teutopolis falls to 8-3.

Machesney Park Harlem (8-4) blasted Rock Island 16-6 behind Iowa Western-bound Drake Robison, who improves to 3-1 on the mound for the Huskies. Huskie senior Derrick Mason went deep with a man on for Harlem.

Harvard (3-4-1) defeated Alden-Hebron 11-5. Hornet senior Cody Melson singled and homered and drove in three Hornet runs. Hornet senior Kainin Gibson had two doubles and two RBI. Hornet starting pitcher Mike Piechocki had a solid six-inning stint to pick up the win. Piechocki struck out 8.

Hoffman Esates (6-7-1) defeated Naperville Central 3-2 on a Riley Mugerditchian game-wining single that made a winner out of Hawk starting pitcher Jimmy Ward, who fired a three-hitter at the Redhawks. Ward (3-1) helped himself with a solo shot in the first. Naperville Central falls to 5-4.

York (6-4) blasted Proviso East 11-3 in a West Suburban Conference crossover on Thursday. Duke Mike Shank doubled and drove home three to lead the Duke attack. RHP Tim Wiggins picked up the win on the mound for York.

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