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DeMarco and Co. Get No. 7 St. Charles North Past Wheaton Warrenville South

June 4, 2021
By Kevin Cronin
Area Scout

No. 7 St. Charles North hosted Wheaton-Warrenville South in a 4A Regional Semi-final matchup on Thursday afternoon. St. Charles North scored in every inning en-route to a 12-5 victory. 

The biggest inning came in the bottom of the fifth, when St. Charles North scored four runs breaking the game open. With one out, Andrew Jimenez, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee commit, and Marco Torres, a University of Wisconsin-Whitewater commit, reached on back-to-back errors to get the inning started. Uncommitted junior Ryan Caccia, followed with a hit-by-pitch to load the bases. On a 3-1 count, senior Lucas Bolender, a Concordia University Wisconsin, delivered the swing of the game, a grand slam to right center field, accounting for all four runs in the frame and giving the North Stars a commanding 9-3 lead heading to the sixth. 

Senior Nick DeMarco, a Notre Dame commit, threw the final two innings of the game and closed the seventh, striking out two in the frame. DeMarco recorded the final six outs of the game, four of them via strikeout. DeMarco pounded the zone throughout, throwing 69% of his 26 pitches for strikes. The talented right-hander featured a lively, four-seam fastball that sat 90-93 mph creating a lot of late, uncomfortable swing. His go-to secondary offering is a 76-77 mph, 12/6 curveball with advanced depth, the ability to land for strikes and break off the plate when needed. Extremely impressive look from the No. 4 ranked prospect in the Illinois’ 2021 class.

After having their 2-0 lead cut in half in the top of the third, St. Charles North answered with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Alex Najera, a University of Wisconsin-Whitewater commit, delivered a two-out RBI double to right-center which scored Ethan Kobylinski. DeMarco followed up with a no-doubt, two-run blast to give the North Stars a 5-1 lead at the time.

Jayden Lobiner, a Kansas State commit, gave St. Charles North an early 1-0 lead in the first, with a single back through the middle scoring DeMarco.

Notre Dame commit Zach Kempe, ranked No. 9 in Illinois’ 2021 class, got the start for St. Charles North. Kempe was in control for the beginning part of the game. Kempe allowed only one runner through two innings and limited the damage when runners got on. Kempe earned the win, going four innings, allowing two earned runs on two hits, two walks and struck out three. The talented right-hander showed an above-average fastball at 87-90 mph, with the ability to over-power hitters at times. Kempe also features one of the best breaking balls in the class, a tight, late-breaking slider that sits in the mid-to-upper 70’s.  

St. Charles moves on to the regional championship on Monday when the host Wheaton North.

For more in-depth notes from the games - and all other games that we cover - visit the Illinois Scout Blog.

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