PBR DAILY ROUNDUP

March 24, 2012

By Drake Skleba

York senior RHP Greg Castello fired the first known seven-inning no-no of 2012 in Illinois, and it was a day of surprises across our great state on Saturday. Many members of our Preseason Top 50 bit the dust...It started at the very top as No. 1 Providence was upended by Minooka…and the list continued to grow as the day progressed …

No. 42 York (3-0) senior RHP Greg Castello (1-0) faced 22 Waubonsie Valley Warrior hitters, one over the limit, and fired a no-hitter as the Dukes won at Waubonsie Valley 4-0 on Saturday. The only Warrior baserunner reached on a Duke error; the other 21 hitters were retired by Castello. Castello struck out three and walked none.

Duke senior Jake Rzeszutko had a clutch two-run double in the four-run fourth. Anthony Santos and Pete Doughty picked up RBI singles for the Dukes.

Minooka (2-2) and Bellarmine University-bound LHP Josh Jimenez (1-1) fired a dominating three-hit shutout, as the Indians stunned top-ranked Providence 7-0 at Minooka on Saturday. Jimenez retired the first 17 Celtic hitters. Providence (3-1) senior 2B Jimmy Doherty “cancelled the post-game show” when he singled to left to break up the no-hitter and perfect-game bid by Jimenez.  

Soon to be in the new No. 1 spot - where they finished 2011 -  No. 2 Lyons Township (2-0) rolled past Brother Rice on Saturday 5-1.

No.13 Lincoln-Way North (2-1) fell victim to surprising Plainfield Central (3-1) and Wildcat senior Erik DeLoach. DeLoach sent the Wildcat fans home very happy as he hammered a walk-off bomb in the bottom of the 10th to give Plainfield Central a thrilling 7-6 victory. The PBR’s Drake Skleba will have the surprising Wildcats in a WJOL Area Invite quarterfinal at Lockport on Friday at 3:45. The Wildcats opponent: the Minooka Indians. 

Hoffman Estates (2-3) stunned No. 19 Huntley 8-2 on Saturday. Huntley (0-2) has opened up the season with two losses.

Barrington (4-2) stunned No.20 Chatham Glenwood 1-0. Bronco senior John Rogers fired a three-hit masterpiece at the Titans. Rogers struck out 6. Bronco junior Ryan Lidge went deep for Barrington in the fifth to send the Broncos to a big sweep at Normal Community High School. Glenwood falls to 2-1. 

Earlier in the day, Barrington (3-2) traveled down I-55 to McLean County and came away with a 4-2 victory over Normal Community (2-1) on Saturday. Bronco junior Chris Coco led the attack on the Ironmen, with a three-hit day and three RBI.

No. 20 Chatham Glenwood (3-1) bounced back from its loss to Barrington by hitting Normal Community (2-2) with a six-run first inning and never looked back beating the Ironmen 9-4. Senior Sean Dowling, junior Colin Brennan and senior Josh Giganti all had two-run doubles in the Titans 6-run first inning.

Titan senior Nathan Prindle went deep with a man on and Kansas State-bound Titan C Alex Bee had a perfect 2-for-2 day.

No. 21 Naperville Central (0-1) traveled to Palatine and lost a heart-breaking 2-1 eight-inning contest to Fremd (3-2). Viking Jack Anderson put an end to the proceedings in the bottom of the eighth, when he singled home the game winner off of Naperville Central’s junior RHP Cody Cambell (0-1). Anderson had quite a day for Fremd, accounting for the other Viking run as well with an RBI single. 

Crystal Lake Central (2-3) surprised No. 26 Mundelein 7-5 on Saturday. CLC was led by its junior RHP Jake Van Scoyoc, who fired a six-hitter at Mundelein (5-1). Van Scoyoc chipped in with a pair of hits and an RBI at the plate. The main culprit for Mundelein was its porous defense, as the Mustangs committed four errors and gave the Tigers five unearned runs.

Red-hot Lincoln-Way Central (6-1) stunned No. 35 Oak Lawn 5-4 in New Lenox on Saturday. Knight junior DH Grant Bartel’s single scored senior SS Jack Krull with the game-winner and made Knight Head Coach Sean Bieterman a happy camper. Oak Lawn falls to 3-1.

Surprising Marist (4-0) stunned No. 41 Lincoln-Way East 6-5 behind the red-hot senior John McKevitt. McKevitt scorched a bases-clearing double for the Redhawks and junior Bryan Polak chipped in with a pair of RBI that made a winner out of junior Cody Bohanek (1-0). Lincoln-Way East falls to 1-2.

On Tuesday, March 27 at 4:30, the unbeaten Marist Redhawks will host No.7 Simeon (6-1). Simeon lost to No. 4 St. Laurence 6-0 on Saturday (See Sean Duncan’s fine story). The game will be broadcasted LIVE by www.highschoolcube.com. The PBR’s Drake Skleba will once again be providing the color commentary on this huge Southside battle.

No. 3 Normal West (5-0) head coach Chris Hawkins, as stated in Thursday’s roundup, has had great pitching at the McLean County powerhouse. Hawkins received another example of this on Saturday, as Wildcat junior RHP Alex Jefferson fired a two-hit shutout at Lincoln. Jefferson (1-0), who picked up a save in the Wildcats win on Thursday, dominated the Railsplitter hitters,,,, striking out four and walking only one batter.

Jefferson’s junior battery-mate C Adam McGinnis continued his assault on the baseball as he doubled twice in four trips to the plate and drove home a pair of Wildcat runs. Thursday’s hero, senior Garrett Cook, had three more hits and an RBI. Turner Reid had a perfect day at the plate with a pair of singles and a walk and, last but not least, Jefferson helped himself and drove home a pair of RBI and was on base three times, with a single, a HBP and a walk. It’s time for Jefferson and his pals, to be “movin on up” the PBR State Rankings.

For the 31^st time in 32 games, the West pitching staff has held the opposition to four runs or less.

No. 24 Edwardsville (3-0) defeated Parkway West (MO) 13-3.

No. 47 O’Fallon (4-3) swept Quincy 1-0 and 15-0 in five innings.

Williamsville (5-0) defeated Maroa-Forsythe 5-0. Bullet starting pitcher Tyler O’ Shea (2-0) fired five shutout innings, allowing only three hits and had five strikeouts. O’Shea helped himself with a 2-for-3 day at the plate with an RBI. Iowa-bound Nick Roscetti and Skylar Arnberger chipped in with two hits each and an RBI.

No. 6 Mt. Carmel (5-0) made the long trek to Highland Park and had a happy bus ride home as the Caravan rolled 12-0 in six innings. Senior RHP Tyler Laurish (2-0) did it all for the Caravan. Laurish fired a three-hitter at the Giants and had a perfect 5-for-5 day at the plate with a pair of doubles. Laurish’s battery-mate, senior Dan Pappas, had pair of doubles and plated a pair of Caravan runs.

No. 9 St. Rita (2-2) rolled past Morton West 8-1 on Saturday. Mustang Jake Shepski (1-0) picked up the win on the mound for Rita. Purdue-bound 3B Stefano Belmonte drove home a pair of Mustangs with a booming double.

No. 10 Glenbrook South (2-2) righted the ship with a 15-3 pounding of Dundee-Crown in five innings. Titan senior George Stellas led the way when homered and had two singles while driving home three Titan runs.

For No. 17 Herscher (4-2), the 2012 season didn’t start out the way Tiger head coach Eric Regez had thought. Dropping two of their first four games, the Interstate 8 Conference South Division favorites sat at 2-2.

On Saturday, the Tigers played the way we all thought they would as they swept a quality Mahomet-Seymour (5-3) squad 6-0 and 6-3. In game one, NIU-bound LHP Jordan Ruckman (1-1) fired six shutout innings, allowing only three hits as the Tigers rolled to a game one 6-0 victory. The big hit in the Tiger win was provided by Andrew Elumbaugh, who hammered a clutch two-run double to give Ruckman and the Tigers all the runs they would need.

Game two went down to the bottom of the seventh. With the game tied at three, senior Matt Webber stepped to the plate with two teammates aboard. A moment later Webber sent the large contingent of Tiger fans in Herscher home happy as he blasted a three-run walk-off homer leading the Tigers to a 6-3 sweep of Mahomet-Seymour. Tiger junior C Evan Regez chipped in with a pair of hits and an RBI in the game two Tiger win.

No. 18 Prairie Ridge (2-2) evened up its record with a 7-2 win over Palatine.

No. 29 Plainfield North (3-0) defeated Bolingbrook 7-3 on Saturday behind Tiger Brendan Miller. Miller (1-0) fired 5 1/3 innings of shutout baseball and struck out 13 of the 15 outs.

No. 48 De La Salle (3-1) won again behind Western Michigan-bound RHP Pat Haynes (2-0) as the Meteors crushed St.  Patrick 9-2.

Galesburg (5-1) defeated Metamora 2-1 to win the Streaks Opening Weekend Tournament at Jim Sundburg Stadium in Galesburg. Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth, the Streaks shot the Redbirds down late. Streak junior Drake Sykes came through with a clutch two-out RBI single to knot the game at 1-1

Galesburg starting and winning pitcher, Colton Crain (1-0), finished up his complete-game gem by setting down Metamora (5-1) in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the seventh, the Streaks wrapped up the tournament championship. With two outs and two on, junior Tanner Guss-Laird ripped a shot into the right-centerfield gap scoring senior Tim Rossell, who was on second with the championship-clinching run.

In earlier tournament action on Saturday, the Streaks destroyed Dixon 10-0 in five innings behind a two-hitter for Rossell.

Villanova-bound Emmanuel Morris did it all for Hinsdale South (2-0) on Saturday against Shepard. Morris (1-0) fired six innings of four-hit ball at the Astros and allowed two unearned runs and helped himself by getting two big hits in leading the Hornets past Shepard 4-2.

Bloomington (4-1) won a pair on Saturday, slipping past Stanford Olympia 3-2 and blasting Freeport 12-1. In the big win over Olympia, yesterday’s hero Jayden Thompson provided Purple Raider Head Coach Steve Clapp with the game-winning single in the bottom of the seventh. Senior 2B Curtis Wiese had a pair of hits. In 2011, Wiese set the Bloomington High School single-season record for hits with 63.

In the blowout of Freeport, the Mardis twins, Matthew and Mike, took center-stage for the Purple Raiders. Matthew had three hits and three RBI and Mike settled for a pair of hits and two RBI. Wiese went to work on his own 2011 record with three more hits and junior Roman Visintine (1-0) won his varsity debut. Visintine fanned five Pretzel hitters in his five innings of work and allowed no earned runs.

Mount Vernon (6-1) fell from the ranks of the unbeaten in a 7-4 game one loss to Mattoon. The Rams bounced back in the nightcap and slipped past the Green Wave 3-1.In the game one loss, senior Zach Jones continued to punish the baseball with a 3-for-4 game with a double and an RBI.

In the nightcap win, Jones fulfilled his role as the Ram closer, when he fired two shutout innings in relief of winning pitcher Zane Xanders (1-0) for his third save of 2012.Junior Clayton Reeves had a perfect 3-for-3 day in the Rams nightcap victory. 

Crystal Lake South (4-2) downed Streamwood 4-1 behind Gator senior Jordan Van Dyke, who allowed but one run in 5 2/3 innings on the mound and picked up his second victory of 2012. Gator senior Eric Humpa fired 1 2/3 innings of shutout relief to nail down his second save of the season.

Gator junior Nick Severino had the big-hit in the Gators big 4-run fourth that broke up a scoreless tie after three. Severino came through with a clutch two-run single in the Gator 4-run fourth. Senior Will Ahsmann and senior C Tyler Salm each had two hits and scored a run for the Gators.    

Homewood-Flossmoor (1-0) won its season-opener in quality fashion with a 10-0 five-inning whitewash of Richards. Heartland Community College-recruit LHP Danny Lietz fired four shutout innings at Richards, and Lietz fanned 10 as he won his first start of 2012. Viking senior DH Elon Chamberlain led the Vikings attack with a homer and a single and plated four Viking runs.

Nazareth Academy (6-0) defeated Kenwood Academy 5-2 behind senior LHP Ed Gengo, who improved to 3-0 on the season. 

Andrew (2-1) stopped Willowbrook 6-4 Saturday behind T-Bolt senior 2B Brian Grad. Grad led the T-Bolt attack with a pair of RBI and also scored a pair of runs.

T-Bolt 6-foot-4, 210 pound RHP Tyler Hook (2-0) picked up the win on the mound for the ‘Bolts and T-Bolt closer Tim McElhaney nailed down his first save of the season.

Defending Class 3A champ Kaneland (2-1) routed Marmion 7-2 behind Knight senior Quinn Bushbacher, who had two hits and drove home a Knight run.

Effingham (3-1; 2-0) swept its Apollo Conference opening twin-bill on Saturday, defeating Salem 5-3 and 3-2. In game one, the Flaming Hearts were   led by senior Tim Gardenwine (2-0), who fired a five-hitter with 12 strikeouts. Both of the runs Gardenwine gave up were unearned. Gardenwine helped himself with a pair of hits and an RBI.

In game two, the Flaming Hearts won 3-2, scoring the winning run in the bottom of the seventh. Senior Mitch Meinhart had a booming two-run double to tie the game at 2-2 in the fourth. Junior Drew Levitt (1-0) fired four spotless innings in relief to pick up the win.

Bremen (5-3) swept Thornridge 13-3 and 14-4 on Saturday. Brave junior 3B Eric West had a 6-for-8 afternoon with three doubles, two singles and a triple and drove home 10 Brave runs.

Belleville East (4-0) swept Jerseyville 7-4 and 5-2.

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