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BG, Prospect keep MSL East Division race tight

Greg Sanders and Miles Osei pitched in Saturday to keep Buffalo Grove and Prospect a game behind Hersey in the Mid-Suburban East baseball race.

Sanders gave up 2-run homer to the second hitter of the game but settled down to go the distance as BG (14-10, 7-4) won 6-2 in its MSL crossover at Palatine (13-12, 6-5).

Osei continued his recent resurgence with his best performance of the season as he threw a 2-hitter with 11 strikeouts for Prospect (14-9, 7-4) in its 7-1 MSL crossover win at Conant (9-9, 3-8).

Palatine, which fell into a three-way tie for second in the West and three games behind Fremd, got to Sanders (5-1) right away. Cody Bobbit bunted for a hit, Kurt Becker homered and Mike Luschen doubled.

The only other hit Sanders allowed was in the seventh as he faced the minimum in the second through sixth innings. He threw 81 pitches and finished with 3 strikeouts and 3 walks in his third straight complete game.

"He was just dealing," said BG coach Jeff Grybash of Sanders, who has allowed only 3 earned runs in MSL games. "He was changing speeds and settled down. When he pitches the infield is really involved."

And the Bison made all the plays as they surpassed their win total of last year. Second baseman Brian Crowell had 3 of his 6 assists in the fifth inning and Mike Hepner was solid at first.

Andrew Van Wazer made a couple of nice plays at third. After shortstop Jake Monson had to leave the game when he was hit by a pitch, Ryan Nisbet moved in from the outfield and turned an unassisted double play.

"We played really good baseball," Grybash said.

The Bison also had the bats working as they tied it in the second and Jeremy Salzman (2-for-4) hit a 2-run homer in a 3-run third. Steve Pollakov went 2-for-4 with an RBI double and an RBI single and Jimmy Pinakidis went 2-for-4.

BG will look to avenge a 7-6 loss in nine innings on April 14 when it hosts Hersey (20-7, 8-3) at 4:30 p.m. Monday.

"We said on the bus, we wanted to be in this position and we've got it," Grybash said.

Prospect also stayed right in the hunt as Osei (2-1) allowed his only run in the fifth inning and issued 3 walks.

"He's been on a steady incline his last three outings and this was pretty stellar," said Prospect coach Ross Giusti of the senior lefty. "It's what we've been looking for out of him and he knows that. Having him back in the mix is a big boost for us right now."

Osei also went 2-for-3 and Peter Bonahoom (2-for-4) had an RBI single in the first. Prospect broke it open with a 6-run fourth as Jack Landwehr had a 3-run double and Ed Gerdes (2-for-4) had an RBI single.

UIC signee John Coen saw his 23-game hitting streak snapped as he went 0-for-2 but reached base three times on 2 walks and an error.

"That's pretty remarkable," Giusti said of Coen's streak.

Prospect hosts Elk Grove on Monday and is at Buffalo Grove on Wednesday.

Elk Grove 9, Schaumburg 4: Donny Duschinsky and Ryan Daubenspeck combined to go 7-for-8 and had 4 of the 12 doubles in the MSL crossover as Elk Grove (9-18, 4-7) broke out of an offensive slump during a six-game losing streak.

Duschinsky went 4-for-4 with 2 RBI and Daubenspeck was 3-for-4 with 4 RBI to lead a 14-hit attack for Elk Grove, which scored just 10 runs in its last six games. J.J. Kaczynski also went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI and doubled and Carl Sugihara, who is back after missinf more than a month with a torn MCL in his knee, also doubled.

Kyle Pfister (2-6) had the Grenadiers' other double and settled down to go the distance. He didn't allow a run in the last four innings and had 4 strikeouts and 3 walks.

Joe Infusino had 2 RBI and Mark Bielanski, Kevin Hilliard, Matt Brancato, Matt Glombicki and Eric Englund doubled for Schaumburg (7-13, 3-8).

St. Viator sweeps Marian: Power and pitching led St. Viator (15-10, 7-5) to 11-3 and 4-2 East Suburban Catholic Conference victories in Arlington Heights.

Robert Romano (5-1) threw a complete game in the opener with 8 strikeouts and 2 walks. Jack Czeszewski went 4-for-4 with a homer and 4 RBI, Cory Kay went 3-for-4 with a grand slam, double and 5 RBI and Rick Perotti and Jake Mastrangeli each had 2 hits as the Lions broke it open with a 7-run sixth.

Brendan King (4-2) completed the sweep as he threw a 3-hitter with 6 strikeouts and a walk and didn't allow an earned run. Brian Wilhite erased a 2-1 deficit with a 3-run homer in the fourth and Julian Sipiora went 2-for-3 with a homer in the first and a double.

Hersey, Hononegah split: Hersey (20-7) went to Rockton and rebounded from a 7-6 loss in Game 1 with a victory for its 12th 20-win season and eighth in 16 years under Bob Huber.

Alex Gelabert hit 2 homers in the opener.

Hoffman sweeps Mather: Lance Vesper and Erik Smoy combined on a 1-hitter in a 1-0 win in Game 1 and Hoffman Estates (13-14) broke out offensively in Game 2 for a 12-2 win in 5 innings over Mather.

Vesper went the first 4 innings of the opener and Smoy got the win when Mark Roberts doubled in pinch runner Scott Galetano in the bottom of the seventh.

In the second game, winner Zach Demmon, Kevin Tednes, Roberts and Drew Roesch each had 2 hits as Hoffman surpassed its win total of 11 last year.

Leyden sweeps Hinsdale S.: Jeremy Stawychny (6 hits, 4 RBI) and Eli Perez (5 hits, 5 RBI) led a pair of 13-hit attacks for Leyden (16-12, 8-9) as it swept Hinsdale South 11-4 and 8-3 in the West Suburban Gold doubleheader.

Dan Savas had 8 strikeouts and 1 walk in 6 innings in the opener and Eric Palmer won the second game.