Wheaton facing tough road back in state tournament

Wheaton had to fight back through the loser's bracket to win the Second Division American Legion baseball title.

So, Wheaton coach Jerry Miller is expecting more of the same after his team lost 12-9 to Moline in Wednesday's opening game of the state tournament at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake.

"It's a great group of kids and they're all into baseball," Miller said. "They're all about baseball and they get along with each other real well."

Wheaton (23-10) hopes to extend its first state tournament berth and avoid elimination at 4 p.m. today. It will play Crystal Lake (24-9), a 10-4 winner over Mattoon (18-17).

Defending state champion Palatine (30-8) beat Fairview Heights 12-7 and plays Moline at 12:30 p.m.; Fairview Heights (26-6) and Mattoon have a 9 a.m. elimination game.

Wheaton got off to a strong start but couldn't hold a 6-1 lead as Moline went ahead with a 6-run fifth inning.

"We made a few mental mistakes and they hit a little bit," Miller said. "We just didn't make plays when we should have. They kept chipping away at us and we weren't smart on the bases today."

Wheaton threatened in the bottom of the ninth with two on and no outs but could only get a run and didn't get the tying run to home plate.

David Wolak went 3-for-4 and was hit by a pitch Chris Caliva had 3 doubles in 4 at-ats. Aric Dama was 2-for-3 with a double, Richard Janakowicz had a double and 2 hits and Sean Ford homered.

"We were hitting a ton," Miller said. "Our team hits."