Kaneland, Marmion could meet for title
There’s a few more area baseball teams still alive heading into sectional play this week than there is in softball.
While St. Charles East takes its 27-10 record across town to play upstart Glenbard West in the Class 4A St. Charles North sectional Thursday, two area 3A teams head west to Rochelle.
Kaneland, fresh off its first regional title in school history, meets Marian Central at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
The following day Marmion will play Belvidere North. The winners play Saturday.
Kaneland and Marmion take similar records to Rochelle — 21-10 for the Knights and 20-8 for the Cadets — and they both have an ace who just pitched Saturday, Bobby Thorson for Kaneland and Tim Tarter for Marmion.
Luckily for coaches Brian Aversa and Dave Rakow, they also have pitching depth. Aversa can turn to either Drew Peters, who tossed a perfect game at IMSA last week, or Kyle Davidson who came on strong late in the year, while Rakow has Tyler Friel fresh off 7 shutout innings in a regional semifinal win over Crystal Lake Central.
Kaneland won its regional title 2-1 over Sycamore, which is the type of “scratching out a run” baseball that Marmion can play too.
“When we are playing well that’s the kind of baseball we play,” Rakow said of the team’s 4 stolen bases Saturday and aggressive baserunning. “We don’t try to hit home runs or play for big innings all the time. We try to chip away, chip away.”
Jordan Meyer is one of 4 left-handed hitters in Marmion’s lineup. He’s been part of consecutive regional champions and is looking forward to the chance to get that first sectional crown.
“It was good to get there last year,” Meyer said of the sectionals. “And to do it again, we are turning it on at the right time.”
The same could be said of St. Charles East’s next opponent, Glenbard West. The Hilltoppers are seeded No. 14 and are just now back to .500 at 18-18, but with a win Thursday they can take out both St. Charles teams in the span of six days.
Glenbard West upset St. Charles North 8-5 in 11 innings in a game that started Friday and ended Saturday, and then added another upset over No. 6 York on Monday.
As usual, Saints coach Dave Haskins has options to use on the mound. Ace Wes Benjamin will have four days rest after needing only 73 pitches to shut out Geneva on Saturday. Dan Ditusa, Johnny Hondlik and Kyle Manske are all available if Haskins chooses to save Benjamin for what could be a matchup with No. 1 seed and state-ranked Lyons in the sectional championship on Saturday. Lyons meets No. 5 Glenbard North Wednesday in the other sectional semifinal.
Haskins scouted Glenbard West Monday and was impressed with Ben Krusen, who threw one inning of relief after pitching six innings against St. Charles North on Friday. Krusen also was the star at the plate in that win over the North Stars with a 2-run home run to tie the game in the seventh.
“They have a solid ace,” Haskins said of Krusen, who the Saints beat in last year’s regional semifinals. “He’s about 83, 84 (mph) and has a hard breaking ball.”
Haskins said he would decide which of his pitchers to start after watching Lyons and Glenbard North play.
“I’m kind of tossing back and forth. I haven’t made a decision yet because it also includes the supersectional,” Haskins said of the potential Monday game and the chance to bring back his Thursday starter. “We’re prepping our three lefties to be ready to go.”