Swanson delivers for Maine West

Matt Swanson made sure Maine West got a shot at top-seeded rival Maine South.

Swanson threw a 7-hitter with 8 strikeouts as the ninth-seeded Warriors won their own Class 4A baseball regional semifinal Thursday with a 7-1 win over No. 8 Lane Tech in Des Plaines.

Maine West (19-17), which will face Maine South for the regional crown at 11 a.m. Saturday, also had the bats to back up Swanson’s pitching. Alex Hernandez went 3-for-4 with an RBI and Tom Kukec and James Duckmann had 2 hits apiece for the winners.

Loyola 10, Elk Grove 8: No. 11 Loyola scored the final 4 runs and starter Danny Rafferty didn’t allow a hit in the final 3 innings in the 4A regional semifinal win. Luc Dimaso, Jack Czeszewski and Mike Maize had 2 hits apiece for No. 6 Elk Grove (19-17).

Elk Grove took a 3-0 lead in the first on Czeszewski’s RBI double, Peter Kinsella’s RBI single and Nick Zak’s RBI triple. Loyola answered with a 4-run second but the Grens tied it on back-to-back 2-out doubles by Dimaso and Czeszewski.

Loyola went ahead 6-4 on Logan Spurlin’s 2-run homer in the third but Elk Grove got a Patrick O’Malley RBI single and Josh Bergbreiter 2-run single in the third and an RBI double by Maize in the fourth. But Rafferty was a completely different pitcher the rest of the way with 6 of his 9 strikeouts as the only baserunner reached on an error.

Loyola tied it with a 2-run fifth and won it with a 2-run sixth.

Stevenson 5, Rolling Meadows 4 (12 inn.): Dan Hendricks homered as No. 10 Meadows (18-16) took a 4-0 lead in the second inning but No. 7 Stevenson rallied to tie in the bottom of the seventh and then win the 4A regional semifinal in Lincolnshire.

Leyden 13, Taft 9: No. 5 Leyden (18-15) held off No. 12 Taft in the 4A Niles West regional semifinal. The Eagles will play the fourth-seeded host Wolves for the regional title at 11 a.m. Saturday.