Bartosz, Montini stifle Jacobs in Lawler Classic

Montini’s improbable baseball run became much more possible Monday.

The Broncos handed Jacobs only its third summer loss with a 5-1 victory in the Phil Lawler Classic at Naperville’s North Central College.

Montini (17-10) advanced in the winner’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament to face St. Laurence, a 5-4 nine-inning winner over Crystal Lake South, at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Benedictine University in Lisle. A win over St. Laurence automatically pushes Montini into Wednesday’s state semifinals.

“These kids are never going to give up,” said Montini coach Eric Scott. “They’re going to keep fighting until they say we can’t play anymore. We used all nine guys out there to get the job done.”

It started with pitcher Chris Bartosz, who fired 5 innings of 2-hit shutout ball while nursing a 1-0 lead the Broncos grabbed on an RBI single by Manny Georgitsis in the top of the fourth. An unearned run boosted the lead to 2-0 in the sixth before Jacobs narrowed the gap in the bottom of the inning on a fielder’s choice that scored pinch runner Ryan Dubbs.

Like the entire rest of the game, however, the Golden Eagles’ lack of timely hitting cost them in the sixth. They stranded nine runners — including the bases loaded in the sixth and the first inning.

Clutch two-out hits just didn’t happen for Jacobs (24-3), which played in contrast to its regional championship drive last week at Lake Park. The Golden Eagles stayed alive in the tournament with Monday afternoon’s 6-0 victory over Crystal Lake South, and they’ll play the Montini-St. Laurence loser at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at Benedictine.

“Offensively we talk about quality at-bats and two-out RBIs,” said Jacobs coach Jamie Murray. “We’ve done it all year, all summer. And there’s no excuses in baseball. They executed better.”

Montini broke open the game with 3 runs in the top of the seventh. After Ben Dobosenski’s sacrifice fly brought home the first run, 2 runs came in on an infield error.

Broncos reliever Tyler Quick pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh, aided by a double play following a leadoff single by Aaron Meciej, who went 2-for-4. Austin Kline had a pair of hits for Montini.

“When you’ve got a good defense you just throw strikes and let them make plays,” said Bartosz, who scattered 4 hits, walked three and hit two batters while striking out two. “You’re looking for that one run and it’s up to me and my defense to make the plays and get those outs.”