advertisement

Area teams ready for Cook County tourney

Elk Grove swooned a bit in June but has been flying through July like a team ready to defend its Cook County American Legion baseball championship.

The Red Sox (24-8) have won 15 of their last 18 games — including a second-place finish at the 84-team Gopher Classic in Minnesota — to earn the second seed in the eight-team, double-elimination tournament which begins today and runs through Saturday. All games are nine innings with the first three days hosted by the higher seeds, the final two days at Rec Park in Arlington Heights and the winner advancing to next week’s state tournament in Mattoon.

“That’s why we do that tournament, it brought us together,” said Elk Grove coach Brian Mucha. “I feel very confident with our pitching, especially since it’s an eight-team tournament. I like our depth and if we swing the bats like we did in the Gopher Classic I like our chances.”

All of today’s openers start at 4 p.m. and Elk Grove will try to avoid a repeat of last year’s stunning upset when it faces No. 7 Portage Park at St. Viator. Top-seeded Arlington hosts No. 8 Morton Grove at Rec Park, No. 3 Northbrook hosts the No. 6 Chicago Indians and No. 4 Mount Prospect (11-17-1) faces No. 5 Palatine at Harper College.

Elk Grove has pitching talent and depth with lefty Paul Warble, who threw a complete game in Minnesota, Dan Guido, Art Sutter, Chris Myjak, Ryan Hayes, Tim McElroy and Matt Brancato. Cosimo Cannella, Brancato, Jordan Grubb, Colin Bethran, Roger Lane and Jeremy Hall have been keys to a solid lineup.

“That’s why I like our team,” Mucha said. “We don’t rely on one guy.”

The same is true for perennial Cook County contender Arlington, which has a tougher opener than it appears as Morton Grove was automatically seeded eighth since it plays mainly a Connie Mack schedule. Arlington coach Lloyd Meyer plans to go with aces Matt Hendricks and Richie Gorski in the first two games and Andrew Van Wazer and Pat Nix have been solid lately.

“They’ll have a pretty good club,” Meyer said of a Morton Grove team that Arlington beat 6-2 in its season opener. “They’re better than an eighth seed, that’s for sure.”

Meyer said shortstop Brad Gerdes has been playing outstanding and his brother Grant has fought his way in the lineup by consistently getting on base. John Burkiewicz, Erik Stoltzner, Gorski, Van Wazer and Hendricks have also been a big part of a balanced attack.

“Our defense and pitching have been pretty good but we have to get some big games out of guys,” Meyer said.

Palatine has been around .500 and the big struggle for Jeff Ryder has been playing only one game with his full roster. Lee Breitzman, who has beaten Elk Grove and Arlington, starts today and Trent Rehusch, Gunnar Anderson and Austin Jetel have also pitched well.

“Hopefully we’ll have our entire team and we’ll see how it falls,” Ryder said. “We’ve had errors I didn’t expect but guys are playing a lot of different positions.

“Our lineup has changed so much each game and this is the first year I can’t sit and tell you what our starting lineup is going to be.”

Ironically, that’s not the case for Prospect, which has had a full roster almost all year and has played well the last few weeks.

“It really stll comes down to our strength is our pitching right now,” said Prospect coach Tom Krumsee. “Our pitching has kept us in every game. We’re not going to blow anybody out but we’re going to be in every game.”

Brad Moore and Jeremy Berger have been Prospect’s top two but Jake LoGuidice, James Duckmann and Jordan Fedro provide talent and depth. Valparaiso-bound Trevor Haas could be available to pitch as well.

Josh Koutnik is hitting around .440 with 21 RBI, Duckmann has come around in the leadoff spot and Moore and Dan Larson have been key contributors in the lineup.

Northbrook is also formidable in what has been one of coach Mitch Stewart’s top teams. Former Glenbrook North star, Oakton College standout and Legion veteran Brett Synek is a dangerous offensive threat and hard-throwing Wheeling graduate Matt Hart, who pitched this spring at Illinois Wesleyan, is part of an experienced and talented pitching staff.

Second Division at Barrington:The final day of the 10th District tournament wasn#146;t among Barrington#146;s better ones as it lost twice to Lake Zurich last week. But Barrington (23-15) gets a second chance as the host of the Second Division tournament which runs through Friday at Kirby Smith Field.Lake Zurich and Fulton open the tournament at 11 a.m. today. Wheaton and Ottawa are scheduled to play at 3:30 p.m. today with the winner facing Barrington at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, but Barrington coach Pat Wire said Ottawa was expected to forfeit its opener because it wouldn#146;t have enough players.#147;If we play our own game we#146;ll be OK,#146;#146; Wire said. #147;Our schedule and the 10th District does a good job of preparing us for what#146;s ahead.#148;Wire said Scott Nelson (5-0, 0.83 ERA in 42 1-3 innings) will start the opener with Greg Gerrard (5-3), Max Redpath and Wyatt Trautwein among those providing pitching depth. Wire is also hoping to have switch-hitting catcher Ryan Lidge, who recently committed to Notre Dame, back from his showcase team and centerfielder Mitchell Pfeiffer (.412, 23 steals) will be back from a nagging thigh injury that kept him out of the 10th District finale.Barrington had won seven in a row #151; including a 14-3 win over Lake Zurich #151; before the losses for the 10th District crown. Barrington also split a pair of games with Wheaton this summer.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.