St. Viator earns sectional berth
St. Viator won its fourth regional title in the last five years on Saturday as the Lions knocked off Deerfield 3-1 in a regional final at Glenbrook North in Northbrook.
" I am really proud of this group," St. Viator coach Mike Manno said. "As I said before, this team has bought into everything we have preached to them. They won again with timely hitting, great pitching and a will to win."
The Lions (23-14), who were seeded No. 5, will meet top seed Libertyville at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Glenbrook South. There the Lions will attempt to win their first sectional game under Manno.
"That game keeps eluding us," Manno said. "But this is great group of guys who just play very well together."
The Lions showed that teamwork by beating Deerfield for the third time in the regional final.
St. Viator scored in the first when Ben Dickey walked, stole second and third and scored on Bobby Calmeyn's RBI single.
Deerfield tied it in the second, but the Lions regained the lead for good in the fifth.
Michael Ragauskis, who was running for Kevin Monson, who had singled, scored on a bunt by Matt Darling. The Lions picked up an insurance in the next inning when Pete Meyer tripled and pinch runner Matt O'Neill scored on Monson's sacrifice fly.
Deerfield threatened in the top of the seventh, loading the bases with two outs. But Mike Piet got a flyball out to end the game, picking up his school-record sixth career save.
George Burny earned the win for the Lions, pitching 6⅓ innings while allowing just 3 hits and striking out four.
Ben Dickey finished with a hit, a walk and 2 stolen bases for St. Viator.
Libertyville advanced by beating Highland Park 7-4 on Saturday.
The other semifinal at Glenbrook South will be Mundelein against the host Titans at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
- Dick Quagliano
Maine South 2, Maine West 0: The No. 8 seed in the Loyola sectional couldn't make much headway against the top seed's starting pitcher, Bobby Pennington, as Maine West's season came to a close.
The Warriors (17-17) were limited to five singles, one each from Geoff Duckmann, Eric Outlaw, Chris Selgrad, Crosley Duckmann and Joe Swanson as starter Matt Swanson pitched well, allowing only 3 hits in suffering the loss.
Maine South advances to a 5 p.m. Loyola sectional semifinal against Evanston, which topped Notre Dame 2-1 on Saturday behind a complete game from Ryan Snap.
Loyola 16, Elk Grove 2: The Mid-Suburban League champions couldn't stop the sixth-seeded Ramblers from scoring late in the game as the third-seeded Grens (22-11) fell in a regional final on their home field.
It was a close game through five innings, as Loyola led 3-2. But the Ramblers, who finished with 21 hits, scored 8 runs in the sixth and 5 more in the seventh.
Jack Yalowitz allowed Elk Grove 7 hits but also struck out seven in a complete-game victory.
Matt Wary and Adam O'Malley had 2 hits apiece for Elk Grove. Wary doubled and tripled, while teammate Josh Bergbreiter had a double.
Loyola will host New Trier in a 5 p.m. Thursday sectional. New Trier advanced Saturday by edging Niles West 1-0 in 9 innings as Matt Cohen got the victory.