Blowout! St. Francis clobbers Rock Falls

If hitting is contagious, then St. Francis' baseball team might be coming down with something.

Putting on a lethal offensive display, the Spartans (24-9) simply overpowered Rock Falls (23-11-1) during their 19-1, 5-inning Class 3A sectional semifinal triumph Thursday afternoon in Sycamore.

How impressive was it?

Eleven of the Spartans' 18 basehits went for extra bases, including tape-measure home runs by Jake Radel, Michael Beach and Foster Heise.

Every player in their starting lineup recorded at least 1 basehit, five of whom enjoyed multi-hit performances.

"When we swing the bats, we're a very fun team to watch," said St. Francis first-year coach Nick Hall. "This was one of those games where you sit back and watch them. Three home runs in what looks to be a minor-league dimension ballpark - they did a great job."

The Spartans actually spotted the Rockets a 1-0 lead in the top of the first before going to work in the bottom half of the inning.

Tim Lilly led off with a double down the third-base line before advancing to third on Jason Sullivan's sacrifice bunt.

After Will Purdom was hit by a pitch, Brett Whelton delivered an RBI single to tie the game before Radel lined a 2-run double to right-center to put the Spartans ahead 3-1.

St. Francis struck for 4 more runs in the third to grab a 7-1 lead, benefiting from Tim Sullivan's 2-out RBI single and a 2-run double off the bat of Lilly.

However, the Spartans saved their best for a 12-run, fourth-inning explosion that featured Radel's 2-run home run and back-to-back long balls from Beach and Heise.

"I've only hit one home run this year so I was a little worried - I was running it out," said Radel, who went 4-for-4 with 6 RBI and 3 runs scored. "It's hard to know the feeling (of hitting a home run), but it was definitely a good feeling."

Radel went on to bat twice in the fourth, knocking in 2 more runs with a hard-hit single on his second plate appearance.

By the time the inning ended, the Spartans had sent 15 batters to the plate and collected 10 hits - 7 for extra bases.

"When it was going on, I couldn't help but smile," said Hall, whose team will face Belvidere North (16-21) in Saturday's 11 a.m. sectional championship. "You work so hard, you want to see the kids succeed.

"Hitting is contagious but how nice is it when you have two home runs out of your 7- and 8-hole. That's pretty cool."

Whelton, Beach and Heise also enjoyed multi-hit games, joining Radel and Lilly.

"What our hitters do is take advantage of their at-bats," Hall said. "If they're 2-0, they're ready to roll. If it's two strikes, they're looking to put a ball in play. They don't get cheated early in the count and they battle late in the count."

Few expected a 12-run inning, though.

"We had one versus Ridgewood but they didn't have an outfield fence so the balls just kept rolling," said Radel, one of three senior starters who are making the most of the Spartans' postseason run.

"It's so fun," Radel said. "The dugout just gets so much more alive. Everything is so much better."

Senior winning pitcher Theo Lamperis fired 4 innings of 4-hit ball before junior Colin Wisted worked a perfect inning of relief.