Baseball: Palatine's Grochowski's 1-hits Conant
Starting pitcher Jack Grochowski tossed a complete-game 1-hitter and had plenty of support from his hitters as Palatine's baseball team topped visiting Conant 9-0 in 5 innings Monday.
Grochowski struck out five and walked three to keep the Pirates (10-8, 5-2) in second place in the Mid-Suburban West race behind leader Barrington.
Leadoff hitter John Weber homered and finished 3-for-4 with 3 RBI, for Palatine. Third hitter J.T. Streepy went 3-for-3 with a double, and cleanup man Zach Oles was 4-for-4 with a double and 4 RBI.
Logan Smith had the lone hit for Conant (6-12, 2-5).
Buffalo Grove 8, Wheeling 1: Buffalo Grove scored at least once in each of the final three innings to get a road victory against MSL East contender Wheeling.
Riley Rundquist and Mac Camardo were tough in the middle of the order for the Bison (14-1-1) as both finished 3-for-4 with 3 RBI. Rundquist doubled twice, and Camardo and Zach Fricke also had two-baggers.
Fricke was effective on the mound, getting win after tossing 6 innings with 6 hits and 8 strikeouts. Jack Splett had 2 of the hits for Wheeling (9-8-1, 5-2), including a double.
Barrington 1, Schaumburg 0: Justin Walker's fifth-inning single drove in Sean Davis with the game's only run as the visiting Broncos won a nice pitching matchup between Ryan Loutos and the Saxons' Justin Schoefernacker.
Loutos fanned 13, walked 1 and tossed a complete-game 1-hitter. Schoefernacker yielded 4 hits with 4 strikeouts through 6⅓ innings as Schaumburg (5-13, 0-7) played error-free defense.
Blake Gosswein had 1 of those hits and and stole two bases for MSL West leader Barrington (16-5, 6-0).
Prospect 6, Hersey 3: Ben Courtney handled matters on the mound for the host Knights, and the bats were productive as well as host Prospect (9-7, 6-0) stayed perfect against MSL competition.
Courtney allowed only 1 hit through 6 innings and struck out seven. The Knights committed 5 errors, and none of the runs he allowed were earned.
Ryan Howe led the offensive effort for Prospect, finishing 3-for-3 with a double, and Richie Baszek, Grant Zellmer, Nick DeCapri and John Morgan had 2 hits apiece.
Tom Barnes came up with the hit for Hersey (6-10, 2-5).
St. Viator 6, Marian Central 2: The visiting Lions broke open a close game with a 3-run seventh inning to claim an East Suburban Catholic Conference win.
Jack Mahoney finished 2-for-4 and drove in 3 runs for the Lions (11-8, 3-4), and Casey Kmet also had 2 hits along with 2 RBI.
Bryce Hellgeth contributed a double and tossed a complete-game 3-hitter with 7 strikeouts and no walks.
Hoffman Estates 4, Fremd 2: The hosts Hawks came up with a 4-run third inning, which turned out to be enough support for Lucas Barnes to get the victory.
Jim Kliver tripled and drove in a run as part of a 3-for-3 day, and Dylan Bloom also had an RBI single in the third inning.
Barnes allowed 8 hits but struck out seven for Hoffman Estates (4-9, 3-4).
Eric Bennes and Tom Cermak both had 2 hits for Fremd (8-10, 3-4), and Cermak drove in both Vikings runs.
Elk Grove 12, Rolling Meadows 4: Nick Hofmann and Austin Brown led a productive group of Elk Grove hitters, both finishing 3-for-4 with a double and 3 RBI to help the Grenadiers (6-11, 2-5) past visiting Rolling Meadows.
Other big hitters in support of winning pitcher Brett Taucher included Joe Lopez (2 hits), Xander Rojahn (2 hits, double, 2 RBI) and Ryne Singsank (double, RBI).
Brandon Janowicz doubled, finishing 2-for-3 with 2 RBI for the Mustangs (3-13, 1-6).