Baseball: Conant keeps postseason surge going; St. Viator adds to regional collection

Another day, another Majer upset in favor of Conant's baseball team.

Matt Majer tossed a 1-hit shutout on Saturday as the No. 18 seed in the Lake Park sectional refused to bow out of the Class 4A state tournament.

Conant, which had already ousted the No. 15 and No. 2 seeds, added No. 10 to the list with a 5-0 victory over Glenbard West in the Bartlett regional championship game.

Majer allowed just a single to the Hilltoppers' Kevin Spencer will striking out six and walking one. He was also the winning pitcher in Conant's playoff-opening win against Wheaton Warrenville South.

Coach Derek Fivelson's team made good use of its 6 hits.

Mason Sykes finished 2-for-4 with a double and 2 RBI, C.J. Deshazer doubled and drove in 3 runs and Sam Ryan went 2-for-4.

Next up for Conant (16-18) is a date against Willowbrook in a 7:30 p.m. Wednesday Lake Park sectional semifinal.

McHenry 4, Barrington 0: The Mid-Suburban League champs saw their season come to an end with a loss to the No. 3 seed.

Barrington (28-8) got 2 hits from Blake Gosswein and 1 each from Will Yorton and Clark Elliott but couldn't get much else going against McHenry starter Michael Lasiewicz, who struck out 11.

McHenry advances to meet Rockton Hononegah regional champ Huntley in a 4 p.m. Wednesday sectional semifinal at McHenry.

Maine West 3, York 2: Seeded 14th in the Chicago Lane sectional, Maine West has been focused on numbers that matter even more in the postseason.

Like the final score of the games the Warriors have been playing.

Having already eliminated No. 2 Oak Park-River Forest, Maine West added No. 7 York to its list of recent upsets by topping the Dukes in Class 4A regional title play at Niles North.

Max Rothweiler and Jacob Cabral both homered in the fifth inning, when Maine West got all its scoring.

It turned out to be enough for Warriors starter Matt Willett, who went the full 7 innings and allowed 3 hits with 6 strikeouts.

Matt Mustari had 2 hits for Maine West (12-20), which advances to a 7:30 p.m. Wednesday semifinal at Chicago's Kerry Wood Field in the Lane sectional against the winner of Saturday night's Fenwick regional championship game between Fenwick and Loyola.

Evanston 5, Leyden 4: The fifth-seeded Eagles(21-7-2) bowed out of the postseason with a setback against the fourth-seeded Wildkits at Maine South.

Next up for Evanston is the top seed, New Trier, in a 4:30 p.m. Wednesday sectional semifinal hosted by Lane. New Trier advanced by beating Niles West 3-1 on Saturday.

St. Viator 9, Woodstock 0: It might be a regular occurrence, but that doesn't mean it's getting old.

Class 3A regional host St. Viator claimed a regional title for the sixth time in the last eight seasons by handling Woodstock on Saturday.

"Our kids have been through a ton of adversity this year, but they have kept grinding with one goal in mind - win in the postseason," said St. Viator coach Mike Manno, appreciative of what playing in the East Suburban Catholic Conference does for his team. "The ESCC prepares us for games like today. We have seen the best all year, which will always make us better."

The Lions (20-15) advance to a Chicago Lake View sectional semifinal to play at Kerry Wood Field in Chicago at 1 p.m. Wednesday, where they'll see one of those familiar ESCC foes: Richmond-Burton regional champion Carmel.

Against Woodstock, winning pitcher Cole Kmet worked the first 4 innings, striking out nine in that short span and allowing 4 hits. Bobby Perna supplied 3 innings of 6-strikeout, 2-hit relief.

At the plate, Cole Kmet had a pair of doubles and Casey Kmet finished 3-for-4 with 4 RBI from the leadoff spot in the order.

Jack Mahoney, Brett DeSelm, Jack Mahoney and Michael Wittich had 2 hits apiece, and Joe Sarnello drove in 2 runs.