Baseball: Marmion claims Class 3A regional crown

Playing in the rugged Chicago Catholic League helped prepare Marmion's baseball team for its biggest postseason test Saturday.

Or should I say tests.

A few hours after staving off a late rally to defeat Aurora Central Catholic 7-3 in the Class 3A regional semifinals, the Cadets (19-16) captured their second consecutive regional title by knocking off top-seeded Sycamore (24-10) 6-0 in Aurora.

Junior right-handed pitcher Brandon McPherson fired 6 innings of 5-hit ball with 8 strikeouts in a 100-pitch outing before reliever Nick Talarico retired the side in order in the seventh to preserve the championship for the fifth-seeded Cadets, who advance to Wednesday's 6 p.m. Sycamore sectional semifinal to play Rockford Lutheran.

"We took the mentality when we started in the weight room in September that we were playing for seven games at the end of May and June," said Marmion coach Frank Chapman. "We have the schedule that allows us to be prepared for those seven games. It's a testament to these kids."

Sophomores Eric Lundell and Talarico combined on the mound for the Cadets against ACC (22-10-1) before McPherson took over in Saturday's nightcap against 2016 supersectional qualifier Sycamore.

"It feels good especially with the circumstances," said McPherson. "This was our first true doubleheader and it's a warm day so it was a good test. Our bench did a great job keeping the energy up."

While McPherson did his part on the mound, Trevor Taus supplied plenty of offense at the plate.

Batting in the 7th spot, Taus launched the first home run of his career - a 2-run shot in the second inning that sailed well over the right-field fence to break a scoreless deadlock.

"I thought he (Spartans starting pitcher Jacob Cavanaugh) was going to throw me a curveball but I got a fastball and I was on time," said Taus. "I hit it as far as I could. I didn't think it was going to go out so I was booking it down the line."

"Tyler Taus hasn't hit a ball that hard in the air all year," said Chapman. "He has hit some rockets on the ground and some low line drives but nothing in the air like that. That was huge. It was his moment there."

An inning later, Taus capped his 4-RBI performance with a 2-run, 2-out double with the bases loaded as the Cadets extended their lead to 5-0.

"I was just seeing the ball real well today," said Taus. "Big ups to my team for getting base and letting me do my job."

McPherson walked 2 of the first 4 batters he faced before settling down, relying on his breaking ball early in the game.

"After the first inning, me and my catcher (Chase Stanke) decided it would be best if we started pitching backward until I could locate my fastball," said McPherson.

"Getting into some full counts - that's typical of Brandon," said Chapman. "As long as we can get to the sixth inning with him, then we're OK."