Baseball: St. Viator singes Marmion in state semis

St. Viator continued to apply the heat and melted Marmion Academy 11-1 in 6 innings Friday in the Class 3A baseball state semifinals at Slammers Stadium in Joliet.

St. Viator (24-15) advances to the state title game for the first time since 1965. The Lions will meet East Suburban Catholic Conference rival Marian Catholic in Saturday's noon championship matchup.

Marmion (21-17) will play in the third-place game against Champaign Central at 10 a.m. Saturday.

St. Viator was in that third-place game a year ago and lost. They scored just 1 run in their two playoff games a season ago.

It was much different narrative this time around.

Cole Kmet, who pitched all 6 innings and allowed 1 run on 6 hits while striking out nine, said he and his teammates learned from last season.

"Last year we kind of came in here just happy to be here," Kmet said. "This year we came in here with the mission to win this thing. We took care of the first one."

St. Viator coach Mike Manno said he had no regrets about going with his 6-foot-5 lefthander on Friday, even with the blowout victory. With the new IHSA pitch count rules, Kmet will not be eligible to pitch in Saturday's title game.

"Absolutely no regrets," Manno said. "That is a good hitting team over there. That is a tough team that we just beat."

Kmet agreed with his coach's decision.

"That was probably the toughest team I have played," said Kmet, who improved to 8-3 on the season. "Every batter was a battle to get out. They can hit."

And so can the Lions.

It was Viator that did most of the hitting, just like they have throughout the playoffs. The Lions banged out 14 hits to bring their playoff total to 74 - with 64 runs scored.

"They do a great job of passing the baton," Manno said. "Each guy is stepping up in their own little way. It is from our senior leadership."

Nearly every spot in the batting order had a hit, and every spot in the order reached base at least once.

Kmet had 3 hits, including 2 doubles, and drove in a run. Hunter Johnson and Joe Sarnello also had 3 hits each while Brett DeSelm and Michael Wittich each had 2 hits.

"I was seeing the ball like it was a beach ball," said Johnson, who scored 2 runs and drove in another. "It felt good. I had a great BP and I was crushing the ball and I came out real confident."

Sarnello led off an explosive third inning in which the Lions pushed 6 runs across to break open the inning.

"We are all hitting the bell well," Sarnello said. "It was great to be able to help the team."

Sarnello scored on Casey Kmet's single. After Cole Kmet singled, Jack Mahoney then had an RBI single to make it 2-0.

Then, in a play reminiscent of Monday's playoff win over Benet, John Finnegan launched a flyball to right that was misplayed, allowing 2 unearned runs to score. DeSelm had an RBI single, and Casey Kmet later walked with bases loaded as the Lions forged way ahead.

DeSelm double home a pair in the next inning and the Lions began to think about a quick exit.

"We have hot bats right now," DeSelm said. "I remember last year when we were down here and our bats went cold. We are just going to keep playing with confidence."

Marmion made an effort to climb back into the game in the fourth when Jack Molenhouse doubled home Elias Flowers, who had singled. With runners on second and third, Cole Kmet struck out the next batter to end the threat. Kmet closed out the game with 7 consecutive outs.

The Lions pushed over an unearned run in the 5th and added a pair more in the 6th. Two of those runs came off of 2 of the 4 Marmion errors. The final run came on a Cole Kmet double off the base of the wall in left-center.

"Our conference prepares us for the playoffs and games like today," Manno said. "I am not sure our conference gets enough credit. It is tough to play in day in and day out."

Marmion was making its first appearance ever at the state finals. The Cadets had opportunities early but failed to break through against Cole Kmet.

"They hit the baseball," Marmion coach Frank Chapman said. "And their kid (Cole Kmet) threw extremely well.

"We have to take the mindset of you either win it or you learn. We are going to take it as a learning experience and be ready tomorrow to win that last game of the year."

Chase Stark said the team pulled together midway through the season during a losing streak. That camaraderie carried the Cadets to the finals.

"It was a lot of fun, " Stark said. "We hit a point halfway through the season when we were struggling. The guys on the bench decided to have some fun with it and keep it from being routine."

Colin Gibson said the loose bench kept the Cadets flying at the end.

"The 'bench mob' as we like to call them, brought us a lot of energy the whole game," Gibson said. "That pumps us guys up well to play hard for them."

Manno, whose team lost to Marian Catholic in their two meetings earlier this season, is looking forward to a third opportunity at the Spartans.

"We have a ton of respect for them," Manno said. "We actually get along very well. It will be a fun atmosphere. As a team, we are playing very well together."