Baseball: Conant edges out Bartlett
Some early scoring and some nice bullpen work later helped No. 14 seed Conant advance in the Class 4A baseball playoffs with a 4-3 win over No. 17 seed Bartlett on Tuesday.
The Cougars had 2-run rallies in the first and third innings and managed to protect the lead as Mason Sykes and Joe Pavletich provided a combined 2⅔ scoreless relief innings to make a winner of Luke Pontikis.
Sykes doubled and drove in 2 runs, and Matt Majer (double) finished 2-for-3 with an RBI for Conant (16-13-1). Sam Ryan also drove in a run, and Colin Broeker had a double.
Conant advances to a Wednesday regional semifinal at Willowbrook against No. 3 Bartlett sectional seed Wheaton North.
Streamwood 5, Elk Grove 2: The Sabres got a complete-game 4-hitter from Colin Caminitti to eliminate the host Grens from the postseason.
Elk Grove (8-19-1) got a solo homer from Ryne Singsank, Zach Mahoney doubled and drove in a run and Matt Crimmins had a double.
Next for the 19th-seeded Streamwood is a Wednesday matchup with No. 2 Bartlett sectional seed York at Elk Grove.
Grayslake North 4, Hersey 3 (10 inn.): In a regional quarterfinal played at Grayslake Central, Hersey lost a heartbreaker. The Huskies first sent the game to extra innings with a tying run in the top of the seventh inning before a bases-loaded balk in the bottom of the 10th ended it.
Grayslake North, the No. 16 seed in the St. Viator sectional, advances to a 4 p.m. Wednesday matchup at Palatine against No. 1 seed Buffalo Grove.
Jake Irwin helped Hersey (14-19-1) tie it with a two-out RBI single in the seventh.
The Huskies scored twice in the fourth, on a sacrifice fly from Daniel Clawson and an RBI single from Hunter Luke.
Cade O'Neal finished 3-for-4 and Cristian Rodriguez had a double for No. 17 seed Hersey.
Jason Donohue, Austin DeLao and Andrew Keaskowski (double) each had 2 hits for Grayslake North. Edward Erickson tossed the last 2 scoreless innings to earn the victory.
Marmion 2, Schaumburg 1: The host Cadets got an RBI double from Bryce Burton in the bottom of the sixth inning to oust the Saxons (6-21) from postseason play.
Nick Calip drove in the run for No. 20 seed Schaumburg in the first inning, but starter Ryan Fletcher and reliever Eric Lundell (3 hitless relief innings) didn't allow the Saxons many opportunities after that.
Marmion, the No. 13 seed in the Bartlett sectional, earns a Thursday matchup against No. 4 Batavia at St. Charles East.
Leyden 11, Mather 0: The Eagles breezed to a regional quarterfinal victory in their postseason opener at home.
Carmel 6, Fremd 2: The host Corsairs earned a nonconference win as both teams prepared for their playoff openers.
Lukas Galdoni and Jimmy Tarzon had 2 hits apiece for the Corsairs (19-10), and Galdoni and three Carmel pitchers combined on a 3-hitter.
Austin Higgins and Tommy Wingen drove in the runs for Fremd (15-12).
Fremd begins its postseason with a 4 p.m. Thursday game against Stevenson in the Class 4A regional at Libertyville, while Carmel is slated to start with a Wednesday matchup at 4:30 p.m. in the Class 3A Vernon Hills regional.