Meadows overcomes slow start, keeps East lead

Rolling Meadows slumbered through the first 2 innings of Saturday morning's Mid-Suburban East baseball makeup game with visiting Elk Grove.

But the Mustangs didn't stumble and kept the East lead with a 6-4 win on Kyle Gaedele's complete game.

Gaedele (2-1) allowed only 1 earned run as Meadows (15-7, 10-4) fell behind 4-1 after 1½ innings. The Valparaiso-bound right-hander didn't allow a walk for the second straight start and had 4 strikeouts.

"He threw real well," said Meadows coach Jim Lindeman. "He had good velocity again and got ahead of the hitters.

"The first inning was tough (3 runs on 3 of its 6 errors and a passed ball). We were unbelievably flat."

Meadows, which leads Prospect (13-11, 9-5) by a game with two to play, got an RBI double from Jon Carlson in the first. A double by Garrett Cannizzo and an RBI single by Ben Kamperschroer tied it in the fourth.

Gaedele (3-for-3) doubled in the fifth and scored the tiebreaking run on a short wild pitch and passed ball.

Scott Wenzel started the sixth with a single and scored on Kevin Serna's sacrifice fly. Kevin Miller and Mike Czurylo went 2-for-3 as Elk Grove (11-15, 5-9) lost its sixth straight.

Meadows can clinch at least a share of its first East title since 2003 if it beats visiting Wheeling at 4:30 p.m. Monday.

Prospect has the tiebreaker edge to make the MSL title game with a season sweep over Meadows and is at Elk Grove at 4:30 p.m Monday.

Fremd 15, Hoffman 3: Fremd will need a lot of help to get a share of the MSL West title and a berth in the league championship game.

But the Vikings (14-6, 9-5), who trail Schaumburg by 2 games with 2 to play, took care of business on their end Saturday with a 15-3 win in 6 innings at Hoffman Estates (8-12, 4-10).

Ryan Shober hit his sixth homer, doubled twice and had 3 RBI to lead a 17-hit attack and Kyle Bahnick threw a 4-hitter with 2 walks and 6 strikeouts as he was backed by errorless defense.

"Today was probably the first time we put together a full game," said Fremd coach Chris Piggott.

Mike Tauchman, Sean Freed and Tyler Gregory had 2 hits and 1 of Fremd's 8 doubles. Brandon Middlebrook also was 2-for-4.

Fremd hosts Barrington on Monday and Palatine on Wednesday and has the title-game tiebreaker with its season sweep of Schaumburg, which can win the title outright with a win at Palatine on Monday.

Viator sweeps Marian: Sophomore Brendan King and junior Bryce Hensley combined to allow only 2 walks in 13 innings as St. Viator (17-10, 8-7) beat visiting Marian Catholic 4-3 and 10-7 in the East Suburban Catholic Conference sweep.

King allowed 3 unearned runs in the first but shut out Marian the rest of the way for his first varsity win. He scattered 6 singles and gave up just 1 walk with 3 strikeouts as 60 of his 86 pitches were strikes as Viator got its ninth win in 11 games.

One-out singles in the sixth by Matt Janus, Brett Kay and Phil Bar tied it at 3-3. With runners at first and second, Marian got an out at second on a fielder's choice grounder but Kay came around and slid around the tag on a bang-bang play at the plate.

Bar hit 2 homers -- a 3-run shot in a 6-run fourth and a 2-run blast in the sixth -- and Jack Meyer followed Bar's first homer with a solo shot in the second game. Hensley allowed 1 earned run on 6 hits with 4 strikeouts and 1 walk in 6 innings.

Marian scored 4 runs off Viator relievers in the seventh but Eric Huber made a diving grab in left-center with runners at second and third for the final out.

Leyden, Willowbrook split: Leyden (19-5, 14-3) clinched at least a share of its first West Suburban Gold title since 1990 with its double-header split at Willowbrook and a split by Downers Grove South (24-7, 13-4) against Hinsdale South.

Sam Cochiaro threw a 3-hitter with 9 strikeouts as Leyden won the opener 9-0 behind Jack Townley (2-for-5, 3 RBI), Cam Stephens (3-for-3, 2 RBI) and Jeremy Stawychny (3-for-4, RBI).

Willowbrook came back for a 3-2 win in Game 2. Leyden can win the title outright when it hosts the finale of the 3-game series Tuesday.

Palatine 2, Conant 1: Junior Dan Huenecke threw a 4-hitter with 8 strikeouts for the win and Alex Foley notched the save for Palatine (10-17, 7-7) in the MSL West win.

Matt Wieber's double was 1 of 2 hits off Conant (8-12, 5-9) junior Walt Wijas, who had 7 strikeouts.

Mike Luschen homered and Cody Bobbit was 4-for-4 as Palatine lost 4-3 to Libertyville.

Maine West 2, Evanston 1:ΠSenior Eric Romani earned the win in relief and Mike Santa Maria notched a save as the Warriors (13-5, 10-4) allowed only 2 hits in the Central Suburban League crossover. Tommy Ross went 2-for-3 for Maine West.

Barrington 10, Lake Forest 3: Russ Zeisloft (2-for-3), John Day (2-for-4), Tim Conroy (2-for-4), Mark Minner (2-for-4) and Steve Janezic (3-for-3, 3 RBI) led the offense Barrington (15-10). Danny McDonnell got the win and Robby McDonnell picked up this first varsity save.