Wrap: St. Edward notches regional win

The slipper still fits the St. Edward baseball team, even after Aurora Christian nearly knocked it off in the Eagles' final at-bat Thursday.

The Green Wave might be 8-12, but their season is still alive, now one win away from a regional championship.

"We're the tournament Cinderella with the losing record," St. Edward coach Gene Belmonte beamed. "Hopefully we'll sneak up on a couple more people."

The next team for fifth-seed St. Edward to sneak up on is No. 2 seed Lisle (14-13) in Saturday's Class 2A Aurora Christian regional final.

The Green Wave got there with a 7-6 win over Aurora Christian (15-8) Thursday afternoon in the regional semifinals at Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove.

St. Edward scored twice in the second and four times in the third to grab a 6-0 lead. They were in control the entire way until the Eagles rallied for four runs in the bottom of the seventh.

Jim Fraczek picked up his first save of the year, retiring Aurora Christian's Tony Romero and his .500 batting average on a grounder to third with the bases loaded.

"I felt pretty confident," said catcher Kyle Horn, the only St. Edward player with 2 hits. "I didn't feel like at any time we were going to lose or anything. That never crossed my mind."

Only 2 of the 6 runs St. Edward scored against Aurora Christian starter David Zielke (4-2) were earned. With two outs and nobody on in the second, Zielke walked the Green Wave's No. 7-8-9 hitters to load the bases, then two runs came in on a throwing error.

St. Edward knocked Zielke out with its 4-run third. Mike Kondrath ripped a home run to right field and Kyle Tourtellott added an RBI double, but again the Eagles' defense let them down. They made 5 errors in the first 3 innings.

"We didn't help him (Zielke) out," Aurora Christian coach Andy Zorger said. "It took us a couple innings to get in our rhythm. It's tough, it's real frustrating. For the last three weeks we've been playing phenomenally defensively. Today we come out a little nervous, jittery, throwing the ball around a little bit."

St. Edward starter Riley Coleman (3-4) allowed single runs in the fifth and sixth innings. He scattered 13 hits but escaped serious trouble until the seventh.

His defense made one good play after another, including a double play when the Eagles had the bases loaded and one out in the third. Second baseman T.J. Madzy caught a liner and flipped to shortstop Anthony Bauer to end the threat.

"I thought it was just a heads-up play, not only give credit for him (Madzy) spearing the line drive but give credit to the shortstop for being there to make the double up," Belmonte said. "That was a huge, huge play."

Aurora Christian outhit St. Edward 13-8. Matt Morse relieved Zielke and held the Green Wave to 1 run over 4½ innings of relief.

That gave the Eagles a chance to rally in the seventh, and they did sending 10 batters to the plate.

Coleman finally left with one out and runners at first and third after the Eagles had closed within 7-6 and he had thrown 121 pitches.

"My arm was just dead," Coleman said.

"We made all the defensive plays. We hit well and put together a good game."

Fraczek, who will come back and pitch Saturday, induced a comebacker, walked a batter, and then got Romero to leave the bases loaded.

"Fraczek came in and did a great job," Belmonte said. "We let him (Coleman) stay in there as long as we could because they really weren't hitting him that hard. He wiggled off the hook a couple times."

Zielke led Aurora Christian going 4-for-4. Every starter had at least 1 hit.

Hampshire 4, Rockford Christian Life 1: Behind a nice outing from Kent Larson on the mound, Hampshire (15-13) earned this Class 2A regional semifinal victory at Stillman Valley. Larson (5-2) allowed 1 run (unearned) on 6 hits while striking out eight.

"Kent did a nice job on the mound, which we've come to expect from him," said Hampshire coach Steve Ream.

Equally as impressive was the Whip-Pur offense. With 10 hits, Ryan Burke (HR), Tyler Bentley (2-for-3, 2 doubles) and James Goebbert (3-for-3, RBI) led the way.

"We played a solid game today," said Ream. "You could see that the boys were focused. I was very happy to see us hit the ball well."

Prairie Ridge 12, Jacobs 0: It was an outstanding day for the Wolves as Joe Zwierzynski and Sam Zagone combined on the mound to pitch a perfect game. Zwierzynski (2-1) pitched 3 innings with 3 strikeouts to start the game. Zagone then stepped in striking out the side in the final 2 innings. Nick Martini (3-for-3) led at the plate with a double. Logan Olson (2-for-3, 4 RBI) and Will Mack (2-for-3) also contributed for PR.

Burlington Central 7, Johnsburg 4: The Rockets exploded on offense and were led by Bryan Bell (2-for-4), Tim Martens (2-for-3) and Austin Jarvis (2-for-4) to defeat Johnsburg in nonconference action. George Heller, Bell and Martens each added a double for the Rockets (14-10). Bell (3-3) was outstanding on the mound pitching 6½ innings allowing only 5 hits and fanning 11 batters.

Lake Park 7, Elgin 1: On the mound for 4¿ innings, Mike Spackowiak endured this Upstate Eight Conference loss for Elgin (5-21, 5-20). Spackowiak allowed 6 runs on 5 hits whiles striking out one. Offensively, Tom Roth (HR) and Ben Hamblen (2 hits) led the way for the Maroons.

Waubonsie Valley 8, Larkin 6: Despite timely hitting from Justin Kalusa (3-for-4, 3 runs), Tyler Shore (2-for-4, RBI) and Reed Ellis (2-for-3, RBI), Larkin (12-15, 11-3) dropped this Upstate Eight Conference meeting with Waubonsie Valley. John Banks suffered the loss allowing 6 runs on 9 hits with three strikeouts.

Huntley 8, Round Lake 0: With lights-out pitching from Nate Prokuski (7-3), Huntley (18-13) walked away with this nonconference win. Prokuski allowed no runs on just 2 hits while fanning eight.

Pounding out 10 hits, Jeff Fabis (2-for-3, 2b, 2 runs, 2 RBI), Travis King (HR, RBI, run), Nathan Sopena (HR, 2 runs, RBI) and Tyler Funke (2b) led the Red Raider offense.

Bartlett 5, Neuqua Valley 3: The Hawks scored 2 runs in the seventh to come out on top over Neuqua Valley in the Upstate Eight Conference. Kyle King started on the mound for Bartlett (16-9, 15-8) fanning 9 batters in 5 innings. Devin Rowland came in to finish the game, gaining the win. Rowland pitched 2 innings striking out 3 with 1 walk. Mike Selvaggi (2-for-4, RBI) and Nick Quagliano (2-for-4, RBI) both led at the dish. Ryan Schrader also dominated going 2-for-5 with a double for the Hawks.

St. Charles East 4, Streamwood 1:ŒThe Sabres (12-16, 11-13) battled but fell just short to St. Charles East in the Upstate Eight Conference. Josh Harris took the loss pitching 6½ innings striking out 4 with 4 walks.