Wrap: Gators hold off C-G; Sabres fall to Geneva
Coming off 2 straight losses, Gators coach Scott Busam knew his team went into Wednesday's regional semifinal against Cary-Grove not playing its best.
With one of those losses to Cary-Grove a week ago, Busam told his squad that its offense had to click if it had any chance to play on and even the score with its rival.
What South got was some offense from catcher Gina DeFano, who hit her first home run of the season, a solo shot in the second; and a throwing error that allowed the winning run to score in the sixth as Crystal Lake South defeated Cary-Grove 4-3 in the Class 4A Jacobs regional semifinal in Algonquin.
The second-seeded Gators will face No. 4 seed Prairie Ridge in the regional championship Saturday at 11 a.m.
The Gators (16-12) will have (16-12) a chance to repeat as regional champions.
"We haven't been playing as well as I think we can in the last few weeks." Busam said. "They flat-out wanted to get better, they wanted to prepare themselves for this game, and they played it."
Up 1-0 in the second, DeFano (2-for-3) crushed a solo homer to right, giving pitcher Jessica Gable a 2-0 lead.
"I was actually hoping it would start that way. We said flat-out we have to get on them early, we've got to score runs. One run wasn't going to cut it today," Busam said.
Gable cruised until the fifth when Cary-Grove's Maggie O'Brien bounced into a fielder's choice, allowing a run to score. Gable (9-11) gave up 3 runs on 10 hits, with 6 strikeouts.
After South scored a run in the bottom half, Cary-Grover's bats refused to quit. Along with Lindsay Fritz' RBI double, the Trojans (18-14) capitalized on a throwing error that tied the game at 3.
"I think our girls did an awesome job coming back and rallying. They never quit and played hard, and they deserve better," Trojans coach Tammy Olson said.
The Gators would score the winning run in the sixth on a throwing error. Though with 2 runners on in the seventh, South induced a double play to win it. Olson though was proud of her team's defensive output and poise this season.
"I was real proud with our defense, I thought our defense did a great job," Olson said. "I am so impressed with how they came together; we didn't start with anybody returning in the infield, they just grew together, they became more and more solid everyday."
McKenzie Vaughn had 2 singles for the Trojans.
-- Steve Nichols
Baseball
Geneva 6, Streamwood 0: Maybe Chris Jordan just couldn't wait for his dinner.
Whatever the case, Geneva's senior right-hander made fast work of Streamwood, tossing a 3-hit shutout during the Vikings' 6-0 victory in Wednesday's Class 4A regional baseball semifinal clash.
Jordan (6-5), who struck out three and walked two, turned in an economical effort, throwing just 76 pitches (52 for strikes) in a complete-game performance.
"I just tried to get them out as quick as I could," said Jordan, who retired the final 13 batters, including a called third strike to finish off the 20th-seeded Sabres (13-19).
Jordan actually began the game a little shaky, walking leadoff hitter Ryan Kiesel and then giving up a single to Brian Brauer.
"I was a little nervous at the start," admitted Jordan.
After Matt Korntved's groundout advanced runners to second and third, Jordan recorded a strikeout and groundout to escape the threat.
"It helped a lot," said Jordan. "I lost the guy (Kiesel) with two strikes and then I got out of it and I was happy. Our defense was great today -- they made every play."
Fourth-seeded Geneva (20-11) staked its ace to an early lead with a run in the bottom half of the first inning.
Kevin Massoth led off with a double, took third on Ryan Adams' sacrifice bunt and came across when junior Cory Hofstetter laced Josh Harris' first pitch to left for an RBI single.
In the second, the Vikings provided some insurance for Jordan, scoring four times.
After back-to-back singles from Tyler Baert and Rod Nelson (2-for-3, double), Sean Grady moved the runners to second and third with a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt.
An infield error allowed the Vikings' second run of the game to score before Adams' 2-run triple to deep left-center made it 4-0. Hofstetter (2-for-2, walk, 2 RBI) then lined another first-pitch single to left, driving in Adams to up the margin to 5-0.
"We tell guys to try and visualize your hit, whether it's going the opposite way with a pitch or pulling an inside pitch," said Hahn, whose Vikings will take on either Bartlett or Glenbard West in Saturday's 10 a.m. regional championship contest. "If it comes on the first pitch, that's OK."
While the Vikings manufactured another run in the sixth as Nelson ripped a two-out double, stole third and scored on a wild pitch, it was more than enough offensive support for Jordan.
"It was a good all-around game for us offensively and defensively, and we also ran the bases well," said Hahn. "I was impressed with the way our defense played more than anything."
Streamwood, which had knocked off South Elgin 13-3 Tuesday, was unable to muster much firepower for its freshman pitcher.
"You never want to say it but I think we used up all of our hits yesterday," said Sabres coach Steve Diversey. "We had a couple good opportunities but couldn't get that extra hit."
-- Craig Brueske
Huntley 22, Chicago CICS/Northtown 0:ŒHuntley ace Nate Prokuski bowed out after 3 innings of scoreless work as the Red Raiders won their 20th game of the season in a Class 3A regional semifinal mismatch in Huntley.
"Obviously, they were a little undermanned and a little overmatched," Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski said of CICS/Northtown. "We hit the ball real well and got step one out of the way today. Now we're preparing for step two, a regional championship game."
Sophomore Phil Pupillo hit a grand slam in his only at-bat, Prokuski went 2-for-3 with 2 doubles and 5 RBI, Chris Klein went 3-for-3 with 2 RBI and Jimmy Gordon and Travis King each doubled and scored 3 runs.
No. 1 Huntley (20-14) advanced to Saturday's 11 a.m. regional title game against the winner of today's semifinal between No. 8 Lakeview and No. 10 Crystal Lake Central.
Crystal Lake South 13, Cary-Grove 6:ŒFourth-seeded CL South upset top seed Cary-Grove at the Class 4A Dundee-Crown regional, helped by the hitting and relief pitching of Sean Wilson.
Evan DeVoe hit a 2-run single to tie the game 4-4 in the third inning to key a 5-run outburst by the Gators.
Wilson hit a 2-run home run in the first inning and later tripled before entering the game in relief of winning pitcher Ian Gardeck (5-4).
"Today we got that big hit with runners in scoring position we've been missing all year," said first-year Gators coach Brian Bogda. "We didn't leave a lot of guys in scoring position today."
Junior Corey Bruns (6-2) took the loss for the Valley Division champion Trojans (22-9), who used four pitchers.
"We got off to a nice start at the plate, but they did a nice job of hitting all of our pitchers," Cary-Grove coach Don Sutherland said.
Cary-Grove had swept three regular-season games from the Gators by a combined score of 28-8.
CL South has not won a regional title in baseball since 1993.
Prairie Ridge 6, Grant 2:ŒThe host Wolves took this Class 4A regional semifinal behind the pitching arm of Nebraska-bound pitcher Michael Heesch, who improved to 8-1 this season.
Heesch held Grant to 4 hits and 1 earned run with 9 strikeouts and 2 walks.
Prairie Ridge (26-8) got a lift on offense from senior T.J. Swank, who went 2-for-3 with a triple and 2 RBI.
"We were very loose and confident after having three days off for the first time in a month," first-year coach David Haskins said. "Bobby Martin hit the first pitch we saw and we scored a run right away in the first inning. That got us settled in and we played good defense, got timely hitting and Heesch pitched a great game."
Boys volleyball
St. Francis d. Bartlett: Moments after Wednesday's Rolling Meadows regional boys volleyball championship, Wheaton St. Francis coach Mike Lynch was praising junior setter Mike Segneri.
"He did a great job getting all the hitters involved," said the 10th-year coach. "That's what makes it difficult for the opponent. They don't know where the ball is going."
The Spartans (34-3) are going to their second straight sectional after a 25-15, 25-16 triumph over Bartlett.
St. Francis returns to its home floor to host Elk Grove on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the sectional semifinal.
Segneri finished with 23 assists. His favorite targets were Bob Vonderhaar (8 kills), Joey Murnane (7), Jeff Dixon (7) and David Metzler (7).
As usual, New York University-bound libero Jay Hayes helped anchored the defense. He and Murnane each had 9 digs.
Bartlett stayed close early in Game 1. But the Spartans gradually pulled away when they scored 3 consecutive points for a 16-10 advantage.
A kill by Jake Rio (2 blocks) made it 17-11 and Bartlett never got closer.
In Game 2, Segneri served the Spartans to a 6-0 lead. They got ahead 13-3 before Bartlett rallied to within 14-11.
St. Francis recovered and closed with an 11-5 run to win their third regional under Lynch, who has directed the Spartans to their best record in school history.
"We were just a little off with our passing," Hayes said of the Bartlett rally in Game 2. "When we have those lapses, we just have to refocus. Our setter (Segneri) gets us back on track. He usually go to Joey Murnane or Bob Vonderhaar and they always find a way to put it down."
Vonderhaar put down the match winner with a backhand attack, giving the Spartans their 27th straight victory.
"Lately, Joey (Murnane) and Bob (Vonderhaar) have been our go-to players," Lynch said. "And our defense did a great job controlling the ball."
Steve Hewitt added 10 service points and Jeff Tribble 9 for the winners.
Chris Guimen led Bartlett (20-12) with 6 kills while Jason Theobald added 5 with 12 assists.
"And Sam Hillis had 2 key blocks for us during our rally in Game 2," said Bartlett coach John Breines. "I thought we did pretty well blocking. That's what helped us get back into Game 2."
"I'm proud of the kids," the coach added. "They fought back. Wheaton St. Francis has two very good outside hitters and they probably have the best passer (Hayes) in the state."
-- John Leusch