Barrington 4, St. Viator 1

Barrington had the power at the plate from Tim Conroy and on the mound from Sean Buchholz.

But there were plenty of other aspects that sent the 10th-seeded Broncos surging into the title game of their Class 4A regional with a 4-1 win Thursday over No. 6 St. Viator at Kirby Smith Field.

"Everything we were asked to do we executed," said Conroy, the Butler-bound shortstop who homered, "which was huge."

So was the performance by Buchholz (5-2) as the 6-foot-4 sophomore right-hander scattered 5 hits and had 12 strikeouts and 4 walks.

But it was hardly a two-man show that has Barrington (18-12) playing for its fifth regional title in six years at 11 a.m. Saturday against No. 14 Buffalo Grove (12-14).

"We did the little things," said Barrington coach Jim Hawrysko.

"And we didn't," said Viator coach Mike Manno. "That's one thing we've harped on all year. Little things are going to win or lose games for us."

Take Mark Minner's at-bat to start the third inning. The Barrington second baseman was one of 8 strikeout victims of Viator righty Mike Bordes (5-5), but not until he fouled off 5 two-strike pitches.

Two pitches later, Conroy lined a first-pitch changeup over the 348-foot mark in left-center for his third homer and a 1-0 lead.

"Minner really worked him well," Conroy said. "I was looking for a pitch to hit hard. He hung a changeup and I kept my hands inside and hit it well."

After Jack Golek singled to start the fourth, courtesy runner Anthony Brignola aggressively went to third on Bryan Grabowski's single to center. Steve Janezic then lined a sacrifice fly to right.

Viator (19-14) threatened in the fourth but Minner and Conroy kept singles by Phil Bar and Nick Skala in the infield. Buchholz ended the bases-loaded threat with one of his 7 called strikeouts.

Buchholz took advantage of a big strike zone by using a fastball and slider to throw 71 of his 120 pitches for strikes. He also left runners at first and second with a strikeout after Skala's RBI single got the Lions within 2-1 in the sixth.

"We didn't hit and their pitcher did a great job," Manno said. "He got all of his pitches over and hit his spots."

Barrington got some insurance in the seventh as Gus Handler singled, Connor Jenkins sacrificed, Minner singled and stole second and Johnny Day singled in 2 runs through a drawn-in infield.

Buchholz finished it off by stranding two runners with 2 strikeouts on sliders.

"When people got on base I knew I had to step up, throw strikes and hit my spots," Buchholz said. "I don't think I lost my composure."