Glenbard South 8, Guerin 4

It took nearly three full games to happen, but Glenbard South's impressive shutout streak came to a close Thursday afternoon.

The Raiders ran their streak to 18 innings of shutout ball in postseason play before Guerin's Mike Bolling crossed the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning. By that time, though, Glenbard South held a 6-0 lead and eventually picked up an 8-4 victory over the Gators in the Class 2A Nazareth Sectional semifinals.

Raiders coach Mike Riley indicated afterward that while the streak may have been nice, Glenbard South's sole mission is to earn as many wins as possible.

"We were at the point, with the lead that we had, that we were going to trade a run for an out," Riley said. "We weren't worried about shutouts or any of those types of things. In the long run trying to win the ballgame when you've got five outs to go (was the priority)."

The Raiders (22-14) built a comfortable lead in the bottom of the second, scoring five times on 2 home runs. Designated hitter Trace Wanless led off the inning with a homer to right field, his first of two long balls on the day. Five batters later, junior Joe Ramirez launched a 3-run shot of his own well over the high fence in center, pushing the Glenbard South lead to 5 runs.

Without senior Will Hill in Thursday's lineup, Riley planned on playing small ball against Guerin (17-12). The Raiders did attempt to manufacture runs, but the bulk of their damage came via their 4 extra-base hits.

"I worried about this one. We had to change our whole lineup around," Riley said. "We've spent a lot of time bunting the past two days, (but) … it was nice to see several kids hitting the ball hard."

Wanless' second home run came in the top of the seventh in the form of a 2-run bomb that put Glenbard South ahead 8-1. Thursday's big day gave the sophomore four homers on the year, as well as his first multi-home run game on the varsity.

"That felt great, and I was really excited about that," Wanless said. "They just threw a couple fastballs down there, and I just picked up on them as much as I could."

Raiders starter Andy Manson shut down a Guerin offense that had scored 22 runs in its two previous games by making sure to get strike one.

"I told the kids at the beginning of the game that you can't get behind, and we got behind on every hitter," Gators coach Bob Stevens said.

Glenbard South will face Riverside-Brookfield at 10 a.m. Saturday for the sectional championship.