Northwest suburban baseball roundup

St. Viator's baseball team was basking in the warm Florida sun Tuesday as teams in the Chicago area were battling wind, rain and chilly temperatures.

The Lions (1-1) opened play in Fort Lauderdale in the Westminster Classic with a 3-1 victory over University High from Florida. Eric Walantas allowed 3 hits and an unearned run in 6-plus innings for the victory.

"He battled," said Viator coach Mike Manno of the senior. "He didn't have his best stuff but he really grinded it out.

"He hit his spots, he was in out, his changeup was decent and he got a ton of pop-ups."

Walantas threw only 76 pitches and had 3 strikeouts. He left after issuing his fourth walk to start the seventh and Bryce Hensley came in to get a groundout and 2 strikeouts for the save.

Brett Kay went 3-for-4 with a triple and an RBI and Cam Krumsee drove in 2 runs. The Lions will play their second of four games in the tournament today.

Conant 5, Maine West 0: Derek Wojcik allowed only a single in his sixth and final inning and finished with 12 strikeouts and 4 walks for Conant (2-0) in the nonconference win.

"He was painting the corners," said Conant coach Jerry Song. "He's sneaky fast. Every once in awhile he'd break off the deuce and we made the plays."

Jeff Vercillo doubled and had 2 RBI and Sean Smith had an RBI as Conant took a 3-0 lead in the first inning.