Powerful show by Carlson, Meadows in win over Elk Grove

Opinions varied on how much heat Rolling Meadows left-hander Jon Carlson was bringing in Thursday's Mid-Suburban East baseball showdown at Elk Grove.

The Kentucky-bound Carlson thought his velocity was OK. The smoothness he displayed may have led to Meadows coach Jim Lindeman not seeing a major difference from Carlson's previous starts.

But the numbers clearly indicated Carlson's dominance as he took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and had 13 strikeouts in 42/3 innings. He also went 3-for-4 with a 2-run homer in the first and a 2-run double in the fourth as defending East champion Meadows (8-7, 4-0) held on for an 8-4 victory.

"Dave (pitching coach Geeve) said it was the hardest he's thrown all year," Lindeman said after Carlson used a fastball in the upper 80s, slider and changeup to increase his strikeout total to 56 in 33 innings.

"He overpowered us," said Elk Grove coach Terry Beyna, who believed it was the most strikeouts one pitcher had against his team in his 10 years. "Then he was mixing it up better in the third and fourth innings.

"He was the best player out on the field today. One man can make a big difference."

Carlson said he wasn't caught up in the stockpile of strikeouts or an Elk Grove (14-6, 2-2) team averaging 81/2 runs a game going hitless until J.J. Kaczynski's leadoff double in the fifth.

"I wasn't even thinking about that," Carlson said of a no-hitter. "I wanted to get people out because the first couple of innings I threw a lot of pitches.

"I was just basically pitching and I didn't concentrate (on the strikeouts) as long as I got the ball over the plate."

Which Carlson did with only 1 of his 3 walks in the first 4 innings. But Elk Grove's penchant for fouling off pitches and 3 errors led to Carlson being pulled at 111 pitches after a 2-run double by Joey DeHuebles cut its deficit to 8-3 in the fifth.

"He got a little bit tired so we had to get him out," Lindeman said after all 3 runs Carlson allowed were unearned. "If we can just make plays defensively we'd save our pitchers 30 pitches a game."

Pat Conlin had a key 2-run single as Meadows scored 5 two-out runs in the fourth off Donny Duschinsky. Conlin came in for Carlson and left runners at second and third in the fifth and limited a bases-loaded threat in the sixth to Colin Semler's RBI single.

Dan Wenzel also had a RBI single in the second for Meadows.

"This was a good team," Carlson said of Elk Grove. "If we play our game we're going to be tough to beat."

Especially if Carlson plays the way he did Thursday.

Fremd 6, Hoffman Estates 5: Mike Tauchman's sacrifice fly with one out in the bottom of the seventh scored Todd Dunham to give the MSL West-leading Vikings (9-4, 4-0) their eighth straight win.

Dunham reached on an error, stole second and took third on Zenon Kolakowski's sacrifice.

Justin Harris hit a grand slam for Hoffman (5-12, 2-2) and Eric Paulson hit a 2-run homer for Fremd in the second inning. Tauchman went 2-for-3 and Mike Schoolcraft was the winner in relief.

Barrington 9, Schaumburg 8: Barrington sophomore Jack Scheffler fouled off two sacrifice bunt attempts in the bottom of the seventh after Chris Holke singled.

Then Scheffler ripped a 3-2 pitch off the right-field fence for a double and a wild throw to third scored pinch runner Tom Unak to give Barrington (9-5, 2-2) the MSL West win.

Gus Handler hit a 3-run homer to tie the game at 7-7 and doubled. Right fielder Johnny Day kept the game tied at 8-8 when he nailed a runner trying to score for the final out of the seventh.

Dave Compitello was 4-for-5 with a homer and 3 RBI for Schaumburg (7-7, 1-3).

Hersey 8, Prospect 5: Sophomore Chris Polinski hit 2 homers and had 4 RBI and Mike Toljanic homered for Hersey (7-8, 2-2) in the MSL East win.

Prospect (6-9, 1-3) took a 3-2 lead on Peter Bonahoom's 2-run homer in the top of the fifth. Hersey answered in the bottom half as Toljanic hit a 2-run shot and Polinski hit a 3-run homer for winner Steve Danielak, who had 10 strikeouts and 1 walk in 61/3 innings.

Conant 2, Palatine 0: Sophomore Paul Warble threw a 4-hitter with 12 strikeouts in the MSL West win as Conant (10-5, 3-1) surpassed its victory total of last year against visiting Palatine (4-12, 0-4). Jeff Vercillo and Joe Belmonte drove in runs.

BG 12, Wheeling 2: Jeremy Salzman allowed 1 earned run and 4 hits and had 6 strikeouts for Buffalo Grove (6-8, 2-2) in the 5-inning MSL East win over visiting Wheeling (2-13, 1-3).

Greg Sanders was 2-for-3 with 5 RBI and Steve Pollakov was 2-for-3 with an RBI as BG overcame 8 errors.

Maine West 15, Niles North 3: Ryan Tuntland went 3-for-4 with a 2-run homer and 3 RBI and Tommy Ross doubled and tripled for Maine West (11-4, 2-2) in the 5-inning Central Suburban North victory.

Leyden 12, York 11: Justin Stawychny (3-for-4, 2 RBI) and Carlos Olavarria homered and Mike Otte was 2-for-3 with 3 RBI as Leyden (10-5) held on for its fifth straight win in the West Suburban crossover.