Mustangs clinch share of East title
In a game of missed opportunities for both sides, the Rolling Meadows baseball team held on for a 6-4 victory over Hersey on Monday, clinching the Mustangs a tie for their second straight Mid-Suburban East crown and berth in the MSL title game.
The visiting Mustangs (14-11, 10-2) never really took full advantage of their chances to score. With one out and the bases loaded in the first, left fielder Owen Stiff hit a single up the middle to plate a pair. The damage ended there, though, when the next two batters popped out.
Meadows would load the bases again in the second, but were held scoreless.
"We had a big game against Hersey earlier this year where we scored 4 runs in the seventh to win," Meadows coach Jim Lindeman said. "Tonight we battled and had tons of missed opportunities early, and it looked like it was going come back and bite us."
But Meadows never lost the lead, thanks in part to some timely efforts out of the bullpen. Starter Ted Metzger gave up 4 runs over 4-plus innings of work. Pat Conlin came on next and kept the Hersey (14-14, 6-6) bats quiet before giving way to Kentucky-bound lefty Jon Carlson, who picked up his second save with a scoreless seventh.
With a 2-run lead and a runner on first, Carlson left his first pitch to Hersey's Chris James out over the plate. James drove the ball to the deepest part of center field, only to be caught at the wall by Ben Kamperschroer.
"I just tried to get ahead with a two-seam fastball," Carlson said of the pitch that nearly cost Meadows the lead. "But (James) has done well off me in the past and he was looking for a fastball and he got it. Luckily the wind kept it down."
Carlson struck out the next two batters to end the game and give Meadows its second straight MSL East title and 18th division crown, tying Barrington for the most in league history.
"It feels great to be able to do it two years in a row," Lindeman said. "I think that shows the dedication this ball club's had, especially in the conference."
Kamperschroer finished 2-for-3 with 2 RBI for the Mustangs. James gave up 6 runs over 6 innings for the Huskies and went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Schaumburg 3, Conant 2: Kyle Meyer (9-1) threw a 3-hitter for Schaumburg (12-11, 6-6) to avenge his only loss to Conant (16-8, 8-4) and Walt Wijas (4-4).
Meyer had 1 strikeout and no walks and was backed by errorless defense. He gave up his runs in the fourth on a two-out RBI triple by Bobby Colucci and an infield RBI single by Nate Rahn.
"We're playing better baseball and playing pretty solid," said Schaumburg coach Paul Groot. "Meyer's been tough."
The Saxons were shut out 5-0 with 11 strikeouts by Wijas on April 15. This time they had 8 hits and only 6 strikeouts.
Joe Infusino's two-out RBI single in the top of the sixth broke a 2-2 tie. Mike Mistrata (2-for-3) had a two-out RBI single in the third, Connor McHugh had a sacrifice fly and Dave Compitello went 2-for-3 for the Saxons.
Barrington 9, Hoffman 4: Robby McDonnell (6-2) allowed only 2 hits with 9 strikeouts in 6 innings and Gus Handler hit his sixth homer to keep Barrington (15-9, 7-5) a game back in the MSL West.
Handler, Anthony Brignola, Tim Oakley, Johnny Day and Chris Holke had 2 hits for the Broncos at Hoffman Estates (7-18, 3-8).
Prospect 12, BG 6: Jason Leblebijian had a tie-breaking 2-run single in the fourth and Miles Osei had a bases-clearing triple to put Prospect (12-13, 5-7) up 10-6 in the fifth in the MSL East. Thomas Kelly went 2-for-5 and Scott Plaza went 42/3 innings for the win.
James Hurley had 2 doubles as Buffalo Grove (9-16, 4-8) lost its fifth straight.
Elk Grove 13, Wheeling 2: Colin Semler hit a 3-run homer and had 2 hits and Joey DeHuebles, Pat Eder and Kyle Pfister had 2 hits and an RBI for Elk Grove (18-11, 5-7) in the 5-inning MSL East win. Josh Daniels allowed 1 earned run and 3 hits and had 4 strikeouts and 3 walks.
Leyden 4, Morton 3: Junior outfielder Victor Fuentes used his glove and bat to put Leyden (15-9, 10-4) in a tie for the West Suburban Gold lead with Morton and Downers Grove South.
In the top of the ninth inning of the completion of a suspended game, Fuentes scaled the fence to take away a homer. In the bottom of the inning he delivered a game-winning bases-loaded single.
Jeremy Stawychny got the victory with 22/3 innings of relief.
St. Patrick 10, St. Viator 9: St. Viator (15-12, 5-8) tied the East Suburban Catholic Conference game with 4 runs in the top of the seventh only to give up the game-winner in the bottom half. Mike Fleming went 2-for-2 with 2 RBI for the Lions.