Hersey's Danielak nearly throws no-hitter

Hersey senior right-hander Steve Danielak considered the beginning of his start at Notre Dame a bit shaky Monday afternoon.

It ended with Danielak nearly throwing a no-hitter in the nonconference baseball game in Niles. A leadoff double in the seventh inning was the only hit the Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne recruit allowed as Hersey (5-0) won 4-0.

Notre Dame had runners reach on an error and a walk in the first, but Danielak (2-0) retired the next 17 hitters.

"After that I got a in a groove and felt pretty good," Danielak said. "It was a little shaky at first, but when I got the next two hitters to strike out I sat down and relaxed and said I'm going to try not to let anyone else get on base."

Danielak nearly did that as the only hit he allowed was a double down the right-field line on a 2-2 pitch.

"My cutter was working good and as the game went on my fastball felt a lot better," Danielak said. "Today was the best I've ever felt."

First baseman Chris Polinski also made some big plays to keep Danielak's brush with his first no-hitter intact.

"He was spotting (his cut fastball) really good and keeping them off-balance," said Hersey assistant coach Kevin Kelley. "He was just on and the kids played phenomenal defense."

Polinski and Jake Knauss (2-for-4) had RBI singles and Alex Lee and Danielak drove in runs with groundouts as Hersey scored all of its runs in the first two innings.

Danielak's brother Michael also threw a 1-hitter with 19 strikeouts as the Hersey sophomore team beat Notre Dame 2-0.

"When I got on the bus and coach Kelley told me, I couldn't believe it," Danielak said.

Leyden 8, Hoffman 4: Leyden (3-1) was down to its last strike when Jeremy Stawychny hit a tying RBI single to center to start a 5-run top of the seventh inning in the nonconference win at Hoffman Estates.

"He really worked the count and we kept hitting from there," said Leyden coach Gary Wolf. "It was a well-played game by both teams. We put the ball in play consistently and it was an exceptionally well-played game for us."

Stawychny and his brother Justin also had solo homers and Nic Dimaso had 2 doubles for Leyden. Hoffman (1-4) got a 2-run homer from Chris Fett and a triple by Erik Smoy.