Conant survives repeated comebacks by Glenbard North
A power surge was the late energy boost Conant needed to finally shut down Glenbard North in Tuesday's Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Prospect regional quarterfinal.
Conor Donohue and winning pitcher Mike Passaro homered in a tiebreaking 5-run sixth inning as fifth-seed Conant (10-3) won 14-10 at St. Viator.
"We just came out swinging the bats a little bit," said Conant coach Jerry Song.
That added up to 17 hits and a berth in today's 1 p.m. semifinal at Prospect against top-seed Streamwood, which beat No. 8 Bartlett 9-0.
Kerry Hickerson also homered and Joe Belmonte went 3-for-3 with 2 doubles for the Cougars.
"He's been on fire," Song said of Belmonte. "Hopefully he can keep that up."
No. 13 Glenbard North battled back from deficits of 4-1, 6-2 and 9-4 to tie the game.
Third-seed Prospect (18-3) overcame an early 3-run deficit with 6 two-out runs in the third to beat No. 11 Lake Park 8-3. Jack Landwehr went the distance with 5 strikeouts and allowed no runs and 3 of his 8 hits in the final 5 innings.
"Jack just settled down and got control of his changeup," said Prospect coach Ross Giusti. "He started pitching backward because they're a really good fastball hitting team."
Matt Molini started the third-inning outburst with a single as Prospect loaded the bases with no outs. After a strikeout and a popout, Kurt Donner walked and Joey Siers tied it with a 2-run single. Shane Joyce followed with an RBI single and another run scored when Luke Bergman reached on an error.
Prospect plays in the 4 p.m. semifinal against No. 7 Dundee-Crown, a 14-10 winner over Burlington Central.
Palatine regionalPalatine and Barrington didn't need any dramatic comebacks in Tuesday's regional quarterfinals.Both teams rolled into today's 4 p.m. semifinal with 11-1 wins as No. 2 Palatine (19-5) beat No. 7 Lake Forest in 5 innings, and No. 11 Barrington (9-15) beat No. 14 Wheeling (10-13) in 6 innings.Barrington needed a 6-run seventh to beat Deerfield 9-7 in Monday's opener as Jake Broughton had the tying hit and Ryan Lidge followed with the go-ahead hit.Barrington kept it going with a 4-run first Tuesday as senior-to-be Mike Maude allowed 1 earned run on 2 hits in 5 innings."He was around the zone and made some good pitches as the right time," said Barrington coach Jim Hawrysko. "He's pitched a lot and gotten better every time out. He's really made some progress."Aaron Foley went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI and just missed the cycle with a single, double and triple. Macray Poidomani also went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI, and Frank Waliczek was 2-for-2 with an RBI.Jim Smearman went 4-for-4 with 5 RBI for Palatine, which hosts today's semifinals, and Joe Walsh battled for the win as he allowed 7 hits and 3 walks with 6 strikeouts. He gave up his only run in the third and left the bases loaded with 2 strikeouts."He established the bottom half of the strike zone and his breaking ball became a little more effective," said Palatine coach Paul Belo. "The bottom line is he got ahead of the hitters later in the game."Palatine broke a 1-1 tie with 6 runs in the bottom of the fourth. Nick Roy singled, and runs scored on Eric Scheuerman's double, Vince Portera's triple and Mark Sarti's single. Smearman also had a 2-run single.No. 4 Niles West lost a 7-run lead but came back with 2 runs in the bottom of the seventh to beat No. 5 Fremd 9-8. Niles West is in the 2 p.m. semifinal against No. 6 Maine South, which beat top-seed Notre Dame 7-4.