Oakton prepares for postseason

Posted May 12, 2011 12:00 am

Daily Herald report

The Oakton Community College baseball team opens Region IV, Division II tournament action Friday.

The sixth-seeded Raiders play Carl Sandburg at 9 a.m. at Kanakee Community College in the 14-team double-elimination tournament.

Joe Gajda (4-3 .439) gets the call for head coach Bill Fratto in Game 1.

Oakton (30-21-1) will go with the nation’s leader in strikeouts (95) Troy Mannebach (5-2, .70 ERA, 95 strikeouts) at noon versus No. 3 seed Kankaee in the Raiders’ second game of the tournament.

Oakton pitching coach T.J. Nall, a Schaumburg grad, has guided the pitching staff to a 2.91 team ERA.

Oakton has won 8 straight going into this weekend’s regional tournament.

“I feel we are peaking at the right time,” said Fratto.

With Ryan Tutland (Maine West) out for the year with a ruptured Achilles, the Raiders will lean on the bat of Shane Uhle (Prospect) to carry the load. Uhle has been hurt much of the season but is hitting .400.

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