Prospect clinches MSL East title
The seniors on Prospect’s baseball team were at a school athletic banquet Monday night when they learned the big news.
They had become the Mid-Suburban East baseball champions.
The Knights (20-6, 11-3) beat Rolling Meadows 13-0 in 5 innings at Larry Pohlman Field. The title was theirs when Elk Grove (16-11, 9-6) lost 8-5 to Buffalo Grove.
“We were all excited and all smiles,” said senior second baseman Matt Molini, who is in his third year on the Prospect varsity. “It was a great feeling. The news spread pretty quickly.”
The Knights won their 11th MSL division title and first since 2007 and won 20 games in a season for the 14th time. They will try to win their first MSL title since 2003 when they host Palatine or Fremd at 11 a.m. Saturday.
“They’ve been a great group of kids,” said Prospect coach Ross Giusti, who has five East titles and eight 20-win seasons in his 15-year tenure. “They come to work almost every day and it’s a rarity when you have to get on them about something.
“They’re a resilient group and they don’t get too high or too low. They just know what to do.”
Junior Jack Landwehr (9-2) threw a 2-hitter with 7 strikeouts. Landwehr also shut out Meadows (13-13, 7-8) on April 20.
Kevin Miller had 3 hits and a 3-run homer and Peter Bonahoom went 2-for-2 with a homer and 2 RBI. Prospect scored 7 runs in the first inning after getting shut out for the first time in more than two years Saturday at Elk Grove.
“This team has been so good about doing that,” Molini said of rebounding from a 10-0 loss in 5 innings. “A lot of it comes with experience and leadership and being able to not get down and fold when everything isn’t going your way.”
Giusti said senior shortstop Luke Bergman and Molini got the offense rolling Monday in typical fashion at the top of the order and Brian Bauer also had some quality at-bats.
“I was happy with the way the kids came out,” Giusti siad of their rebound from a 10-0 loss in 5 innings. “They were good and loose and joking around with each other, which was a good sign.”
A championship sign for the Knights.
Buffalo Grove 8, Elk Grove 5: Andrew Van Wazer went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI as Buffalo Grove (13-15, 8-6) rallied from a 4-0 deficit to eliminate Elk Grove (16-11, 9-6) from the MSL East race.
Ryan Nisbet and Jake Monson had 2 hits and 2 RBI and Richie Zirngibl had 2 hits for the Bison. Kevin Dembinski (5-1) went 5-plus innings and Jesus Sanchez got the last six outs for his third save.
Jack Czeszewski and Michael Anciulis homered for Elk Grove.
Hersey 9, Wheeling 3: Erik Stoltzner homered, tripled and drove in 4 runs and winning pitcher Joe Perricone and Tyler Perkowitz had 2 hits for Hersey (16-13, 9-6) in the MSL East. Perricone allowed 1 earned run and 2 hits and had 10 strikeouts and 5 walks in 6 innings.
Nick Ricciardi had the only RBI for Wheeling (5-18, 2-13).
Conant 13, Barrington 3 (5 inn.): Kyle Gizynski homered, doubled and had 5 RBI and Joe Belmonte homered, doubled and had 3 RBI for Conant (6-17, 5-10) in the MSL West. Winning pitcher Art Sutter had 2 doubles.
John O’Connell homered and had 3 RBI for Barrington (6-25, 5-10).
St. Viator 15, St. Patrick 3 (6 inn.): Joe Rossi went 3-for-4 with a grand slam and 5 RBI and Chris Myjak, Brian Pichardo and Brian Wilhite had 2 hits for St. Viator (16-12, 10-5) in the East Suburban Catholic Conference. Bobby Napoleon was the winning pitcher.
Paw Paw 14, Christian Liberty 9: Alex Russ had 2 triples, Aaron Cunningham tripled and David Cabrera doubled but Christian Liberty (3-21) couldn’t hold leads of 6-1, 8-6 and 9-8 in the Class 1A regional quarterfinal at Paw Paw.