Northwest/ Scouting the Class 4A sectional finals
By Marty Maciaszek
mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com
At Barrington
Who: No. 3 Prospect (24-8) vs. No. 4 Warren (22-12)
When: 11 a.m. Saturday
Where: Kirby Smith Field
How they got here: Prospect beat No. 19 Waukegan 11-1 (6 innings) and No. 12 Fremd 5-4 to win the Fremd regional and beat No. 7 St. Viator 5-3 in the sectional semifinal: Warren beat No. 20 Zion-Benton 11-1 (5 inn.) and No. 5 Libertyville 13-4 to win the Libertyville regional and beat No. 9 Palatine 7-2 in the sectional semifinal.
What to watch for: Someone will finally break through with their first sectional title in a rematch of an April 11 game where Prospect’s Steve Dazzo took a 1-hit shutout into the seventh but 2 errors opened the door for Warren’s 6-3 comeback victory. “We’ve come a long way since that game,” said Prospect junior 3B-DH Brad Gerdes, who hit his first homer of the year Thursday. “We’ve gotten better as a team and grown together.” Senior righty Ben Menich (7-1, 3.12 ERA, 67 Ks) hopes to duplicate Monday’s regional final start where he allowed only 2 earned runs and used a mechanical adjustment with pitching coach Trevor Stocking to rebound from a pair of rough starts. “Ben stepped up big-time,” said Prospect coach Ross Giusti. He’ll need to again as Warren has been hot offensively. In Wednesday’s semifinal, Caleb Haley hit his ninth homer, Dayton recruit Kevin Colburn had a pair of RBI singles and Alex Letto homered and drove in 2 runs. Valparaiso-bound Ryan Kennedy got the victory and is also an offensive threat and junior OF Adam Glogovsky, who came back a month ago from an enlarged heart caused by a rare virus, has made a big impact. Prospect had only 3 hits Thursday but the biggest was a tiebreaking 2-run homer in the fifth by senior Peter Bonahoom (. 402, 5 HR, 28 RBI), one of five .400 hitters atop the order with Luke Bergman (. 416), Matt Molini (. 400), Jack Landwehr (. 464, 42 RBI) and Brian Bauer (. 413, 25 RBI). “It’s tough to get us all out in a row,” Bonahoom said. “The third or fourth time through the order we always feel confident we can come through.” Warren’s Jimmy Nickell shut down Zion in the regional and Kennedy could be available on two day’s rest.
Advancement: The winner advances to Monday’s 4:30 p.m. Rockford Riverhawks supersectional against the champion of the Glenbrook South sectional between Leyden and Glenbrook North.
At Glenbrook South
Who: No. 1 Leyden (28-5) vs. No. 2 Glenbrook North (32-3)
When: 10 a.m. Saturday
Where: Glenbrook South High School
How they got here: Leyden beat No. 17 Maine East 16-1 (5 inn.) and No. 12 Niles North 10-0 (5 inn.) to win the Niles North regional and beat No. 4 New Trier 9-8 in the semifinal. Glenbrook North beat No. 15 St. Patrick 9-4 and No. 9 Maine South 6-2 to win the Evanston regional and beat No. 10 Loyola 3-0 in the semifinal.
What to watch for: Leyden makes its third sectional final appearance in five years and will look for its first title after Wednesday’s dramatic comeback from an 8-3 deficit with a 6-run sixth. Senior ace Eric Palmer (7-1) got the victory in relief and hit the game-winning homer in a formidable lineup that includes Louisiana-Monroe recruit Justin Stawychny, SS Carlos Olavarria and RBI machine John Marino. Glenbrook North will have solid and rested pitching options as first-year coach Dominic Savino went with junior Peter Resnick out of the bullpen for Thursday’s start and 1 walk spoiled his bid for a perfect game. Sean Thomas and Louisiana-Monroe recruit Alex Hermeling are the Spartans’ aces and Brett Synek, Chad Bruce and Jack Day came through with big hits against Loyola. Glenbrook North won state titles in 1966 and 1974 but has not won a sectional title since.
Advancement: The winner advances to Monday’s 4:30 p.m. Rockford Riverhawks supersectional against the champion of the Barrington sectional between Prospect and Warren.