Oakton’s run ends in Madison
For a brief moment it appeared Oakton College would get its chance to play two Sunday in the NJCAA Division II Region IV baseball tournament finals in Madison, Wis.
But a 2-run lead in the fifth inning was quickly erased and it was eliminated in a 7-4 loss to host Madison (43-11). Oakton (43-19) needed to win twice Sunday to advance to the NJCAA Division II World Series in Enid, Okla.
Sophomore Paul Poirer, an Antioch resident who played at Carmel, went 62⁄3 innings for the victory. Poirer allowed 9 hits and 3 earned runs but just 1 walk to go with 2 strikeouts.
Dan Lauria (Rolling Meadows) went 3-for-5 with 2 RBI and Connor Skoczynski (Maine West) went 2-for-4 with an RBI for Oakton, which set the single-season school record for victories. The Raiders took a 3-1 lead with a 2-run fifth but Madison came back with 3 runs in the bottom of the inning and added 3 insurance runs in the seventh.