Baseball: Hampshire, Geneva earn semifinal victories
Trevor Laffin's sacrifice fly scored Logan Nespor with the go-ahead and eventual game-winning run in the top of the sixth inning Thursday as No. 6 seed Hampshire upset No. 3 Belvidere North 4-3 in the semifinals of the Class 4A Hampshire baseball regional.
Hampshire had tied the game on a squeeze bunt from Christian Puente that scored Jakob Kostecki.
Noah Schrader, Kevin Michaelsen (2 RBI) and Matthew Wians each doubled for the Whip-Purs (9-26-1), as did winning pitcher Matt Jachec, who allowed just 3 hits with 6 strikeouts and 2 walks in a complete game effort.
Hampshire will play No. 7 seed DeKalb Saturday for the regional title.
Geneva 7, Addison Trail 1: Jack Olson had 3 hits with a home run and 2 RBI to lead Geneva (20-11) to a win in the semifinals of the Class 4A Addison Trail regional. Noah Davison, Jason Peruba and Conor Cook also drove in runs for the Vikings. Davison went 4 innings and allowed just 1 hit to earn the win. The fifth-seeded Vikings will play No. 4 South Elgin Saturday for the championship.
Willowbrook 6, Batavia 0: Quinn O'Brien and Glenn Albanese had the only hits for Batavia (11-16), which had its season ended in the semifinals of the Class 4A Hoffman Estates regional.
Grant 5, Cary-Grove 4: No. 6 seed Grant scored twice in the top of the seventh inning to upend No. 4 Cary-Grove in the semifinals of the Class 4A Cary-Grove regional. Zach Willis had 3 hits with a double and 2 RBI while Tommy Neilson and Ben Levicki each had 2 hits for Cary-Grove (24-10).
McHenry 2, Jacobs 1: Adam Kale had 2 hits for Jacobs (19-18), which saw its season come to an end in eight innings in the semifinals of its own Class 4A regional.