Baseball: Maine West, Barrington secure regional titles

Maine West's baseball team has far exceeded its seed.

The Warriors kept their season alive by eliminating top seed Oak Park-River Forest 3-2 in the championship game of the Class 4A Maine East regional Saturday.

Three pitchers limited the Huskies to a total of 4 hits.

Matty Mustari started for ninth-seeded Maine West and gave up 2 runs in 5⅓ innings. Nick Hernandez got the Warriors out of the sixth inning with a pair of outs, and Matt Johnston pitched a scoreless seventh inning to pick up a save.

Justin Scholler delivered the key hit for Maine West, a bases-loaded, two-out single in the sixth inning that scored Cory Scholler and David Roscoe.

Emmett Olson had the other RBI for Maine West, which played an error-free game, on a single in the fourth inning.

Maine West (13-13) advances to meet Loyola, a 4-1 winner against Notre Dame on Saturday night, in a 4 p.m. Wednesday sectional semifinal at Loyola.

It's the second straight regional title for the Warriors and coach Mike Randazzo.

Barrington 6, Crystal Lake Central 5: After the Tigers tied the Class 4A regional final at Crystal Lake South 5-5 with a run in the top of the seventh, the Mid-Suburban West champs won it in the bottom half on an error.

Top-seeded Barrington (22-7-2) earns a spot in the McHenry sectional semifinal at 4 p.m. Wednesday against Rockford Guilford. The second McHenry semifinal, between Huntley and McHenry, follows at approximately 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Tyler Acosta and Clark Elliott both hit solo homers for Barrington, and David Mitchell had a double and scored twice.

Nate Holler pitched the final 1⅔ innings to earn the win in relief of Jackson Medina and R.J. Nowicki.

Jake Meyer's groundball to third base with two outs in the seventh inning was misplayed, allowing Acosta to score with the decisive run.