Crystal Lake-based Phenom Illinois White 15-U baseball wins MCYSA Summer International Championship

The Phenom Illinois 15-U White travel baseball team had a phenomenal end to its summer in the McHenry County Youth Sports Association Summer International Championship in Crystal Lake.

Phenom Illinois, based out of Crystal Lake, won the second session 15-U title with three convincing bracket-play victories in the prestigious event at Lippold Park.

Phenom became the first local team to win the 15-U title in 27 years with an 11-3 run-rule victory in 5 innings over the Illinois Rebels on Sunday, July 28.

"Our kids definitely saved their best baseball for the last part of the season," said Phenom 15-U head coach Kent O'Brien after his team outscored the opposition 33-5 in bracket play. "It was exciting to see how well they played throughout the tournament against excellent competition. We had the great pitching and defense, timely hitting, heads-up baserunning and teamwork and enthusiasm you need to win a great tournament like this.

"This championship also would not have been possible without the hard work and support of my assistants, Jerry Ahler, Rich Loiselle and Brian Drexler."

Phenom showed its resilience in the championship game after it fell behind 3-0 in the top of the first inning to a team it had already beaten 7-0 in pool play.

Right-hander Joe Fiorenza (Jacobs High School) settled down to pitch a complete game and his offense quickly gave him the support he needed with 10 runs in the first two innings.

Keegan Connors (Jacobs) had 2 hits and 2 RBI, Johnny Ahler (Marian Central Catholic) had 2 hits and Jack Tobin (Prairie Ridge) drove in 2 runs.

Phenom also did not commit an error for the third straight game.

Phenom finished 2-2 in pool play but its two losses were by 1 run against challenging international competition from Brazil and Puerto Rico. That gave the team a No. 4 seed for bracket play and a quarterfinal rematch of an 8-6 pool-play victory over the Great Lakes Gladiators.

"We felt good about how we had played and how our pitching was set up," O'Brien said.

Phenom beat Great Lakes 10-2 in 5 innings as Gavin Loiselle (Woodstock) had 6 strikeouts and 1 walk in 4 innings. Loiselle also had 2 hits and 2 RBI, Fiorenza had 2 hits and John Persino (Huntley) drove in 2 runs.

That set up a semifinal rematch with the top-seeded and unbeaten Prospects Baseball School from Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico fans are renowned for their exuberant support that includes noisemakers but the Phenom fans were ready with horns of their own.

Phenom took the energy to score 3 runs in its first at-bat and cruise 12-0 in 4 innings as Persino allowed only 1 hit with 5 strikeouts. Fiorenza had 2 hits and 4 RBI, Tobin had 2 hits and 2 RBI and Brady Drexler (Crystal Lake South) drove in 2 runs.

In pool play, Connors threw a 4-hit shutout with 7 strikeouts against the Illinois Rebels and Tobin allowed only 2 hits and no earned runs in 5 innings in a victory. Tobin, Brent Blitek (Crystal Lake Central) and Dillon Maciaszek (McHenry) had 2-hit games at the plate.

Phenom also got key contributions throughout the weekend from Aidan Shafer (McHenry), Riley O'Brien (Crystal Lake Central), Niko Neckopulos (Cary-Grove) and Clark Shulfer (Woodstock). Ben Glockner (Jacobs) was unable to play because of injury but was in the dugout to support his teammates at every game.

"Our depth really made a huge difference since we played 7 games in 3 1-2 days in the heat," Kent O'Brien said. "You need everyone to contribute in this kind of tournament. And the opportunity to meet players, coaches and families from other countries added to the memories that will last a long time."

The Phenom Illinois White 15-U players by high school are:

• Cary-Grove: Niko Neckopulos

• Crystal Lake Central: Brent Blitek and Riley O'Brien

• Crystal Lake South: Brady Drexler

• Huntley: John Persino

• Jacobs: Keegan Connors, Joe Fiorenza and Ben Glockner

• Marian Central Catholic: Johnny Ahler

• McHenry: Dillon Maciaszek and Aidan Shafer

• Prairie Ridge: Jack Tobin

• Woodstock: Gavin Loiselle and Clark Shulfer

The coaches are Kent O'Brien, Jerry Ahler, Rich Loiselle and Brian Drexler.