Baseball: Fremd, Libertyville, Mundelein score victories in regional semifinals

Buffalo Grove’s Drew Carrison stymied third-seeded Fremd 1-0 Wednesday as the state playoffs got into full gear Wednesday in a Class 4A regional semifinal in Buffalo Grove.

“It was just an outstanding high school baseball game,” Buffalo Grove coach Bill Montemayor said. “Neither team really got much going offensively. Credit to both pitchers who were both outstanding. Drew Carrison is our guy, and he is such a competitor. He really did it all today.”

Carrison struck out 12 and scattered two hits while going the distance, throwing 102 pitches for 13th-seed Buffalo Grove (16-19). Carrison had a hit and scored Buffalo Grove’s lone run.

“It was intense from the start,” Carrison said. “But as I was pounding the zone I felt the nerves fade away. I trusted my off-speed early during the game and later began to attack with my fastball. The more batters I faced the more confident I felt.”

Fremd (21-12) got a solid performance from Robby Seiffert, who allowed just two hits and struck out five.

“We didn't really have many scoring chances and struggled at the plate,” Fremd coach Chris Piggott said. “Seifert pitched great for us and was the tough-luck loser. I am proud of my guys, and they left everything on the field. It wasn't our day today.”

Libertyville 15, Hoffman Estates 0 (4 innings): Defending Class 4A champion Libertyville picked off from where they left off last June. Brady Buenik, Nico Harper and Kevin Butt combined to no-hit the Hawks. Ryan Wilberding and Aksel McKnight each homered for the Wildcats (25-10) while Madden Cotts had two hits, including a double. Bode Rohrbach also doubled and drove in three while Carson Holmes also doubled.

Mundelein 3, Hersey 0: The only area game competed Tuesday, fourth-seeded and regional host Mundelein got a 5-hit shutout from Miller Rastrelli. The junior right-hander fanned two while tossing a complete game against Hersey (11-23). Mundelein (21-10) got two hits and a run scored from Logan Young.

Prospect 10, Schaumburg 4: With the game tied 4-4, Prospect sent eight men to the plate in the top of the sixth and scored 4 runs as the fifth-seeded Knights (20-14) pulled away. Aiden Nelson had four hits and 3 RBI for Prospect. Joe Bazul had two hits and two RBI, Joe Peters and Logan Nordentoft each had two hits and an RBI and Nick Benitez had two hits.

Warren 10, Wheeling 0 (6 innings): Colin Dreckmann had three hits and two RBI while Braylan McCarthy and Braxton Goodfellow each had two hits and two RBI as second-seeded Warren (22-10) rolled in the Palatine regional. Peyton Balang went all six innings and allowed 4 hits while striking out 5. Tyler Zangara had two hits for Wheeling (14-16).

Lake Zurich 12, Palatine 10: Lake Zurich (20-12), which was seeded 10th, outslugged the seventh-seeded Pirates (21-15) as the Bears won their fifth in a row and 11th in their last 13 games.

Willowbrook 11, Maine West 1: Top-seeded Willowbrook (29-6) rolled over 17th seed Maine West (5-22).

Maine South 11, West Chicago 0 (6 innings): Leading 4-0 in the sixth, the second-seeded Hawks (21-15) came up with 7 runs and walked it off with a grand slam by Nate Cera. Sean Sladky had two hits and an RBI while Braden Cremins had a hit and two RBI. Nick Conway, Sam Higgins and Alex Aridas combined to fan five while allowing just three hits.

Bartlett 10, Leyden 0 (5 innings): After beating Proviso West in Monday’s play-in game, Leyden (10-24) could only come up with one hit in the Eagles’ loss to third-seeded Bartlett (24-10).

McHenry 13, Grant 5: Grant (8-27), seeded eighth in its subsectional, fell to top-seeded McHenry (28-7).

Woodstock North 2, St. Viator 0: The second-seeded Lions (24-11) were stunned in Crystal Lake by the 15th-seeded Thunder (13-16). St. Viator had the bases loaded in both the fifth and seventh innings but failed to score. Alec Harer had three hits, including a double for the Lions.

Grayslake Central 5, Grayslake North 1: Grayslake Central (26-8) beat crosstown rival Grayslake North for the fourth time this season. Timothy Schaap had two hits for Grayslake North (12-20).

Lake Forest 4, Antioch 0: Elliott Freeman had the only two hits for the Sequoits (16-19).