Baseball: Griffin blanks Lake Park for Maine South’s second straight sectional title

There is something to say about experience.

Creighton-bound senior catcher Luka Stojakovic went 3 for 4 with a home run and 2 RBI, while hard-throwing senior pitcher Connor Griffin fired a 5-hit complete game to help power 2nd-seeded Maine South (24-15) to a 9-0 Class 4A sectional championship victory over 4th-seeded Lake Park Saturday in Bartlett.

Pocketing their second consecutive sectional title, the Hawks advance to Monday’s 7 p.m. supersectional clash with Barrington (27-12) at Northwestern Medicine Field in Geneva.

“The thing that we have going for us is we got to this point last year,” said Hawks coach Brian Lorenz. “We won a sectional championship over New Trier in 11 innings but lost to eventual state champion Libertyville in the supers. These guys know what these games are like. They’re playing loose.”

That was evident early on, as Griffin retired the side in order on 10 pitches in the top of the first.

In the bottom half of the frame, the Hawks struck quickly, as Evan Adamczewski led off with a single before Stojakovic hit the first pitch he saw for an opposite-field, 2-run home run to right for a 2-0 lead.

“That was electric,” Stojakovic said of his 6th homer of the season. “I saw my pitch, saw it deep, and let it rip.

“It all comes from our pitcher (Griffin) setting the tone in the top of the first — getting us out of there quickly and keeping my legs fresh.”

Griffin escaped a pair of jams when the Lancers got a couple runners on base in the second and fifth but otherwise cruised along, needing just 71 pitches while going the distance.

“That’s my mindset every time — go out there and throw it in the zone,” said Griffin, who relied mostly on a 2-seam fastball and late-cutting slider to record 4 strikeouts while not issuing a walk.

“That’s my guy,” Stojakovic said of Griffin. “We’ve been playing together since we were 6. I’ve been catching him for 12 years now. We’re on the same page. He attacks guys and gets weak outs.”

Maine South added an insurance run in the fifth on Sean Sladky’s sacrifice fly before putting the game away with a 6-run sixth that featured Nate Cera’s 2-run home run, Adamczewski’s RBI double, and Sladky’s run-scoring single.

Adamczewski and Stojakovic finished with 6 of the Hawks’ 13 hits at the top of the lineup.

“I don’t say anything to them — I just let them do their thing,” said Lorenz. “I’ve had Luka for four years now and Evan for three.”

Michael Forte went 2 for 2 from the 9th spot in the batting order.

“For him to get that hit with two outs and a runner on first in the sixth was huge,” said Lorenz. “It was only a 3-0 game at the time, but it gave Evan the opportunity to hit again with guys on base.”

Sophomore starting pitcher Colton Hardman fanned 4 in 5 2/3 innings for the Lancers before running into trouble in the sixth.

“He battled,” Lancers coach Dan Colucci said of his young right-hander. “He’s going to get better from this (experience). We’re so high on him over the next couple of years.”

Hardman had a pair of hits for the Lancers (18-21), who graduated 12 seniors.

“We could’ve easily packed it up a couple weeks ago,” said the coach. “We were struggling but we regrouped. For them (seniors) to get to this point — it’s a great legacy for them to leave.”