Grayslake C. takes Johnsburg and second sectional championship

Kevin O'Rourke had little time to worry about losing his no-hitter with one out in the fifth inning Saturday.

Two batters and two singles later, the Grayslake Central senior right-hander was concerned with losing a 1-run lead as Johnsburg looked to continue its Cinderella run in the Class 3A Lakes baseball sectional championship game in Lake Villa.

"It was nerve-racking," O'Rourke said of the bases-loaded jam.

But O'Rouke showed plenty of nerve as he worked out of his only trouble and threw a complete-game 4-hitter to give Grayslake Central (25-14) a 2-0 victory and its second sectional championship.

"He was throwing really good," said Central junior second baseman Andrew Hosford, who had 5 assists and caught two line drives. "I thought if we put one or two on the board and he kept throwing like he did we'd be fine."

A second-inning unearned run turned out to be all O'Rourke (3-5) needed for his second shutout in 3 starts against Fox Valley Conference Fox Division rival Johnsburg (10-27).

O'Rourke threw 63 of his 97 pitches for strikes and had 5 strikeouts and 1 walk to send the Rams to Monday's 4:30 p.m. supersectional at North Central College in Naperville. Southern Illinois-bound Aaron Snyder (10-2) will face Nazareth (28-9), which won its own sectional 13-5 over Riverside-Brookfield.

But O'Rourke made sure the Rams reached their second supersectional in their history - they lost to Elk Grove in Class AA in 2006 - as he allowed his only other hit with two outs in the seventh.

"He's a big-game pitcher," said Central coach Troy Whalen. "We weren't sure who was going to get the ball because this was his third time facing Johnsburg.

"After talking it over with him he said, 'Coach, give me the ball.' That's the kind of kid he is."

Johnsburg rode the left arm of Miami (Fla.) recruit and potential early-round major-league draft pick Jerad Grundy to its first sectional final in its history.

But righty Josh Galvin (2-6) minimized the damage from 7 hits, 5 walks and 2 hit batters. Central lost 3 runners on the bases and left 11 on base.

"Josh has been outstanding," said Johnsburg coach Dann Giesey. "He battled today, pitched great and hit his spots.

"If you had told me that (Friday)," Giesey said of allowing only 2 runs, "I would have told you we would have won."

A single by Kevin DeRue sandwiched by 2 errors - the second with two outs - scored courtesy runner Mike Silver in the second. Central scored an insurance run in the sixth without a hit as Mike Gentile was plunked by a pitch with the bases loaded.

"It would have been nice to have a few more runs," O'Rourke said of the Rams' second straight 2-0 win, "but we didn't really need it."

O'Rourke erased his only walk in the second with a pickoff and faced the minimum until Galvin, Derek Talbot (2-for-3) and David Virgo singled with one out in the fifth.

Then O'Rourke struck out Bob Hutchinson on a high fastball and got Hayden Cavenaugh on a one-hopper back to the mound.

"If we come up with one hit it's 2-1 and we're on top and the pressure's on them," Giesey said.

"I just had a bad inning but give them credit, they hit the ball," O'Rourke said. "I wasn't expecting to go out and throw a no-hitter."

But it didn't hurt that Central was flawless defensively in its 10th win in 12 games. Stefan Falbo made a nice grab in deep center for the second out in the seventh and Hosford made four tough plays on grounders.

"Their second baseman killed us," Giesey said.

"It's mostly defense and pitching that's carried us," Hosford said.

One step away from the Rams' first trip to the state tournament.