Johnsen, Palatine go deep

Palatine left-hander Matt Johnsen knew the ball was long gone for a 3-run homer as soon as it left Vince Anello's bat Wednesday night in the American Legion baseball state tournament.

Johnsen also figured he was in for a long day at Rec Park in Arlington Heights. In a good way.

Johnsen went the distance to finish with 13 strikeouts and Palatine (22-7) piled up 17 hits in a 12-3 victory which ended a 29-game winning streak by Mattoon (34-3).

"I was feeling good today and my arm felt alive," Johnsen said after throwing 88 of his 137 pitches for strikes. "I knew I had to keep going (after the homer). It's a long game - and I just kept my composure."

Johnsen also helped himself as he went 3-for-5 with a double, triple and 5 RBI to put Palatine in today's 7 p.m. game with Elk Grove (26-12), an 8-2 loser to Rock Island.

Mattoon, which committed 4 errors, will face Barrington in today's 11 a.m. elimination game.

"It was a little intimidating coming in," Palatine catcher Tyler Gregory said of Mattoon's winning streak. "But we play a lot of good teams, too, and we realize what's coming at us."

Johnsen came at Mattoon with an impressive array of fastballs, changeups and big curveballs. He scattered 7 hits and didn't issue any of his 3 walks after the second inning.

"It was a good night to have everything because it was a big game," Johnsen said.

"When he gets his off-speed pitches over the plate, that's what works for him," Gregory said. "No one touched (his curve) and the only times they hit it, it would just go foul. Other than that his curveball was working great."

Palatine's offense also continued to hit everything in sight after getting 37 hits in its last two Cook County tournament games. Ryan Shober tied it with an RBI double in the third and Mike Tauchman (4-for-6) had a tiebreaking RBI groundout followed by Johnsen's 2-run double in the fourth.

Gregory went 3-for-5 with an RBI triple, Nick Addison had 2 hits and Zenon Kolakowski scored 4 runs.

"We know we've got a lot of bats on our team," Johnsen said. "We know we'll hit eventually."

Joey DePaolis' 2 sacrifice bunts included a perfect suicide squeeze in the fifth. Eric Paulson also had a sacrifice.

And Palatine backed Johnsen with solid defense which included Tauchman making a tremendous running catch going toward the right-field corner. First baseman Clint Terry completed an unconventional double play on a sacrifice when the runner strayed too far off second and DePaolis made a nice backhand at second and flip to Shober for a game-ending forceout.

"The kids executed well with small-ball," said Palatine coach Jeff Ryder. "(Mattoon) is a darn good team and our boys just came out - and this sure takes a little pressure off."