Buffalo Grove 5, Wheeling 2
With Mike Ricciardi, Zach Borenstein, Jon Moore and James Hurley forming an impenetrable wall from third to first, Buffalo Grove starter Tom Moran could just focus on his job.
Throwing strikes.
And the senior right-hander (2-5) did just that, striking out two and walking one in a complete-game, 5-hit effort as the 14th-seeded Bison defeated visiting Wheeling 5-2 on Tuesday afternoon in the Class 4A Barrington regional quarterfinal.
Buffalo Grove (11-14) advances to today's 4:30 p.m. semifinal at Barrington against No. 3 seed Lake Zurich.
"It makes it a lot easier (with the solid defense)," said Moran, who threw 65 of 91 pitches for strikes. "We made a lot of errors earlier. Lately, we've come alive in the field."
Despite a throwing error that led to a Wheeling run in the first, and a botched rundown between third and home in the fourth, the Bison defense was solid.
Moore was spectacular at second base, saving a run in the fourth with a diving stop and flip to Borenstein off a rocker shot from No. 8 hitter Bobby Beelen (double).
"The big thing today was defense -- we made the plays," said retiring BG coach John Wendell, whose team avenged two regular-season losses to the Wildcats. "Our whole infield did a nice job."
So did the Bison at the plate, tagging Wheeling starter Steve Slussar for 4 hits in the first inning. After leadoff hitter Anthony Ricciardi (walk) scored for Wheeling (6-16-1), BG countered with 2 in the bottom of the first as Evan Kander (double) and Borenstein jumped on first pitches from the Wildcats' right-hander.
"(Steve) hasn't been able to hit his spots like he did early on," said Wheeling coach Mike Tice. "He wanted to win so badly. It's hard to fault a senior who wants to do so well for his teammates."
Borenstein followed his RBI single in the first with a sacrifice fly in the third that nearly cleared the 335-foot sign in left-center.
"The wind just held it up … I really thought it was gone," Borenstein said with a laugh.
BG junior Matt Stadler (walk) had an RBI single in the first, Mike Ricciardi went 3-for-3 with 3 singles and John Bakun drove in a pair with a 2-out single in the third.
Conant 13, Larkin 7: Conant had definitely scouted Larkin starter Tyler Shore.
The Cougars knew that Shore's first pitch was a fastball over the plate, and they took full advantage.
Highlighted by Austin Wright's home run, Conant smacked Shore's first pitch for 4 big hits and scored 8 runs in the first 4 innings. Despite a late Larkin (13-16) run, the Cougars clinched a 13-7 win in the quarterfinal of the Class 4A Schaumburg baseball regional Tuesday at Larkin.
The victory sets Conant (9-15) up with a third shot at No. 1 seed Schaumburg (21-6) at 4:30 p.m. today. When they met last week, Conant rode Wright into a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning, before falling 3-2 in the ninth.
The Cougars are hoping the offensive output from Tuesday carries over.
"We came out swinging," said Wright (3-2), who will take the mound against Schaumburg. "A lot of us were working on it over the weekend."
Conant jumped out to a 1-0 lead early when Mark Chereso and Bobby Colucci hit Shore's first 2 pitches into the outfield. Chereso scored on Bill Charvat's sacrifice fly.
Wright extended the lead to 3-0 when he took Shore's first pitch right over the 365-foot center-field fence.
Colucci took a first pitch deep in the fourth for an RBI double, which scored Tom Houle. Third baseman Jeff Vercillo came through with a 3-run double in the seventh.
Charvat (3-for-4, 4 runs, 2 RBI) went deep in the sixth to put Conant up 8-0. The Cougars finished with 17 hits, including 5 extra-base hits.
"I knew (Shore) had some good stuff," Conant coach Jerry Song said. "I said, 'If it's there, jump on it.' I was happy with the way we were swinging the bats today."
Conant junior Walt Wijas (2-1) allowed no runs and 2 hits in 5 innings.
-- Matt Stacionis
Palatine 9, Hersey 3: No. 18 Palatine (12-21) gave winner Steve Reis a 5-0 lead through 4 innings as it advanced to face second-seed Mundelein at 4:30 p.m. today. Jeff Emerich and Mike Luschen doubled for the Pirates as No. 15 Hersey finished 17-15.
Addison Trail 8, Elk Grove 5: Tony Logli homered for No. 9 Elk Grove (13-17) but No. 22 Addison Trail broke a 4-4 tie with 4 runs in the top of the seventh. The Blazers face No. 6 Lake Park at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Elk Grove.
Glenbard N. 4, Hoffman 2: Eric McGinnis didn't allow an earned run in 5 innings but the only error by No. 14 Hoffman (10-14) led to a 4-run fifth as No. 15 Glenbard North wiped out a 2-0 deficit. The Panthers face No. 3 St. Charles North at Elk Grove at 4:30 p.m. today.