Bartlett 8, Glenbard West 3

As far as timely hits go, Bartlett's Ryan Schrader couldn't have been more timely.

The Hawks' shortstop's grand slam wasn't short of run production either.

Schrader broke a 2-2 tie when he jacked a 1-1 fastball to dead center and Glenbard West never recovered as No. 1 seeded Bartlett took an 8-3 victory in a semifinal of the Class 4A Geneva baseball regional.

"It was a nice shot," said Schrader, who hit 3 solo shots in the Hawks' regular-season finale on Saturday. "He wasn't throwing curves. He was throwing fastballs down the middle."

Glenbard West (19-16) had tied the game with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth, but pitcher Blake O'Brien found himself with the bases loaded. Tucker Erickson singled and George Tintera and Ryan Walker both walked to juice the bases for Schrader.

The senior got a good look at the ball and took the game into his own hands, driving the hard shot.

"Ryan has been hitting the ball all year," Bartlett coach Rocco Marinucci said. "And lately, its been carrying a little bit. He worked hard in the weight room in the offseason."

Glenbard West did scrape up a run in the fifth when Brian Emanuel drove in Jesse Condie, who reached base on error to make it 6-3.

But again, Schrader went to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom half of the inning, with similar results.

The approach was a little different.

Eric Orrison, who had come in relief for O'Brien, allowed the bases loaded with an error, walk and single. Kyle Burden scored on a botched pickoff play and a wild pitch brought Tintera home.

"We walked a couple; you can't walk the bottom of the lineup and face the top of the lineup and expect to keep getting out of it," Hilltoppers' coach Brian Wojtun said. "They did a nice job of swinging the bats."

Bartlett (18-9) will now face regional host Geneva at 11 a.m. on Saturday for the regional championship. The Hawks will look for their offense to continue to flow as it did Thursday.

Bartlett finished with 9 hits, Schrader going 2-for-4, with 4 RBI and 2 runs scored.

"I've been practicing swinging, before games, after games," Schrader said. "My team was looking for me to lift them up. They put the runners on for me."

Mike Derby (6-2) picked up the victory going 5 innings and allowing 2 earned runs off of 4 hits. Kevin Carmody earned the save allowing just 1 hit and 0 runs in 2 innings of work.