Rolling Meadows 9, Wheeling 3

Rolling Meadows wasn't feeling any heat in the Mid-Suburban East baseball race coming into Monday's visit by Wheeling.

And seventh-year Meadows coach Jim Lindeman wasn't feeling much heat after his team's 9-3 victory.

Moments after getting word of Prospect's 3-2 loss to Elk Grove, seniors Kyle Gaedele and Kevin Serna iced Meadows' clinching of an East title with a traditional water-bucket dousing over Lindeman's head.

"It's an amazing feeling," said the Valparaiso-bound Gaedele, who made a terrific backhand catch while running into the left-field fence to rob Steve Slussar of extra bases in the first inning.

"We knew we could do it," said Meadows senior right fielder Scott Wenzel, who drove in the first run with a second-inning single and started a 7-run fourth with an infield hit. "We definitely have the talent and a lot of seniors. We told ourselves we could win it … and it was one of our goals."

Junior Ted Metzger (4-1) threw a complete-game 5-hitter as the Mustangs (16-7, 11-4) won their first East title since 2003 and first outright division crown since 2000. They'll play for the MSL title at 11 a.m. Saturday at West champion Schaumburg.

"Relieving," Gaedele and Wenzel said separately of Meadows' 17th division title, second to Barrington's 18.

Meadows wasn't worried that Prospect trailed by just a game going into Monday.

"We were confident coming in," Gaedele said. "The pressure was on Prospect and not us.

"We said before the game, 'The pressure isn't on us.' We came out and played relaxed and did a good job."

Garrett Cannizzo's single led to the first run. Meadows parlayed 3 infield hits by Wenzel, Serna and Ben Sabal into a 7-run fourth with 3 walks, 2 hit batters and 1 of 5 Wheeling (5-13, 5-10) errors.

Tony Brzezniak and Tom Zidron had 2 hits and Kevin Kowynia drove in 2 of Wheeling's runs with a squeeze bunt and a single.

"I thought our kid (Justin Christell) pitched a good enough game," said Wheeling coach Mike Tice after all of Meadows' runs were unearned. "It's just a shame. You'd like to at least give them a good ballgame."

Meadows committed only 1 error as shortstop Dan Wenzel and second baseman Dan Lauria turned a double play and Jon Carlson had a pair of nice scoops at first base. Metzger had 5 strikeouts and 5 walks as Meadows capped its recovery from a 1-2 start in the East for a shot to duplicate its 2-1 win over Schaumburg on April 21.

"It's a great accomplishment for this team," Lindeman said. "We knew coming in we'd be competitive and we've got some seniors who've been here awhile and they've carried us."

Schaumburg 12, Palatine 1: George Kalousek (6-2) threw a 2-hitter in 6 innings as Schaumburg (18-6, 12-3) wrapped up its second straight MSL West title and ninth MSL division title under Paul Groot.

"It's tough when everybody's aiming for you and you've got a big target on your back," Groot said. "Our kids have really lived up to expectations. I couldn't be prouder of our team coming back to repeat."

Kalousek had 5 strikeouts and no walks and gave up his only run when Brett Chidester homered in the Palatine (10-18, 7-8) fifth. Kalousek (2 doubles, 2 RBI), Dave Compitello (3 RBI), Steve Mahler (2 RBI), Matt Kiszkowski and Dan Launhardt had 2 hits each for the Saxons.

Fremd 11, Barrington 3: Jason Ford (5-1) settled down after a 2-run first and hit a grand slam to tie the Fremd (15-6, 10-5) single-season record with 9 homers in the MSL West win. Ford had 6 RBI and equaled the homer mark of Jim Kating (1984) and Brian Bucciarelli (2000).

Mike Tauchman and Brandon Middlebrook went 2-for-3 for Fremd. Russ Zeisloft, Bryan Grabowski and Mark Minner had 2 hits for Barrington (15-11, 9-6).

Elk Grove 3, Prospect 2: Mike Czurylo's RBI single with one out in the bottom of the sixth broke a tie and a 6-game losing streak for Elk Grove (12-15, 6-9) in the MSL East win. Josh Daniels got the win and Jake Pfister the save.

John Coen was 2-for-4 for Prospect (13-12, 9-6).

Hersey 7, BG 6: Matt Frenzer had an RBI double and Jake Knauss an RBI single in a 3-run fifth that put Hersey (16-12, 7-8) ahead to stay for its ninth win in 10 games. Will Brown got out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the BG (8-13, 4-11) fifth for the win and Dan Kelley got the save.

Bobby Gehm stole 6 of Hersey's 12 bases.

Hoffman 14, Conant 5: Dave Ehlers had 4 RBI and Mike Eisele and Matt St. John had 3 RBI each for Hoffman (9-12, 5-10) in the MSL West win. Austin Wright homered for Conant (8-13, 5-10).

Maine W. 17, Niles N. 2: Lucas Udischas homered and doubled, Mike Santa Maria was 3-for-4 and freshman Connor Skoczynski had 2 doubles as Maine West (14-5, 11-4) supported winner James Ward with 17 hits in the 5-inning Central Suburban North road win.

Notre Dame 4, St. Viator 1: Phil Bar had a second-inning RBI single for St. Viator (17-11, 8-8) in the East Suburban Catholic Conference loss.