Cook baseball notes: Conant’s Kirchner, Hersey’s Meister among area record breakers

With the state playoffs beginning next week, here is a wrap up of area teams this season:

Barrington: Will Renshaw has had great Mondays the past two weeks. The junior threw a no-hitter on May 12 against Conant and then came back and tossed another no-no this past Monday against Rolling Meadows. Renshaw has allowed just 10 hits in MSL action this season and MSL teams are batting .085 against him.

Buffalo Grove: Griffin Kelly continues to have a sterling career for the Bison. The four-year starter is first all-time in at-bats with 393 and RBI with 94. He is second in hits with 130 (4 from tying record) and third in walks with 62 (2 from tying record). He is also fourth in doubles with 24 and 10th in runs with 59. On the mound, Kelly is first in strikeouts with 211, breaking former MLB player Mike Marshall’s record, and second in innings pitched with 174 1/3.

Conant: Records are made to be broken. A year after Bryce Loeger set the season strikeout mark for Conant with 103, Franklin Kirchner is ready to top that mark. Kirchner is at 102 strikeouts with a pitching opportunity coming this Saturday. He is also on tap to be the Cougars’ state playoff starter next week against Palatine.

Elk Grove: The Grenadiers are hoping to find that mid-season magic in the postseason. Elk Grove put together a 4-game winning streak beating Wheeling (twice), Conant and Prospect. Sophomore Cooper Casterton leads the team batting .405 and .481 in MSL play. Myles Schwartz is hitting .348 and has a 2.72 ERA while Isaac Santowski is batting .300. Coach Steve Lesniak is stepping down at the end of this season after six years of coaching the Grenadiers.

Fremd: Coach Chris Piggot has won 397 games in his 23 years as head coach. But in no season have the Vikings won as many games for him as the 26 they have won thus far. And this year’s team, which meets Hersey in the MSL title game on Friday, is just two wins away from tying the school-record of 28. The Vikings are led offensively by Will Graba, who is hitting .431, Johnny O’Brien, who is hitting .430 with 29 RBI and 27 runs, Chase Nelson (.417), Cooper Nelson (.386, 26 RBI 31 runs) and Caleb Yoon (.333 with a team-high 37 RBI). On the mound Graba is 8-0 with a 2.45 ERA, Myles Minier is 5-0 with a 2.06 ERA, Jack Crihfield is 5-0 with a 2.15 ERA and Robby Seifert is 3-0 with 4 saves.

Hersey: The core of 15 seniors has carried Hersey to new heights. After winning the East, the Huskies will meet Fremd in the MSL title game on Friday. Hersey has won two extra-inning games and the Huskies have a team batting average of .349 and a team ERA of 2.37. Leading the way has been shortstop Chuck Meister. The four-year starter has broken four all-time hitting marks with doubles with 34, RBI with 88, runs with 106 and hits with 133. Meister is hitting .429, while Mike Sokan is batting .406, Drew Thomas .374, Diego Garcia .370 and Brady Klegr .358. Keegan Luxem leads the staff with a 5-0 record, 1.77 ERA and 72 strikeouts. Riley Blackwell is 6-2 with 71 strikeouts and a 2.05 ERA, Lincoln Causero is 5-1 with a 2.27 ERA, Bennett McNeill 5-0 with a 1.13 ERA and Jack Georgen is 3-3 with an ERA of 3.89.

Hoffman Estates: Junior Derek Conjardi is hitting .295 while striking out 47 in 39.1 innings. Senior Colin Karecki is hitting .289 while Tyler Dillon, a junior, has fanned 43 in 35 1/3 innings. The Hawks’ youth movement has been playing dividends. “We were a very young team and defensively,” Hoffman coach Andrew Wulbecker said. “But our freshmen and sophomores played defense like they have been playing varsity baseball for three years.”

Leyden: The Eagles are heating up at the right time, winning 7 of their last 8 games with wins over Oak Park and Willowbrook. Jacob Ganir leads Leyden batting .383. Sammy Calderon is hitting .373 with 28 runs scored, Maddox Jasinski is batting .368 and Hassan Khrawish .360. Jonathan Rosas and Elias Carrillo are both 5-2 with Carrillo fanning 63 in 45 innings pitched.

Maine East: It has been an injury-riddled season for the Blue Demons, but there have been some highlights. Jackson Slamowitz leads the Blue Demons with a batting average of .415 while Adolfo Lopez, who is hitting .298, has committed to Lewis University. Junior Andrew Merza has a 3.50 ERA and has fanned 46 in 44 innings while sophomore Keon Lapez has 30 strikeouts.

Maine South: The Hawks are playing this weekend in the semifinals of the “Do It Stevie’s Way” Tournament at Ozinga Field in Crestwood against Lemont. Constantine Coines leads the team with 37 hits and a .363 batting average. Luka Stojakovic is hitting .357 with 25 RBI, Nate Cera .337 and Evan Adamczewski .301. Jake Zabratanski leads the pitching staff with a 4-2 record and 4 saves along with a 1.06 ERA while Connor Griffin has an ERA of 3.53 with 29 strikeouts.

Maine West: The Warriors have had tough luck this season, losing 13 games by two runs or less. Perish Smith leads Maine West with a .423 batting average while Julian Delao is hitting .371 and has 47 strikeouts in 47 innings with a 2.50 ERA. Ryan Duffy has a 2.40 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 35 innings.

Rolling Meadows: The Mustangs have been on the run all season. Meadows picked up its 20th win last week, marking the first time since 2006. In addition, the Mustangs will finish over .500 for the first time since 2013. Leading the way for Meadows is catcher Ryan Schneider. He is currently hitting .516 with a .611 on-base percentage and a 1.501 OPS. He has recorded 47 hits, including 22 extra-base hits, and driven in 37 runs. He also tied the school’s single season records for both doubles and triples.

Palatine: The Pirates have truly earned their name this season. Through 32 games, the Pirates have swiped a school-record 156 bases, with 8 players in double digits. Toby Peterson leads the way with 23 stolen bases, followed closely by Carter Monroe and Joe Riley with 21. Jett Greiwe has 20, while Cooper Houston and Ian Sherman each have 17. Jack Houser (12) and Dave Oddo (10) make up the final 8. Meanwhile, Palatine (23-9) is just one win shy of the school record for wins. The Pirates have three regular season games remaining plus the playoffs.

Prospect: The Knights have shown no deficit it too much. Last week, they overcame a 7-1 deficit to Palatine to win 16-9. Earlier this season they trailed Hersey 6-1 and rallied to win 10-9. According to coach Ross Giusti, the Knights have had solid production from Aiden Nelson, Louis Caldrone, John Bazula, Jack Davis, Matt Jackson, Jack Davis, John Aquino, Matt Fouch, Ken Munao, Ryan Foley and Logan Nordentoft. Prospect has also seen strong contributions on the mound from Dominic Graf, Matt Castanada, Ewen Kirsh and Nathan Kurtz.

Schaumburg: The Saxons broke a 7-game losing streak last Saturday with a 9-4 win over Prospect. Hayden Adamowicz and Matt Williams lead the offense for Schaumburg while Adamowicz has been its top hurler.

St. Viator: Junior Brandon Thomsen was named ESCC Offensive Player of the Year. Thomsen hit .525 with 5 doubles, 3 homers and 16 RBI in conference play. He is hitting .449 for the season with 6 homers and 29 RBI. Brock Harer is batting .376, Jonathan Tschanz is hitting .370 and Brayden Hynek is batting .366. Hunter Mills leads the pitching staff with an ERA of 2.86.

Wheeling: The Wildcats beat Barrington 5-4 last week. It was just Wheeling’s second win over Barrington since 2002 with the last win coming in 2019. Grant Scheuerman, who scored twice in that game, leads Wheeling with 34 runs scored and 27 stolen bases. Zach Neukirch leads the team with 36 hits , 2 HR and 27 RBI. He is hitting .353 while Tyler Zangara leads the team in batting average at .395. Sophomore Reid Gerjerts has a team leading OPS of .996 while freshman Owen Zalewski has been a surprise batting .287 with 25 hits.