Baseball: Maine South beats Highland Park to claim CSL title

Bad memories from a year ago at Wintrust Field got buried somewhere beyond the left-field wall Monday night.

Maybe alongside the baseball Maine South senior catcher Luka Stojakovic demolished in the fifth inning.

“We played on this field last year,” Stojakovic said after the Hawks’ 7-0 defeat of Highland Park in the Central Suburban League championship game in Schaumburg. “Lost to Libertyville. Bad memories.

“We made some good memories tonight.”

And then this, with a grin:

“It’s going to be a fun bus ride home.”

The ride figured to feel even shorter for a Maine South club that pounded out 8 hits, played spotless defense and received a crisp, composed 3-hit shutout from pitchers Alex Aridas, Sam Higgins and Charlie Kolz.

The Hawks (20-13), champions of the CSL South Division with an 11-4 mark, turned the title game into a rout with a 5-run second inning against Highland Park senior starter Cooper Kasdin. Maine South added single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to capture only the second CSL championship game in league history.

Highland Park (23-8), the CSL North champion at 14-1, entered the night having won seven of its previous nine games.

“Everybody on our team comes together,” said Maine South senior right fielder Evan Adamczewski, who tripled home 2 runs in the decisive second inning. “Amazing. This feels great. We put on a dominant show.”

The show started with the bottom of the Hawks’ order.

Nos. 7, 8 and 9 hitters Ryan Pape, Jack Fisher and Michael Forte ignited the 5-run inning. Pape doubled to left field, Fisher walked and Forte lined an RBI single to left-center field for a 1-0 lead.

Moments later, Adamczewski — a left-handed hitter and Northern Illinois commit — drilled a 2-run triple to deep left field the other way.

Stojakovic followed later in the inning with a run-scoring double down the third-base line, pushing the lead to 4-0. Another run scored before the inning finally ended.

“Huge,” Maine South coach Brian Lorenz said of what the bottom third of his lineup sparked in the second.

Junior Sean Sladky went 2-for-3 with a triple and a walk, while Stojakovic finished 2-for-3 with a homer and 2 RBIs. His solo blast over the left-field wall in the fifth inning made it 6-0.

“That was the farthest homer I’ve seen in eight years,” Lorenz said.

Two batters later, senior Nate Cera lined an RBI single to cap the scoring.

Meanwhile, Maine South’s pitching staff kept Highland Park from generating any sustained offense.

Aridas, a junior right-hander, worked the first 3 innings, allowing 1 hit while striking out two. His biggest pitch of the night might have come in the top of the first inning after Highland Park’s Shamar Wilson was hit by a pitch and Bennett Hilgart drew a walk.

Aridas escaped by inducing an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

Higgins tossed 2 scoreless innings before Kolz handled the final 2 innings for the combined shutout. Wilson’s third-inning double accounted for Highland Park’s lone extra-base hit.

Kasdin, the CSL North Pitcher of the Year, struck out four and walked two in 4 2/3 innings in taking the loss.

Before the first pitch, Kasdin and Highland Park center fielder Paxton Feder were honored as the CSL North Pitcher and Player of the Year, respectively. Maine South’s Stojakovic and Connor Griffin earned the CSL South’s Player and Pitcher of the Year awards.

“Tough one,” Highland Park coach Jason Newburger said. “Both teams played great defense. We got those 2 runners on in the first, and they got out of it with the double play.

“This is a resilient group. It’s a group with seniors who won 70 games in the last three seasons. We’ll be OK.”