Baseball: Libertyville, Warren advance to sectional final

Libertyville took advantage of some friendly winds Wednesday.

Playing on their home field, the Wildcats had a trio of huge wind-blown hits. That included a three-run home by Bode Rohrbach as Libertyville blew past North Suburban Conference rival Mundelein 8-1 in the Class 4A sectional semifinals.

Defending Class 4A state champion Libertyville has now won 10 consecutive playoff games over the last two seasons. The Wildcats (27-10) will play Warren at 10 a.m. Saturday for the sectional title.

“Playing at home is definitely nice,” Libertyville coach Matt Thompson said. “Our guys obviously are familiar with it and with Chase (Lockwood) on the mound, we knew we had a good shot. Our bats are doing what they’re supposed to to do and the pitching and defense has been solid. That’s the trick, right?”

Libertyville scored in the first two innings for a 3-0 lead.

With two outs in the first, Braden Tolzien drove a ball over the Mustangs center fielder‘s head to double home Carson Holmes, who also had doubled.

In the next inning, again with two outs, Madden Cotts doubled over the left fielder’s head, scoring Matthew Hara, who had reached on an error. Later in the inning, Holmes was hit by a pitch to score Jack Cenar.

Mundelein (22-11) picked up a run in the third. Frankie Lesniak had a leadoff double down the third base line. Lesniak went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Johnny Weiss’ ground out to second to make it 3-1.

Libertyville came back with a strong answer.

Ryan Wilberding walked and Lockwood was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Cenar then doubled down the left field line to score courtesy runner Nick Farmikas.

Rohrbach then followed and hit a towering drive to right. The wind caught it and pushed the ball just over short right field fence for a three-run homer and a 7-1 Wildcat lead.

“It was a wind bomb,” said Rohrbach, who hit his second homer of the season.

“I got it in the air and luckily the wind was blowing out. I knew it was going to be a sac fly, but then I saw it kept going, I was like, maybe it had a chance and it went.”

Mundelein had an opportunity to get back in the game in their next at-bat.

With one out, the Mustangs got consecutive singles from Logan Young, Miller Rastrelli and Peter Nanos. But Lockwood, who has allowed just two hits prior, got out of the jam. He induced a fly to short center field and then a grounder that Hara made a solid play at shortstop to end the threat.

“It was definitely rough coming out here today,” said Lockwood, who lost to Mundelein earlier this year.

“I didn’t have my stuff last time we played them. But I knew if I had my stuff, my team was going to hit and we would be in a real good spot.”

Holmes gave the Wildcats and an extra run with his second hit of the game. He lined a single to left to score Rohrbach, who had singled to lead off the inning, to make it 8-1.

“You know you are never safe in the state playoffs,” Holmes said. “So it is nice to get that extra run. It was awesome playing before our fans. We had a great crowd today.”

Mundelein coach Randy Lerner said he was proud of the way his team played this season.

“I couldn’t be prouder of this senior group,” Lerner said. “It is really a close-knit group. We sustained through crappy weather and they really stuck together. We made some noise in conference season and were regional champs. Obviously, coming up short against your rivals is always tough pill to swallow.”

Warren 6, Buffalo Grove 0: Warren made sure to take any hope away from upstart and 13th-seeded Buffalo Grove early.

The second-seeded Blue Devils scored four runs in the bottom of the first and never looked back. Warren used that start to knock off the Bison 6-0 Wednesday in the Class 4A semifinal at the Libertyville sectional.

Warren (24-10) will meet top-seeded and North Suburban Conference foe Libertyville in Saturday’s sectional final. Libertyville beat Warren twice during the regular season.

Blue Devils coach Clint Smothers loved his team’s approach all season.

“This team is just a kind of team that you want to coach,” Smothers said. “It’s just no individuals, there are no superstars. They play as a team and that’s why we have 24 wins. It’s just great coaching these guys.”

Warren loaded the bases in the first inning. Sam Reuter reached on a dropped third strike, Connor Nissen walked and Bryan McCarthy reached on a fielder ‘s choice thanks to an error.

Colin Drekmann then drove in a pair with a single. Oliver Rojewski would later single to drive in two more runs to give the Blue Devils a 4-0 lead.

Warren tallied a pair of runs in the third to make it 6-0.

Again the Blue Devils loaded the bases as Braxton Goodfellow doubled, Dreckman walked and Ethan Gross had a bunt single. Rojewski then singled home a run and Mason Durst had a sacrifice fly.

“It was a great day for me,” said Rojewski, who is a sophomore and had 3 hits and 3 RBI.

“I saw the ball well out of the pitcher’s hand. I took my approach and stuck with it. Those extra runs off my hit definitely helped get the flow of the game along.”

Smothers said Rojewski’s at-bat was key.

“Oliver comes up with those two guys on,” Smothers said. “He fouled a bunch of pitches and we got the pitcher’s pitch count up, then he comes up with a bloop single and we score two more runs. With four runs in first, it was a big deal.”

Meanwhile, Warren pitcher Peyton Balanag kept Buffalo Grove (17-20) off balance the entire afternoon. The senior went 6 innings, striking out 6 while allowing 5 hits, two of which came to Buffalo Grove’s Andrew Lee.

“I was just looking to be able to throw strikes and keep our team in the game,” said Balanag, who is a senior. “I just wanted my fielders to do the work. I count on my teammates to get runs and then all I have to do is pump strikes.”

Smothers said Balanag didn’t feel any pressure.

“He is steady Eddie out there,” Smothers said. “It is just crazy how he does it. He gets the ball and throws it. He gets the ball and throws it. It’s awesome.”

Balanag gave way to Mason “Squid” Palmer in the seventh. Palmer fanned all the batters he faced.

It was a rough end for a Buffalo Grove team that got on a roll in the playoffs, winning three games in a row to win a regional title.

“We just never really applied pressure,” Buffalo Grove coach Bill Montemayor said. “And that first inning just set a bad tone for us. You can’t give them extra outs and we haven’t been doing that the last couple of weeks. But it was great run for us.”