Baseball: Silvius tosses third straight shutout, pitches Crystal Lake South to 3A state tourney

Michael Silvius has enjoyed a memorable postseason for Crystal Lake South’s baseball team.

The junior right-handed pitcher continued his playoff dominance with a 5-hit complete game during the Gators’ 4-0 Class 3A supersectional triumph over Fenwick Tuesday at Wintrust Field in Schaumburg.

Silvius, who walked 2 and struck out 4, needed 95 pitches to send the Gators (29-9) to the Class 3A state semifinals for the second time in five years.

Crystal Lake South will face Troy Triad (35-5) at 1 p.m. Friday at Joliet’s Slammers Stadium.

“I worked on my curveball all week and got that down,” said Silvius, who also tossed shutouts against Woodstock (10-0) and Deerfield (6-0) in the regional and sectional semifinals, respectively. “I knew they (Friars) struggled hitting curves, so I wanted to mix it up, throw some off-speed and pump them with the fastball.”

Silvius got stronger as the game went along, recording a pair of strikeouts in the seventh inning, including a swinging punchout to end the game.

“I thought he did a nice job throwing strikes,” said Gators coach Brian Bogda. “He gave our defense a chance. I’m super impressed with how he competed and threw multiple pitches for strikes. He was rarely behind in the count.

“I think he was at 57 pitches into the sixth, so I knew he had a chance to finish it.”

Silvius also helped his own cause, going 3 for 4, including an RBI single in the fourth that opened the scoring.

“I knew he (Fenwick starter Bobby Milder) was going to come at me with fastballs,” said Silvius. “I wanted to attack early.”

Michael Rathjen, 1 of 2 senior starters for the Gators alongside second baseman Nolan Dabrowski (2 for 3, walk), drove in the second run with a sacrifice fly.

“We try to lead as much as we can, but they know what they’re doing,” said Rathjen, who had 2 of the Gators’ 9 hits. “We trust the younger guys.”

Crystal Lake South added another run in the sixth on a wild pitch before tacking on an insurance tally in the seventh.

After Nick Stowasser reached on an error, sophomore Wes Bogda squibbed a ball in front of the plate, and the Friars’ catcher launched the ball into right field, allowing Stowasser to score and make it 4-0.

“It wasn’t the greatest hit in the world, but he did put the bat on the ball and was running hard the whole time,” said the coach. “The key is putting pressure on the other team.”

While the Friars (14-21) committed 4 errors, the Gators played flawless in the field.

“Carson (shortstop Trivellini) made a nice play up the middle to start the game, and we made some nice plays in the outfield for him (Silvius),” said Bogda.

Now, the Gators focus their attention on a Troy Triad team with a 19-game winning streak that hasn’t lost since April.

“We’ve got to keep pushing,” said Silvius. “The job’s not finished.”