Baseball: Big start, finish for Prospect

Prospect started and finished in a big way to claim a 10-4 victory over host Palatine in a baseball matchup of the Mid-Suburban League's second-place divisional finishers Wednesday.

The Knights scored 4 runs in the first inning, then broke open a tied game by scoring 6 in the top of the seventh.

Travis Gates went 4-for-4 for Prospect (19-9), and Richie Baszek and Nick Ergostolo both finished with 3 hits and 2 RBI. Starter Brendan O'Brien allowed 3 earned runs over 6 innings, and Gates provided an inning's worth of scoreless relief.

Zach Oles and J.T. Streepy had 2 hits apiece for Palatine (17-15).

St. Viator 9, Notre Dame 4: After allowing host Notre Dame 4 runs in the first inning, the Lions started producing runs of their own in bunches to pick up an East Suburban Catholic Conference triumph.

St. Viator starter Kevin Napoleon weathered a rough beginning to toss 6 innings of 4-hit ball with 12 strikeouts and earn a win.

Leadoff man Mike Ragauskis finished 2-for-5 with a double and 2 RBI for St. Viator (17-15). Jack Sexton and Shaun Falbo had 2 hits apiece, and Michael Wittich contributed a double. Sexton and Wittich both drove in 2 runs.

Carmel (19-9, 13-5) clinched the ESCC title by defeating St. Patrick 9-1 on Wednesday.

Fremd 3, Hersey 2: Charlie Kaye's RBI single plated JT Kolderup as host Fremd scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning to win its MSL crossover.

Jake LaGasse hit a solo homer in the second inning and finished 2-for-3 for the Vikings (16-10), who got a complete-game 4-hitter from winning pitcher Jared Swenson.

Matt Johnson suffered the loss for the Huskies (13-16).

Hoffman Estates 10, Wheeling 0 (6 inn.): Marc Gonzalez had a leadoff homer and later singled and double to finish with 5 RBI as the host Hawks won their MSL crossover.

Ryan Ward tossed a complete game, allowing just 6 singles while striking out 10 without a walk.

Other big hitters for Hoffman Estates (11-16) included Dylan Bloom (single, double, 1 RBI, 3 runs) and Lucas Barnes (doubles, 2 runs scored).

Glenbrook North 6, Maine West 1: The visiting Warriors out-hit the Spartans 5-4, but 3 errors allowed Glenbrook North to score 4 unearned runs in Central Suburban North play.

Buffalo Grove 7, Conant 4 (9 inn.): Ben Moran scored the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth inning on a passed ball as the visiting Bison won their MSL crossover.

Riley Rundquist doubled and had 3 hits, Eric Mercker also had 3 hits for Buffalo Grove (14-17) and Zach Fricke earned a win with 3⅔ innings of 2-hit relief with 4 strikeouts.

Tim Fauth had an extra-base hit for Conant (16-17), a double.

Schaumburg 10, Rolling Meadows 3: The hosts Saxons produced 9 hits and took advantage of 7 errors in picking up an MSL crossover victory.

Kolby Miller had 3 hits for Schaumburg (13-15), and pitchers Nick Pentz, Nick Stare, Max Miller and Vinnie Kandefer pooled their efforts on a 4-hitter.

Trent McNally had a double for Rolling Meadows (5-22).