Nazareth snaps Saints' 16-game streak

Nazareth gave St. Charles East a glimpse of what the Saints have been doing to teams this spring.

The Roadrunners rode stellar pitching, flawless defense, disciplined hitting and aggressive baserunning to an 8-0 victory over the Saints Tuesday morning at the Phil Lawler Summer Classic.

Nazareth (31-4), a program making its first appearance in the summer state tournament but one that has reached the IHSA supersectional the past two springs, snapped the Saints' 16-game winning streak in convincing fashion.

They did it against Saints ace Wes Benjamin (1-1) who allowed 5 runs and 8 hits in 4 innings before St. Charles East coach Dave Haskins turned to Mike Upton and Jon Martini to finish the game.

"He (Benjamin) wasn't very sharp," Haskins said. "They did a nice job, fought off pitches. That is a very good baseball team and that's why they are playing in the semifinals."

Nazareth will play St. Laurence in the first semifinal at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Benedictine, followed by Neuqua Valley against Streamwood.

The highlight for the Saints came in the first inning. Nazareth loaded the bases with no outs, yet Benjamin escaped when third baseman Nicholas Erickson threw to catcher Jake Sheley for the first out, then Luke Rojas, Jordan Hayes and Tony Rallo turned an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

Nazareth starter Ryan Marske quickly regained momentum with a 1-2-3 second inning on 7 pitches. The left-hander, Nazareth's No. 4 starter, silenced the Saints, allowing 3 hits and 2 walks in his complete game effort. He needed just 94 pitches, throwing 59 for strikes.

"Lots of off-speed stuff was working well," Marske said. "My catcher was framing it good so I was getting a lot of calls."

"Tip your hat to their pitcher, he was outstanding," Haskins said. "Got ahead of a lot of our hitters."

Nazareth scored twice in the third and three times in the fourth to chase Benjamin, who struck out four and walked two. No. 2 hitter Anthony Baldassano went 4-for-4 to lead a potent 1-5 part of Roadrunners' order that combined to go 8-for-13 with 7 runs and 7 RBI.

Seven players are hitting over .400 this summer for Nazareth.

"Once we get the lead, I'm pretty confident our guys can handle the bat," Nazareth coach Lee Milano said. "We knew we were facing their tough pitcher and I think our guys were aggressive and looking forward to that challenge."

Hayes, Rallo and Joe Hoscheit had the only 3 hits for the Saints, all singles.