Massat helps Elk Grove edge Arlington
Family obligations kept Tim Massat from playing baseball this spring at Oakton College.
Defending Cook County American Legion baseball champion Elk Grove is glad Massat was able to play this summer.
The Schaumburg graduate went 4-for-6 with a homer and 6 RBI and pitched 32/3 innings for the save as third-seed Elk Grove survived a ninth-inning rally and held off No. 2 Arlington 13-12 at Rec Park in Arlington Heights on Wednesday.
"That's why you play, you want to be in those spots," Massat said after leaving runners at first and third in a 4-run ninth. "That's somewhere you want to be on Saturday for a championship game."
Elk Grove (19-12) took a big step in that direction and will play at 7 p.m. today at Rec Park against top-seed Palatine (26-7). The Blue Jays hammered No. 5 Glenview 16-0 in 7 innings as Clint Terry just missed a single for the cycle and had 9 RBI and Sean Stutzman threw a 4-hitter.
Arlington (25-11) plays the 3:30 p.m. elimination game at Rec Park against No. 4 Evanston, which eliminated No. 8 Northbrook 12-8.
Glenview plays the noon elimination game at Rec Park against No. 6 Morton Grove, which eliminated No. 7 Mount Prospect 13-9.
Massat helped make Arlington starter Jeremy Salzman pay for walking three of the first four hitters. His 2-run single started a 6-run first inning.
And his 3-run blast to left in the fourth off Jack Mullenix upped the lead to 10-3.
"Tim Massat took us on his back today and just carried us," said Elk Grove coach Brian Mucha.
"The last time I swung a bat before this summer was at County last year," Massat said. "Now I'm starting to come around at the right time.
"This is what I love to do and I appreciate the opportunity Moo (Mucha) has given me by playing another year."
Just as important in the Red Sox's 19-hit attack were 3 hits apiece from Dave Geller, Tyler Ford and Ryan Hayes at the bottom of the order. Geller had a 2-run double in the first and Ford had the first of his 3 doubles to drive in a run in he first.
"Usually our top carries us and those guys were awesome today," Mucha said. "Ford has really been on a roll lately. He's spreading the ball all over and it's good to see that."
Joe Dombek also had an RBI single and Kevin Gannon had an RBI triple. But it wasn't easy for starter and winner Andy Keehn or Massat as Jake Knauss was 4-for-5 with 3 doubles and 4 RBI and Thomas Kelly was 3-for-5 with a double and 2 RBI for Arlington.
"We fought back and that's all you can ask," said Arlington coach Lloyd Meyer.
Massat breezed through his first 22/3 relief innings when Arlington threatened in the ninth. Pat McGinn had a bases-loaded RBI single and Kyle Kapka had an RBI groundout.
With two out, Mike Toljanic just missed a game-tying 3-run homer as Gannon crashed into the fence in right. Toljanic ended up with a triple and Ryan Nisbet was hit by pitch, but third baseman Donny Duschinsky charged Kelly's slow roller and fired to first for the final out.
"We gave them (their last 3 runs) - and that's happened to us all year," Meyer said. "I've said all year we have to make routine plays. We really lost because we didn't make routine plays."
In Palatine's romp at Harper College, Terry had a double, bases-clearing triple and grand slam in the sixth before coach Jeff Ryder started substituting players.
"It was one of those things were everything was clicking," Ryder said. "Glenview is a good team and I love what Bob (coach Rosinski) is doing with their guys.
"It was fun to watch - from our point of view, anyway."
Erik Smoy had a 3-run homer and 4 hits and Matt Johnsen had 4 hits. Kevin Ciardiello had 2 triples and Zenon Kolakowski had 3 hits and a double.
But Stutzman didn't need much support as he had 8 strikeouts and threw only 99 pitches.
"Sean pitched just an outstanding game," Ryder said. "It was probably his best game of the year."