Rakow brings regional crown to Marmion

The Marmion baseball program waited 39 years for a regional title. Cadets coach Dave Rakow only waited one.

The Cadets won their first regional title since 1969 Saturday under rookie coach Rakow after they topped Suburban Catholic Conference rival Aurora Central Catholic 4-1 at ACC.

"I'm just in a good situation now," Rakow said. "We have good players and great assistant coaches. When you have kids like this, it makes it easy, that's for sure. It feels very good."

With the win not only did the Cadets advance to the sectional semifinal at Rochelle on Thursday, but they set a school record in wins with 18. This was their 10th consecutive win and have won 16 of their last 19, with just 8 losses on the season.

"There's a lot of meaning to today," Rakow said. "It's a landmark day for the Marmion Cadets."

It was also a big day for Marmion starter Brian Burns, the No. 2 man in the rotation. The junior pitched his fourth complete game of the season and improved to 5-2 after giving up 5 hits with 2 walks and 6 strikeouts.

"We are really happy with the way he is pitching now," Rakow said of Burns. "He's battled every time he's been out there this year ... it's always a battle when we go out there with (ACC). We are really happy."

"Today just meant a lot," added Burns, who had success against ACC earlier this season. "I was a little stressed out there, but I threw strikes and came out with the win."

Marmion clung on to a 1-0 lead on a run it manufactured in the bottom of the second when Ryan Hoffman scored on a Zack Young sacrifice bunt RBI.

The Cadets struck again in the fifth after 3 runs in the sixth, led by Matt Milroy's RBI double.

"(The sixth inning) gave me a lot of confidence (on the mound)," Burns said. "It helped me concentrate and focus more. It gave us all a good feeling in the dugout."

ACC had just the top of the seventh to catch up. The Chargers gave themselves a chance after pinch-hitter Ken Litrenta reached second base on an error and scored on Chad Roscoe's RBI single. He and Mike Adams were left stranded on base, as the final batter grounded out to end the game. ACC left a total of 9 runners.

"We just couldn't get the big hit today," ACC coach Mike Armato said. "We had our chances. They made the plays, and (Burns) threw a nice game. We gave them everything we had."

In Armato's first year as head coach, ACC finished 13-16 and graduated Mark Adams, the school's record holder in stolen bases.

"We underachieved," Armato said. "We let a lot of games slip away. We win 6 more games, we go 19-10, but ... we started off good and played well the last two weeks. I applaud the kids' effort. They played good ball and deserved to play in this game."