Baseball: Warren outslugs Fremd in a wild one

In the third inning alone, there were two 3-run homers.

"For the second time all year, the wind was blowing out here,'' said Warren baseball coach Clint Smothers.

Upstart Fremd, the No. 8 seed in the Class 4A Stevenson sectional, led 6-3 in the third inning in the Warren regional championship game in Gurnee on Saturday morning. That's because Fremd's seventh-place hitter, Jack Molnar, had cracked a 3-run homer.

Warren (28-10) answered back in the bottom of the third with Michael Rosenberg's 3-run blast to left.

The top-seeded Blue Devils somehow dodged 15 Fremd hits and won the regional title game 11-10.

"It was crazy,'' said Fremd coach and former Stevenson standout Chris Piggott. "Both teams came out scoring. The wind was blowing out."

Smothers recalled meeting the Vikings earlier in the season.

"They might have been the best hitting team we've seen this year,'' Smothers said. "We had our hands full with them. They are a great team and well-coached."

Maybe the turning point of this game came early. Fremd (17-13) strung three hits together in the opening frame, and on Jake LaGasse's booming double, the Vikings plated a run.

Yet, it could have been more. On an unusual double play, Warren caught a runner at home and at third to curtail the scoring.

Fremd kept on hitting in the next frame. It was 2-0 Vikings heading to the second. And just like that, it was tied again. Ricky Lee's double opened the inning. He took his time scoring as Warren's Luke Schmitt hit the game's first homer.

Rosenberg's clutch 3-run homer was the big blow in a 5-run third inning.

"Rosenberg had a nice swing in that at-bat,'' Smothers said.

"The first pitch was a pretty good fastball,'' Rosenberg said. "And on the next pitch, I knew it was gone as soon as I hit it."

Warren's lead was 8-6 heading to the fourth.

Ethan Hajdukovic's run-scoring single brought the Vikings back to within a run.

Fremd had 11 seniors on the roster this spring.

"What a great group of seniors,'' Piggott said. "They competed all year long."

Again, Fremd rallied to take the lead in the fifth. Tommy Josten's RBI double was key along with catcher Troy Hajdukovic's RBI triple as Fremd went ahead 10-8.

Warren fought back in the home half of the fifth. Jordan Litke had an RBI single. And the Fremd defense also helped out with 3 errors.

"We had too many errors,'' Piggott said. "You can't do that to a good team."

Pitching? Yes, there was some quality pitching in this slugfest. Warren sophomore Riley Kocen had the game's first 1-2-3 inning in the sixth. Only an infield hit ruined his chance at two perfect innings.

"I knew they were a good hitting team,'' Kocen said. "So I didn't throw my fastball and relied on my off-speed stuff."

Warren's senior catcher, Ricky Bergstrom had 2 hits and a sacrifice.

"We played good defense,'' Bergstrom said. "But it was a crazy game. There was a lot of scoring."