Baseball: Pardini, Coen keep Meadows fired up

Nate Pardini, Joe Coen and Rolling Meadows kept the candles burning on coach Jim Lindeman's retirement cake.

Pardini and Coen combined to stymie Wheeling's bats, and the pair also accounted for 8 of Rolling Meadows' 16 hits as the Mustangs rolled past Wheeling 11-2 Tuesday in the opening round of the Class 4A playoffs.

Rolling Meadows (10-15-1), which is seeded 18th, will play at second-seeded Mundelein on Wednesday.

After this season, Lindeman is retiring from coaching the Mustangs following 17 years at the helm. He was also able to play one more home game when Tuesday's contest was switched to Rolling Meadows' home turf; the fields at Wheeling remained unplayable after Monday's rain.

"We thought our last home game was last weekend," Lindeman said. "It is nice to stay out there, and we will head to Mundelien and see what happens there."

Rolling Meadows, which split their season series with 15th-seeded Wheeling (16-16), used an offensive explosion to advance in the state tournament.

"It was really nice to see," Lindeman said. "For the most part, our guys hit the ball on the nose all day long."

Pardini was dominant in the 5 innings he pitched before leaving because of pitch count. He struck out 10 while allowing 6 hits and 2 runs.

"It was just another day at work," said Pardini, who has struck out 80 batters this season. "We got the job done today. We hit the ball all over the place and we pitched well."

Lindeman said this is the type of performance Pardini has given the Mustangs all season.

"We always have a chance with Pardini on the mound," Lindeman said. "He does strike out a lot of guys, but he does throw a lot of pitches. So we are trying to get him as deep in the ballgame as possible."

Coen came in the final 2 innings and kept Wheeling in check.

"I just wanted to go out and help my team," Coen said. "I felt that I played the best I could possibly could."

The duo was also dangerous at the plate. Both had 4 hits, including a double. Pardini drove in 3 runs while Coen drove in 1.

Rolling Meadows broke the game open in the third by sending sent 11 batters to the plate and plating 6 runs.

Joe Marcucci had a 2-run triple to get things started for the Mustangs.

"Our seniors deserve this," said Marcucci, who had 2 hits along with a sacrifice fly. "We are hoping to go on deep run. This is a talented team and we think we can do this."

Matt Lothery had 2 hits and 2 RBI, Joe Kane had 2 hits and Jacob Johnson-Wright scored 3 runs as Rolling Meadows made the plays when it needed them.

Drew Roberts had 3 hits, including a pair of doubles for Wheeling. He also had an RBI.

It was also a tough end to the most successful season for Wheeling since 1989.

"It was the sloppiest we played all year," Wheeling coach Jason Wieder said. "We just didn't play clean today, and we really didn't swing it that well either."

Wieder said this group of seniors has helped to turn the Wheeling program around.

"These seniors are very special group to me," Wieder said. "They have been working hard since they were in seventh grade. They left their legacy with Wheeling baseball, and they built for the future. I am just really proud of them."