Baseball: Notre Dame doesn't allow for St. Viator comeback this time

There was no comeback for St. Viator's baseball team on Tuesday afternoon.

The Lions, who rallied Monday to stun Notre Dame in Niles, couldn't make it two straight over the Dons, losing 11-1 in 6 innings Tuesday in Arlington Heights.

"Notre Dame hits," said St. Viator coach Mike Manno, whose team allowed 14 hits on Monday.

"You don't keep the ball down in the zone you are going to get beat up in this league. Today, we found that out. Actually we found that out both days. We were lucky to get a win on Monday."

The Lions squirmed out of one on Monday.

St. Viator (12-7-1, 6-4 East Suburban Catholic) came from behind on deficits of 10-2 and 13-5 to score 7 runs in the top of the seventh to win 15-14. But on Tuesday, the Lions could just manage 2 hits in the loss.

"We have a long way to go," Manno said. "We need to see a little bit more fight early in the game."

St. Viator had some opportunities to get back in Tuesday's game. The Lions loaded the bases with one out in the second, but the next two batters struck out.

The Lions were trailing 6-0 in the third, when they tried to rally again. But they scored their lone run when Casey Hintz, who had walked, scored on a sacrifice fly by Ian Farrell.

"We didn't come as hot as we needed," Hintz said. "We didn't attack as well as we should have."

The Lions will have to find that fight quickly. They have games against a solid Glenbrook South squad on Thursday, a doubleheader with ESCC leader Marist on Saturday and St. Patrick next Monday before the Class 3A seeding meeting next Tuesday.

St. Viator is 6-1 against teams in the sectional, with their only loss coming to Notre Dame.

"I think we have put ourselves in a good position," Manno said. "We will see what happens next week. I think our guys will be ready by playoff time. We have a young team and we just looking to get better each day."

Notre Dame (5-14, 3-5), which is also in the same Class 3A sectional as Viator, scored 5 runs in both the third and sixth innings to put the game away.

Mike O'Conor belted a pair of home runs and drove in 3 runs for the Dons. Joey Cullen also homered, drove in a pair of runs and had 2 hits.

"We are struggling with our record," Notre Dame coach Dean Cademartori said.

"But our offense has been super strong all year. It was a huge chest-pumping victory after the loss (Monday) night.