By Drake Skleba

CHICAGO – Total domination. These two words aptly describe what No. 1 Mount Carmel did to No. 2 St. Laurence at Haggerty Field on Wednesday. In the bottom of the third inning, undefeated Mount Carmel sent 14 hitters to the plate, 11 scored, 10 hit safely and the Caravan went on to crush St. Laurence 16- 2 in five innings.

So much for the hype of No. 1 vs. No. 2 in this Chicago Catholic League Blue Division showdown.

Mount Carmel's junior shortstop Jerry Houston got the Caravan(23-0; 9-0)  party started when he ripped his third  home run of 2012, a two-run bomb to left to put the Caravan up 2-0. Senior Sam Kint made it 4-0 with a double. Junior Tommy Hayes doubled home Kint - 5-0. Senior Josh Gall singled home Hayes 6-0.

“We really came out and played baseball today and had a lot of fun,” said Gall. “My approach was to go up the middle and hit it where they weren't. On Saturday we have to play as we did today. There will be more pressure on us being at their place, but I think we will play well.”

Senior Dan Pappas, who started the inning with a single, walked with the bases loaded, bringing  home junior Justin Sanchez, who had walked to make it 7-0.

Houston greeted St. Laurence reliever Joe Siebenaler, who relieved the shell-shocked Viking starter junior Zach Lewis (5-1), with a monster two-run double, making it 9-0 Caravan. If you’re scoring at home, that’s a two-run homer and a two-run double for Houston in one inning.

“I'm really speechless. That was an amazing inning for me,” said Houston. “We all had a great approach at the plate today. We all went up to the plate and did what Coach Hurry has taught us. We are very happy with our season but we take it one game at a time to reach our ultimate goal of winning the Class 4A state championship.”

Caravan senior left-fielder Brent Novosel picked up his second hit of the inning, driving home another run, making it 10-0. The Caravan scored their final run of the inning on a 6-4-3 double play. Eleven runs, 10 hits total in the inning.

Every Caravan starter had at least one hit as the offensive assault on St. Laurence tallied up to 16 runs and 17 hits in only four trips to the plate.

The beneficiary of all of this offensive bombardment was junior right-handed pitcher Jason Gasser (6-0). Gasser fired a five-hitter at the Vikings.

“I stayed ahead of most hitters and I thought I pitched pretty well today,” said Gasser. “My defense was great behind me. This was a great win but we have to play well on Saturday at their place.”

St. Laurence (22-2-1; 8-1) received a two-run single in the fourth by senior Joel Rotkvich for its only runs.

“I thought we had some quality at bats and Jerry Houston really got us going at the top of the order,” said Mount Carmel head coach Brian Hurry. “We have to enjoy this tonight and then have a quality practice on Thursday. I am blessed to have tremendous senior leadership on this team. My seniors had the team ready to perform as well as they did. We are going to have a real battle with Laurence in Burbank on Saturday.”

The two teams will meet on Saturday at St. Laurence's Viking Field at 11. You can watch the game live on www.highschoolcube.prepbaseballreport.com

The PBR's own Drake Skleba will be providing play-by-play and The Beverly Review's sports editor-in chief Scott Fredericks will be providing his fine color commentary on the CCL-Blue rematch in Burbank.