No. 14 Nazareth Takes Montini Deep

June 3, 2015

By Sean Duncan
Executive Director

LAGRANGE PARK, IL – With top-ranked teams dropping left and right in the playoffs, it looked like No. 14 Nazareth’s number may have been pulled when Montini jumped on the Roadrunners for two runs in the second inning.

Umm, not quite.

Nazareth’s bats soon heated up, and the team didn’t stop swinging until the Roadrunners hammered Montini 14-4 in five innings to win a Class 3A Nazareth sectional semifinal contest. The Roadrunners (29-8) blasted four home runs and three doubles to put the game away.

Junior catcher Shane Gipson led the way, hitting two home runs – one to right field and one to straight-away center. His first homer was of the three-run variety, spurring a four-run second inning to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 lead. Then in the fourth, senior DH Matthew Wilson led off with a homer to dead-center, and Gipson followed with another shot in nearly the exact spot as Wilson’s.

It was only fitting that the game concluded on a solo-homer by senior left fielder Matthew Flach, who crushed a shot to right field in the fifth. Flach, an athletic left-handed hitter, finished 3-for-4 with a double, homer, three RBI and three runs scored. Wilson finished 2-for-2 with a double, homer and two RBI, while junior first baseman Kyle Kane added two hits, including a two-run double.

Montini (17-20) jumped to a 2-0 lead when sophomore Brandon Shilgalis lifted a two-run homer to left field in the second inning. Shilgalis also was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and walked. Sophomore catcher Nick Malik went 2-for-2 with a sacrifice fly, and senior outfielder Jake Pestel added two hits and a walk for Montini, which started four sophomores.

Nazareth will play the winner of Benet and Glenbard South in Saturday’s sectional final at Nazareth.

No. 14 Nazareth Takes Montini Deep

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