No. 16 Lincoln-Way East, Boland Shut Out No. 2 Brother Rice

On Friday afternoon No. 16 Lincoln-Way East defeated No. 2 Brother Rice. Lincoln-Way East scored three runs in the third inning and one in the fifth, to walk away with a 4-0 win.

Scoreless going into the third, senior Matthew Michaels, a McHenry JC commit, got the inning started with a lead off walk. A sac bunt and another walk set up Alex Stanwich, a Tennessee commit. A first pitch curveball to Stanwich, was driven to left field for an RBI single, giving Lincoln-Way East (6-0) a 1-0 lead. Two batter later and with two outs, Landen Looper, Louisville commit, drove a two-run double to left center, scoring Zak Keegan and Stanwich. 

With a 3-0 lead going into the fifth inning, Stanwich followed up his third inning RBI single with a home run to straight-away centerfield. Stanwich, the No. 1 ranked prospect in the Illinois’ 2022 class, finished the game going 2-3 with a home run and two RBIs. 

Starting pitcher, LHP Joey Boland, Joliet Junior College commit, was the story of the game for the Griffins. From his first pitch of the game to his last pitch, Boland was in complete control, working on both sides of the plate. Boland pitched five scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and struck out three. Boland’s fastball sat 83-85 mph throughout the game and topped at 87 mph while playing with occasional arm-side-run. He also showed a 75-77 mph changeup with fade and sinking action at times. Boland rounded off his three-pitch mix with a slider that he showed complete confidence in, using it early and often and in any count. The pitch plays off a 2/8 plane and sat 69-71 mph.

Stanwich came in to pitch the final six outs. Stanwich, a 6-foot-1, 195-pounds, worked himself into a bases loaded, no outs situation in the bottom of the six. After a mound visit, Stanwich struck out the next batter and then induced an inning-ending double play to escape the jam. Stanwich worked a three-up, three-down seventh to close out the game. Stanwich’s fastball held at 87-88 mph through two innings and topped at 90 mph.

Nathan Mosqueda, Zion Rose and Luke Lawrence all had hits for Brother Rice with Rose’s being a double. 

For more in-depth notes from the games - and all other games that we cover - visit the Illinois Scout Blog.

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