By Drake Skleba

JOLIET – In the third quarterfinal of the 2012 Steven M. Bajenski Memorial Tournament, St. Laurence junior SS Kevin Smith led his third-ranked Vikings to a 6-1 win over Oak Park-River Forest. Smith, ranked 10^th in Class of 2013 by the PBR, drove home three big runs as St. Laurence (28-4-1) cruised past the West Suburban Conference's Huskies of Oak Park (23-8-1).

Smith got the Viking party started with a clutch two-out, two run single off of Huskie starting pitcher junior Henry Cappell (2-1) in the top of the third.

Meanwhile on the mound, Viking junior RHP Zach Lewis (7-1) survived a rough first inning and put three goose-eggs on the large Joliet Slammer scoreboard.

After Oak Park senior center-fielder Zach Weigel ripped a double off of Lewis to open the Huskie first, Purdue-bound catcher Jack Picchiotti ripped a shot to the gap in right-center. Viking junior center-fielder Ryan Rabakowski made a circus-running and diving catch to rob Picchiotti of three bases and Oak Park of a run.

“The catch by Ryan Rabakowski in the first inning changed the whole complex of the game,” said St. Laurence head coach Pete Lotus. “Ryan's catch probably saved the game for us.”

Oak Park picked up a run in the bottom of the fourth on a bases-loaded walk to Weigel to cut the lead in half at 2-1.

Smith struck again in the three-run Viking fifth. Smith singled home sophomore Brad Wood, who had reached on a costly Huskie miscue. Lewis helped himself with a sac-fly and Viking senior Mike Solofra completed the scoring in the fifth with a booming RBI double. 

Wood doubled home the final Viking run in the sixth with an RBI double.

Lewis bounced back from his rough start and totally shut down Oak Park. The No. 20th-ranked junior in the Class of 2013 struck out the side in the sixth and then finished off the Huskies with his seventh strikeout to end the game. Lewis fired a four-hit gem at OPRF.

“I started out slowly and was really helped out by Ryan's catch,” said Lewis. “ I battled back and pitched well for us. I changed speeds well and in the end threw strikes.”

The Steven M. Bajenski, www.prepbaseballreport.highschoolcube.com  Player of the Game was St. Laurence junior shortstop Kevin Smith.

“First of all, Zach Lewis pitched one heck of a ball game for us tonight, “ said Smith. “In the third inning I went up to the plate wanting to hit the ball hard and get at least one run in. I stayed loose tonight and had a good game at the plate.”

With the win, St. Laurence became the third Chicago Catholic Blue team to advance to the Bajenski Tourney Final 4. The Vikings joined No. 1 Providence, who defeated New Trier 5-1 on May 4 and No. 6 Mount Carmel (26-4), who defeated Marian Catholic 2-0 behind a one-hitter from junior LHP Jeremy Kravetz (6-1). Caravan senior catcher Dan Pappas had three hits and an RBI to lead MC at Benedictine University in Lisle on Thursday night.

“Zach Lewis really battled for us after a rough first inning,” added Lotus. “Kevin had a couple of huge clutch hits for us tonight. It was great to see us get a number of them tonight. In our last few games, we have really struggled with men in scoring position. Oak Lawn and St. Rita are both fine ball clubs. I know the kids want to see Rita again but either team will give us a tough game tomorrow.”