PBR Daily Roundup

May 20

By Drake Skleba

 

Fox Valley Crossovers

FVC-Fox champs Grayslake Central (22-10, 17-7 Fox) defeated Huntley 11-7. Huntley (21-9; 16-7 Valley) committed five costly error in the Red Raider defeat. Ram Joe Gurchak homered and drove home two. Ram senior RHP Austin Leggett (7-2) picked up the win on the mound for FVC-Fox champs.

 

Upstate 8 Valley

Batavia (14-16; 10-13) surprised short-handed South Elgin 6-5 and spoiled South Elgin?s bid for a share of the Valley crown with Waubonsie Valley (18-12; 17-8). South Elgin (22-9; 16-9) was missing senior starters Robbie Greene and red-hot John Menken, as the Storm fell in Batavia on Friday.

 

Batavia scored five unearned runs in the third inning to jump out to a 6-1 lead and held on. Bulldog closer Austin Higgins fired 1 1/3 shutout innings in relief to pick up his second save of the year, to preserve the Bulldog victory.

 

Class 2A Regional Finals

Johnston City Regional

No. 16 Harrisburg (27-4) blasted the hosts Johnston City 17-6 in five innings. Bulldog Nick Borders was a perfect 4-for-4, with a pair of bombs and drove home four to lead the ?Dog attack. Super-soph Ryne Roper hit his 11^th home run of the season with two Bulldogs aboard. Roper?s blast tied the Harrisburg single-season home run mark. Senior Caleb Thompson put an end to the festivities in Johnson City, when his three run bomb, mercifully ended the game.

 

Westminster Christian

Westminster Christian (25-7) defeated city-rival Elgin St. Ed?s 2-0 behind a no-hitter from Warrior junior RHP Kevin Elder (8-2). The hard-throwing Elder struck out 13 Green Wave hitters. Warrior senior SS Andrew Mason and sophomore LF Will Woodhouse, drove home the two Warrior runs.

 

Nonconference

No.1 Providence (29-3) destroyed Lincoln-Way Central 14-0 in five innings on Friday. Northwestern-bound Celtic RHP Brandon Magallones (5-2) and junior LHP Zak Kutsulis combined to one-hit the Knights.

 

Indiana-University bound 3B Sam Travis and 1B Collin McEnery led the way for the Celtics. Travis had two hits and four RBI and McEnery hit a two-run homer and drove home three for the top-ranked Celtics

 

No. 3 Plainfield North (29-2) was ambushed by the young and talented Hilltoppers of Joliet Catholic Academy 8-3 in Plainfield on Friday. JCA (21-8), the East Suburban Catholic Conference co-champs, gave Tiger junior RHP Joey Cresta (4-1) his first defeat of the season.

 

JCA jumped out to a 6-0 lead after three innings. Red-Hot sophomores Chris Tschida and Alex Voitik had RBI singles to lead the assault on Cresta. Hillmen junior RHP Chris Chignoli (3-1) pitched 4 2/3 innings and allowed two runs to pick up the win. Senior RHP Kyle Cunningham finished up the big Hilltopper win.

 

No. 6 Sacred Heart-Griffin (26-1) made it 26 in a row with a 12-1 five inning win over Quincy. Cyclone University of Illinois-bound Mike Hurwitz and junior Carter Pranger each drove in three runs to lead the Cyclone attack.  

 

No. 9 St. Rita (27-6) blasted TF South 16-1, behind University of Louisville-bound 1B Joe Filomeno and junior C Zach Soria. Both Soria and the Filomeno had a pair of hits and plated three Mustang runs. Super-soph Mustang leadoff man Connor McLain had a perfect 3-for-3 day at the plate with two RBI. Junior LHP Scott Thomas (9-2) picked up win.

 

No. 15 Lincoln-Way North (26-3) defeated Joliet West 5-4 behind bombs from seniors Jack Irace and Roosevelt University-bound A.J. Neufeld.

 

Defending Class 3A Champs Chatham Glenwood (24-10) were swept by Morton 8-3 and 5-3. Potter hurlers Jared Hollman and Christian Dullard picked up the wins on the mound for Morton. Hollman fanned 10 Titan hitters while Mullard fanned eight. Red-hot Potter Stefan Sauter was 6-for-9 in the doubleheader and hit for the cycle in the twin-bill, with six RBI.

 

Troy-Triad (24-7) rallied past No. 22 Edwardsville 10-7 with a big six-run sixth. Knight junior Dylan Johnson hammered his sixth home run of the year with the bases loaded, to lead the Knights to victory. Edwardsville falls to 23-8.

 

Waterloo (26-3) defeated Belleville East 6-1. Bulldog senior SS Nick Dillenberger hit a solo shot and senior Nick Steppig had a big two-run single to lead the ?Dogs. Junior Cole Schaefer (6-0) struck out seven in four innings to pick up the win.

 

Burlington Central (21-7) defeated Dundee-Crown 6-3 behind junior CF Ray Hunnicutt who had three hits and drove home two Rocket runs. Rocket senior 3B Luke Fleming chipped in with a pair of hits and an RBI.