Baseball: Lyons Township opens quarterfinals vs. Joliet Catholic

Lyons Township'sStewart Nelson fields a bouncing grounder, getting a force out at second base against St. Joseph in a regional semifinal game. | Rob Hart~Sun-Times Media

Updated: August 2, 2012 2:44PM

WESTERN SPRINGS — After finishing second in the IHSA Class 4A state tournament in June, the Lyons Township baseball team is in the hunt for the summer league state title.

The Lions will take on Joliet Catholic at 10 a.m. Monday at Benedictine University in the opening game of the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Phil Lawler Summer Classic final.

In the second game at Benedictine, Maine South will face Wauconda at 12:30 p.m.

LT advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Maine West 10-0 on Thursday.

The Lions opened the tournament with an 11-1 win over Morton on Monday. They followed that with a 5-0 win over York Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the Lions defeated St. Joseph 3-1 as LT left-hander Tom Prescott crushed a two-run triple in the fifth inning that proved to be the winning margin. He also went the distance on the mound for the victory.

Sam Heilenbach was 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Keith Lehmann was 2-for-2 with a walk.

In Thursday’s 10-0 win over Maine West, LT scored in every inning while Alex Vannuchi pitched five innings of two-hit ball as the Lions pounded out 13 hits and smacked three home runs.

The Lions scored two runs in both the first and second innings, one in the third, fourth and sixth and three in the fifth, when Stewart Nelson (2-for-3, walk, 3 runs, RBI) and Lehmann (2-for-3, 3 RBI) both hit long homers over the left-field fence, Lehmann’s coming with a man on.

Vannuchi struck out five, walked one and allowed just two singles.

Joliet Catholic advanced to the quarterfinals with a thrilling 1-0 win in 10 innings over Joliet West Thursday.

The Hilltoppers’ Chris Tschida drove a 3-2 pitch from Joliet West right-hander Quinn Ahern through a drawn-in infield to drive home Brock Pluth with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning for the victory.

Joliet Catholic opened the Lockport Regional with a 4-1 win over Tinley Park. The Hilltoppers followed that with a 9-0 win over Bradley-Bourbonnais and a 5-1 win over Lincoln-Way North.

Maine South is returning to the Elite Eight for the second year in a row after edging Fremd 3-2 in the championship game of the Palatine Regional on Thursday. Zach Jones was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning to provide the Hawks the opportunity to try to better their third-place finish of a year ago.

Zach Hinkamp pitched the final three innings to earn the victory for Maine South (16-7).

In earlier action in the Palatine Regional, Maine South opened by blanking Barrington 1-0, then took care of Notre Dame 7-2. The Hawks dusted off Glenbrook North 8-1 to set up a championship showdown with Fremd, which squeaked past New Trier 4-3.

The summer league champion is scheduled to be crowned 7 p.m. Thursday at Benedictine.

Show / Hide Comments