1 | Game Coverage | ||||
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2 | TEAM | SCORE | TEAM | SCORE | DETAILS |
3 | Warren Township | 5 | Conant | 3 | Final |
4 | By: Kevin Cronin
Area Scout, Tech Analyst Warren Township hosted Conant in a Regional Semi-final matchup to see who would face off against Stevenson in the Regional Championship game. The Blue Devils walked away with a 5-3 victory behind the pitching performance from Arizona State commit Adam Behrens. The Sun Devils commit struck out nine batters in a complete game effort, while surrendering three runs on six hits and walked just one batter. Behren had a 71 percent strike rate with 22 first pitch strikes to 30 batters faced. In the top half of the fourth inning, after allowing Conant to score three runs to take a 3-2 lead, Warren regained the lead in the bottom half. Jeremy Walton led things off with an infield single to second base and Anthony Font reached on an error to put two runners on. The tying run came around to score off a throwing error from the pitcher off a bunt from Nick Palmeiri. Charlie Badgley delivered the go ahead run with a deep sacrifice fly to right field. Warren hit two solo home runs in the game. UIC commit Kendall Lyons hit the first home run back in the third inning to give his team a 2-0 at the time. In the sixth, Albert Jaquez hit a solo home run to pad Warren’s lead heading to the seventh with a 5-3 lead. Top fourth saw Conant take their first lead of the game. Nicholas Nitti drew a full count walk and Nick Kozerski followed with a single to right field. The next two batters got out. Matt Maize kept the inning going with an infield single to shortstop. Sophomore and starting pitcher Bryce Loeger helped his cause with a two run double to right center to tie the game at 2-2. Michael Sheey gave Conant the lead with an RBI single to shallow left field. Notable Performance Matt Maize (Conant): 2-3, RBI Bryce Loeger (Conant): 1-2, RBI - 6 IP, 3 ER, 5 R, 5 H, 6 K, 2 BB Kendall Lyons (Warren): 1-2, HR, RBI, R, BB Albert Jaquez (Warren): 1-3, HR, RBI Adam Behrens (Warren): CG, 7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, BB, 9 K | ||||
5 | Neuqua Valley | 2 | Metea Valley | 1 | Final |
6 | By Peter Hamot Area Scout, Staff Writer Cross-town rivals Neuqua Valley and Metea Valley squared off last night in a Regional Semi-final affair and saw the Wildcats come away with the 2-1 win. Strong pitching from both ends kept runs to a premium throughout the contest, as the conference foes met for one final time this season. The Wildcats of Neuqua Valley were led on the mound by Daniel Cercello (2024) and Mark Mennecke (2023). Cercello got the nod for the Cats and surrendered a run early on but would find his groove after the first inning; finishing the day with four innings, five hits, one earned run, two strikeouts and three walks. The tall right-hander struggled with some command early but a clutch double-play in the top of the second inning with a man on and no one out seemed to build up his confidence; seemingly pitching lights-out from that moment forward. Southpaw Mark Mennecke relieved Cercello in the fifth and was dominant from the moment he took the mound, finishing the day with three innings, one hit, no runs, four strikeouts and one walk - picking up the save along the way. The uncommitted junior kept the Mustangs at bay thanks to an effective fastball/curveball combination; tunneling the breaking ball off his 82-84 mph riding fastball at the top of the zone. Nequa was able to muster some offense in the bottom of the third, as a single from Alex Camaj (2023) plated Palmer Domschke (2022) who walked earlier in the inning and Josh Wenz (2023) who singled - giving the Wildcats a 2-1 lead. With Neuqua's lead on the line and the Mustangs threatening with a man in scoring position, Connor Akstulewicz (Metea Valley, 2023) singled up the middle to Benedictine commit Justin Nonnenmann (Neuqua Valley, 2022); who fired a strike home from center to nab the would-be tying run and preserve the Cats' lead. Metea Valley was led on the mound by Camden Howser (2022), who threw the ball well for the Mustangs but unfortunately received the loss. The senior right-hander fired five innings and surrendered five hits, two earned runs, four walks and struck out five. Howser featured a similar strategy to Neuqua Valley's Mennecke, fooling hitters with a fastball/curveball combination and missing barrels often. The Mustangs got out to an early lead thanks to a single off the bat of Jeremy Wrona (2024), plating Mark Golminas (2023) in the top of the first to give Metea a 1-0 lead at the time. Notable Performances: Mark Mennecke (Neuqua Valley): 3IP, 1H, 0R, 4K, BB, S Daniel Cercello (Neuqua Valley): 4IP, 5H, 1ER, 2K, 3BB, W Camden Howser (Metea Valley): 5IP, 5H, 2ER, 5K, 4BB Alex Camaj (Neuqua Valley): 1-for-2, 2RBI, BB Jeremy Wrona (Metea Valley): 2-for-3, RBI Josh Wenz (Neuqua Valley): 2-for-3, R Mark Golminas (Metea Valley): 2-for-3 | ||||
7 | 4A | ||||
8 | TEAM | SCORE | TEAM | SCORE | DETAILS |
9 | Waubonsie Valley | 0 | Oswego | 2 | Final |
10 | Streamwood | 5 | Dundee-Crown | 0 | Final |
11 | Harlem | 7 | DeKalb | 6 | Final |
12 | Joliet West | 6 | Thornwood | 5 | Final |
13 | Fremd | 14 | Highland Park | 1 | Final |
14 | Moline | 6 | Pekin | 2 | Final |
15 | Plainfield Central | 3 | East Moline | 0 | Final |
16 | Buffalo Grove | 4 | Hersey | 3 | Final |
17 | Lane | 7 | Taft | 10 | Final |
18 | Palatine | 2 | Lake Zurich | 3 | Final |
19 | Glenbrook South | 1 | Niles West | 0 | Final |
20 | Glenbard East | 3 | York | 4 | Final |
21 | St. Charles North | 1 | Wheaton North | 3 | Final |
22 | New Trier | 4 | Elk Grove | 5 | Final |
23 | Lincoln-Way Central | Shepard | |||
24 | Game was rescheduled for Saturday - 5/28. | ||||
25 | 3A | ||||
26 | TEAM | SCORE | TEAM | SCORE | DETAILS |
27 | Prairie Ridge | 4 | Lake Forest | 9 | Final |
28 | Crystal Lake South | 3 | Lake Villa | 0 | Final |
29 | Kankakee | 9 | Galesburg | 13 | Final |
30 | Streator | 10 | Geneseo | 6 | Final |
31 | Centennial | 0 | Mahomet-Seymour | 5 | Final |
32 | Lincoln | 9 | East Peoria | 10 | Final |
33 | Elmwood Park | 12 | Lake View | 0 | Final |
34 | Benet Academy | Plano | |||
35 | Game was rescheduled for Saturdaye - 5/28. | ||||
36 | Kaneland | Marmion Academy | |||
37 | Game was rescheduled for Saturdaye - 5/28. | ||||
38 | Freeport | Boylan Catholic | |||
39 | Game was rescheduled for Saturdaye - 5/28. | ||||
40 | 2A | ||||
41 | TEAM | SCORE | TEAM | SCORE | DETAILS |
42 | Brimfield | 10 | Prophetstown | 1 | Final |
43 | Montini | 4 | Holy Trinity | 1 | Final |
44 | Bryon | 6 | Aurora Central Catholic | 0 | Final |
45 | 1A | ||||
46 | TEAM | SCORE | TEAM | SCORE | DETAILS |
47 | Lena-Winslow | 2 | Newman Central Catholic | 15 | Final |
48 | Fulton | 1 | Warren | 4 | Final |