Northern Knights 17U Wins Bragging Rights By Taking Legends
Written by Dennins Mahoney
More than the championship of the Legends of the Summer tournament at Evanston was at stake Sunday for the members of the under 17 Northern Knights squad.
They were also seeking bragging rights over their older counterparts on the under 18 team.
In a matchup of two teams that are part of the same franchise, Adam Ruess made sure that the younger Knights prevailed. The hard-throwing right-hander, a senior-to-be at Warren High School, hurled a five-hitter and struck out seven in a 2-1 victory for the under 17 squad.
The under 17 Knights overcame a 1-0 deficit by pushing across two unearned runs in the sixth inning against losing pitcher Steve Nelson, who only yielded four hits on the day.
The winning rally started with a single by Evan Regez for the under 17 squad. Two outs later, designated hitter Tyler Murphy walked, and Regez came around to score when the under 18 shortstop, Blake Busca, misplayed Matt Vogt's ground ball.
Two pitches later, Vogt attempted to steal and a throwing error allowed Murphy to score what turned out to be the winning run.
For the under 18 team, Luis Carrasco doubled into the right field corner and came around on a wild pitch and an RBI single by Busca in the second inning. But after that score, Ruess faced only two batters above the minimum over the last five innings.
The Knights' under 17 team eliminated Indians Baseball of Wisconsin 5-3 in the semifinals. The under 18 team advanced with a 2-1 triumph over the Lakeside Legends behind winning pitcher Wyatt Spector, who tossed a six-hitter and retired 10 of the last 11 hitters he faced. Kevin Egan drove in a run with a single for the Knights in the third, and Steve Galanapoulos scored the go-ahead run in the fifth on a walk, a sacrifice bunt, a balk and a dropped third strike.
Wisonsin Team Storms To Blue Monster Smackdown Title
Written by Dennins Mahoney
The Oak Creek Storm, a Wisconsin-based team that first began as a travel team together six years ago, went out with a bang Sunday in Evanston.
Competing at the 14-and-under Blue Monster Smackdown tournament, the Storm buried the Lake Zurich Cougars 10-2 in an abbreviated championship contest when the tournament slaughter rule was put into effect.
The triumph marked the last game for the Storm as a travel squad, with the players moving on to the high school level beginning this fall.
Oak Creek scored three times in the first inning, four times in the third, and once in the fourth before pushing across two unearned runs in the home half of the fifth for an eight-run slaughter rule margin.
Pitchers Matt McCarty and Joey Richter pitched a combined four-hitter for the winners. D.J. Ellifson and Alec Kent each collected a single and a double for the Wisconsin champs, with both two-baggers coming as part of that three-run outburst in the first. R.J. Traxel also contributed a bases-loaded two-run single in the third,
Lake Zurich scored in the first inning on a Zach Bauman RBI double, and again in the third on Tom Morano's infield hit and an error.
Ellifson played a key role for the Storm in a 3-2 victory over the St. Joseph Bandits from central Illinois in the semifinals. He went the distance on the mound and allowed just four hits, and also drove in two runs with a triple and a sacrifice fly. The left-hander retired 13 consecutive hitters during one stretch, before St. Joseph rallied in the bottom of the seventh. Ellifson struck out Josh Kimbro with the tying run on second base to end the game.
In the other semifinal, the Cougars outscored the top-seeded Crystal Lake Bombers 10-6 behind Morano's three hits and two apiece by Bauman, Tyler Peterson and Mike Kingery. Kingery also earned a save on the mound in relief of starter Erick Smith.
Lakeside Legends Put On A Show To Win Tourney
Written by Dennins Mahoney
The Lakeside Legends didn't mind working a little overtime Sunday in Evanston.
After winning an 11-inning marathon in the semifinals earlier in the day, the Legends bounced back with a three-run rally in the bottom of the fifth and edged the Illinois Indians 5-4 in the championship game of The Show 15-and-under tournament at Evanston Township High School.
Garrett Beattie's two-out single with the bases loaded in the fifth plated what turned out to be the winning run as the Legends capitalized on four walks and an error by the Indians in that frame. The game was called due to darkness after five and one-half innings.
The Legends trailed 2-0 and 4-2 but refused to yield, earning the victory as relief pitcher Jake Falish retired six of the seven batters he faced to secure their second one-run triumph over the day. Falish also contributed an RBI double in the third as part of a two-run rally, with Eddie Kusiak also doubling in a run in that inning.
For the Illinois Indians, Matt Kozlak doubled home a run in the first and later scored on a sacrifice fly. Sammie Colon's double in the fourth with two outs boosted the Indians to a 4-2 advantage.
The Indians advanced with a 6-3 win against the Fox Valley Royals in the semifinals, but had to wait for a title game opponent until Scott Sullivan's single in the 11th lifted the Legends to a 4-3 victory against New Trier Thunder Green. Sean Hannigan was the pitcher of record for the winners after tossing three and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief.
New Trier's Nick Rettino sent the game into extra innings with a two-out single in the seventh that scored teammate Mike Miller, who had walked and stole second.
Glenview Blaze Sinks Waterdogs to Win Battle of the Sandlot Title
Written by Dennins Mahoney
Justin Machado rapped a pair of run-scoring singles and winning pitcher Michael Oh twice pitched out of bases-loaded jams Sunday, leading the Glenview Blaze Red 14-and-under baseball team to a 3-0 win over the Water Dogs in the championship game of the Battle of the Sandlot tournament at Evanston.
Machado's RBI single with two outs in the first inning staked Glenview to a 1-0 lead. He added another clutch single with two outs in the fourth, then scored on an infield hit by Jimmy Martinelli to provide all the offense the Blaze needed.
Oh (5 hits, 4 strikeouts, 4 walks) pitched six shutout innings before reliever Nathan Cooney retired all three batters he faced in the seventh. Oh ran into trouble in the second, but got Andrew Potter to bounce into an inning-ending forceout at second base. The Water Dogs filled the bases again in the sixth on two walks and Jackson Gray's infield hit, but Liam McKeough grounded to short to end that threat.
Neither team had difficulty reaching the title game, as Glenview romped to a 10-2 triumph over Evanston Orange and the Water Dogs eliminated the Lake County Lightning 12-2 in the tourney semifinals.
Express Red Wins Lakeside Challenge in Impressive Fashion
Written by Dennins Mahoney
Evan Acosta drove in two runs with a bases-loaded double and pitched a three-hitter Sunday as the Elgin-based Express Red team claimed the championship at the under-15 Lakeside Challenge tournament at Evanston with a 9-1 triumph over the Rawlings Prospects.
Acosta went the six-inning distance on the mound and faced only one batter over the minimum over the four frames. He struck out three and walked two.
Acosta doubled into the right field corner following consecutive walks to teammates Steve Busby, Connor Fedderly and Garrett Davis, chasing home two runs, and another run crossed in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Jake Lafrenz.
Express Red added two unearned runs in the second, then put the tournament slaughter rule into effect by pushing across four more runs on five hits in the top of the sixth. Busby's two-run triple and RBI singles by Fedderly and Davis put the game out of reach.
Busby, Fedderly, Davis and Acosta each had two hits for the winners. Rawlings, featuring players from the St. Louis area, scored its only run in the second on a one-out triple by Colin Pecoraro and a single by Steve Deckard.
In the semifinals, Express Red blanked New Trier Thunder Green 3-0 and Rawlings Prospects pounded out a 16-1 victory over Kane County Elite.
Chicago Jacks its way to Diamond Wars Championship
Written By Dennis Mahoney
A Chicago Jacks under-16 team made up of mostly Evanston Township High School players spilled top-seeded Illinois Braves by a 6-3 margin Sunday in the championship game of the Diamond Wars tournament held at ETHS.
Eli Otting's three hits and the clutch relief pitching of Alex Heuer, who retired all five batters he faced, delivered the title for the Jacks.
The Chicago Jacks scored three times in the first inning and two more in the second, backing winning pitcher Jarrett Henson with a seven-hit attack. Otting went 3-for-4 with a triple, two runs batted in and two runs scored for the winners. Nick Griffin also drove in two runs with a pair of hits.
RBI singles by Otting and Griffin followed walks to Peter Downie and Spencer Wawak in the Chicago team's three-run first. In the Jacks second, Wawak drew a bases-loaded walk to force in a run, and Otting came through with a run-scoring single.
Otting's leadoff triple also produced an insurance run for the Jacks in their half of the fifth.
The Illinois Braves, representing southwestern Illinois from the St. Louis area, cut into the deficit in the fourth on a single by Reed Hoffman and in infield out. The Braves added another run in the fifth on singles by Magoo Vernier and Kyle Gudemann, and chased starter Henson in the sixth after a one-out walk and a single.
Reliever Heuer worked out of that jam by inducing a groundup and a fly out, then struck out two of the three hitters he faced in the seventh.
The Jacks scored a 9-4 triumph over Team Pro Player in the semifinals. The Braves advanced behind a one-hit pitching performance from Tim Nicholson (five strikeouts) in a 7-0 romp over the Morton Grove Mustangs.
Team Heat Stays Hott!!!
Written By Dennis Mahoney
None of the pitchers who faced Ben Rortvedt Sunday in Evanston could get him out.
Rortvedt went a perfect 7-for-7 on the day and climaxed that perfect day with a walk-off two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning to spark Team Heat Baseball to a 9-8 victory over Illinois Hitmen in the championship game of the 14-and-under Tourneynation.com tournament.
The Wisconsin-based Team Heat fell behind 6-2 in the third inning, then prevailed in a battle of bullpens as Rortvedt delivered a bases-loaded single with one out in the seventh. The left-handed hitting Rortvedt was 4-for-4 in the title game and drove in five runs. He capitalized in his last at-bat after two Hitmen errors helped keep the inning alive for the winners.
Rortvedt also went 3-for-3 with three RBI in a 16-2 slaughter rule win over Lincoln-Way Pressure in the semifinals.
The Hitmen bunched five hits in a six-run third, including RBI singles by Kolton Rominski, Michael Kruse, Matt Kielbasa and Brendan Heiss, but only mustered two hits and two unearned runs after that against Team Heat relief pitchers Coby Oswalt and Jack Drake.
The Hitmen still held an 8-5 advantage in the seventh. But reliever Austin Butts yielded a leadoff single to Griffin Nicksic, hit Rocky Cates with a pitch, and two infield errors helped recycle the batting order around to cleanup hitter Rortvedt
With the infield pulled in, he grounded a single through the right side to chase home teammates Cates and Dylan Ott.
The Illinois Hitmen advanced to the finals by routing the Predators 13-2 in their semifinal contest.
Grinders Capture Summer Hope Title
Written By Dennis Mahoney
Right-hander Roger Wilson, a St. Laurence High School product, scattered six hits and struck out 10 Sunday as the Grinders defeated the Illinois Blaze 9-2 and captured the 15-and-under Summer Hope tournament held at Evanston's baseball stadium.
Wilson, mixing a sharp-breaking curve with his fastball, surrendered only one earned run and didn't walk a batter for the winners. The Grinders struck for one run in the first inning, four in the third, two in the fourth and two more in the sixth against three Blaze pitchers.
Biggest blow in the four-run third was a two-run triple by Ben Wishba with two outs. Catcher Dan Dziadkawiec led the way for the Grinders with a 3-for-3 performance, including a double, and Tyler Nassar went 2-for-2 with a walk.
In the semifinals earlier Sunday, the Grinders topped the White Sox 8-1 while the Blaze held on to eliminate Team Acceleration 9-6 after building an early 7-0 lead.
Winning pitcher Frank Greco yielded just three hits in his five inning mound stint for the Grinders against the White Sox. He was backed by a nine-hit attack, including a three-run home run over the Blue Monster in left field by Josh Holmes that was part of a seven-run fourth.
Casey Dodge, Chase Woods and Jack Yalowitz each drove in a pair of runs in the Blaze victory in the semis.
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Evanston Becomes Youth Baseball Destination
Chicago Tribune
Dozens of Teams From Throughout the Midwest Arrive for Weekend Tournaments
By: Ray Boyer, Chicago Tribune Local
Evanston, IL?The new baseball complex at Evanston Township High School has turned the North Shore community into a youth baseball destination this summer as teams from throughout the Midwest arrive every weekend for age-group baseball tournaments.
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