ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's baseball team advanced to championship Sunday of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament with a pair of wins on Saturday. The Flyers beat Maryville 5-4 in their first game of the day and then held to defeat Quincy 6-4 in the second game.
Game 1 – Lewis 5, Maryville 4
Lewis (22-24-1) jumped out to the early lead scoring three runs on five hits in the bottom of the first.
Thomas Fox (Norfolk, Va./Norfolk Christian) led off the game with a double, went to third on a groundout to second and scored on
Kevin Barry's (Bartlett, Ill./South Elgin) single up the middle.
Cherokee Lebeau (Shorewood, Ill./Minooka) followed with a single to third to put runners at first and second.
Michael Alt (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly) grounded into a force out at second for the second out of the inning.
Angelo Cantelo (Blue Island, Ill./Marian Catholic) hit a ground-rule double to right center to score Barry and
Julian Everett (Frankfort, Ill/Lincoln Way East) singled to left to bring home Alt.
The Saints (32-20) got a run back in the second as Nick Hofmann singled to left to drive in Michael Gould to make it 3-1. Maryville took the lead scoring three runs on four hits in the third. Joey Polak tied the game with a two-run homer to left and then later in the inning Ben Hopkins singled up the middle to drive in Alex Hoff with the go-ahead run.
The Flyers tied the score in the fourth. Cantelo led off the inning with a double down the left field line and scored on
Patrick Keaty's (South Elgin, Ill./South Elgin) two-out single to short.
Lewis retook the lead in the fifth. Barry started the rally with a one out single to right and went to second on Lebeau's walk. With two out, Cantelo drove in the winning run with a single through the left side of the infield scoring Barry from second.
Jake Lotz (Palos Hills, Ill./St. Laurence), pitching in relief of
Anthony Sorrentino (Burr Ridge, Ill./Lyons Township), shut down the Saints offense over the final six innings allowing two hits while striking out six and walking one to improve to 4-1 on the season.
The Flyers had 10 hits in the contest and were led by Barry and Cantelo with three apiece while Fox, Lebeau, Everett and Keaty had a hit each. Cantelo had two RBI while Barry, Everett and Keaty had one each.
Game 2 – Lewis 6, Quincy 4
Lewis was retired in order in each of the first three innings by Griffin Kirn but got to him in the fourth. The Flyers first seven hitters of the inning reached base and had five doubles and two singles in that span. Fox started the rally with a ground-rule double to right center and went to third on
Joe Preusser's (Orland Park, Ill./Brother Rice) bloop single down the left field line. Barry drove in Fox with a double to right. Krol followed with a two-run double down the right field line that scored Preusser and Barry. Krol ended up at third after an error by the right fielder. Alt singled home Krol with a single up the middle. Lebeau hit a ground-rule double down the left field line to put runners at second and third with no one out. Ascencio doubled down the right field line to score Alt and Lebeau would score as the Hawks (32-21) defense fell asleep getting the ball back into the infield.
Jake Karaba (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) held Quincy scoreless for the first 6.2 innings before giving up a two-run homer to left center to Gino D'Alessio in the seventh. The Hawks added another run later in the inning as Sebastian Martinez hit a seeing eye single to left to drive in Lance Logsdon.
Quincy loaded the bases with two out in the eighth against
Matt Helwig (Mokena, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central) but Lotz, making his second appearance of the day, got out of the jam by striking out Logsdon for the final out of the inning.
The Hawks loaded the bases in the ninth against Lotz with a hit, a walk and an error. Lotz hit Brock Boynton to drive in Nolan Wosman to make it a two-run game and put the go-ahead run on base. Lotz was able to strike out Luke Napleton for the second out of the inning and then retired Dayson Croes on a fly ball to right to end the game.
Lewis had 10 hits in the contest and was led by Preusser, Barry and Krol with two apiece. Fox, Alt, Lebeau and Ascencio had a hit each. Krol drove in two runs while Barry, Alt and Ascencio had an RBI each. Karaba pitched a season-high 6.2 innings allowing two runs on eight hits with a strikeout and two walks to improve to 2-5. Lotz pitched the final 1.1 innings allowing an unearned run with two strikeouts to pick up his third save of the season.
The Flyers and Quincy will meet again in an elimination game at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning at the Lou Brock Sports Complex. The winner will advance to the championship game later that afternoon against either Drury or Illinois Springfield.
