Rest assured, Class AA state baseball title contenders: Top-ranked Naperville North can be beaten. It just takes a miraculous performance to do it.
Wheaton-Warrenville South designated hitter Mark Genthe, who popped up with the bases loaded on his first at-bat, homered his final three trips to the plate–first to right field, then center and finally to left–and drove in eight runs to lead the Tigers (6-3, 1-0) to a 9-3 drubbing of the Huskies (5-1, 0-1) in the DuPage Valley Conference opener for both teams.
“That’s the farthest ball I ever hit,” said Genthe, referring to his second home run, a three-run shot in the fourth that cleared the 475-foot sign in center field and gave Wheaton South a 7-3 lead. “That’s why I’m batting fourth, because I have some power. I’m not a very picky batter. (If the) ball’s near the plate, I’m swinging.”
Tigers pitcher Dane Kulbaba gave up a home run to Andy Cosentino in the first inning, when the Huskies took a 3-0 lead, but only allowed three singles the rest of the way to improve his record to 2-0.
New Trier 9, Maine South 1: No. 3 New Trier scored five runs in the first inning. Bob Rosinski led New Trier’s offense with a triple and two singles in three trips, scored two runs and had three RBIs for the Trevians (7-0).
Aurora Central Catholic 8, Timothy Christian 4: Brad Mathis had two hits and three RBIs for ACC (5-3, 3-0) in the Private League.
Aurora Christian 8, Ottawa 7: Chris Watson got out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the bottom of the seventh to pick up the save for Aurora Christian (2-2).
Downers North 7, Addison Trail 6: John Lackaff homered and tripled and drove in three runs for Downers North (4-4, 3-0) in the West Suburban crossover.
Fenwick 15, Bishop McNamara 14: Pat Santoro had a grand slam and Vince Vidmer added two RBIs as Fenwick (5-2, 2-0) outslugged Bishop McNamara in the Catholic League.
Foreman 14, Sullivan 0: Terry Vera fired a five-inning no-hitter, striking out seven, and added three hits and six RBIs for Foreman (6-4, 4-1) in the Public West.
Highland Park 3, Niles West 1: Ben Narter (3-0) struck out 10 to earn the win for Highland Park (5-5, 1-0) in the Central Suburban North.
Hinsdale South 10, Proviso East 2: Gene Kanak had two hits and two RBIs for Hinsdale South (11-1, 3-0) in the West Suburban Gold.
Larkin 11, East Aurora 1: Jason Deibert had a pair of doubles and three RBIs to lead Larkin (4-2, 3-1) in the Upstate Eight.
Loyola 10, St. Martin de Porres 4: Chris Wolf had three hits, scored three runs and drove in three for Loyola (6-2, 1-0) in the Catholic League.
Luther North 8, Wheaton Academy 4: Bill O’Brien had three hits and five RBIs to lead Luther North (9-4, 1-2) in the Private School League.
Lyons Township 7, Oak Park 0: Dave Mazurek tossed the complete-game shutout, allowing just two hits and striking out nine for Lyons (3-4, 2-1) in the West Suburban Silver.
Montini 6, Driscoll 3: Scott Shatton had two hits and drove in a pair of runs for Montini (9-2, 1-0) in the Suburban Catholic.
Naperville Central 6, Glenbard East 5: Ben Berning’s single in the eighth inning scored Scott Cronin with the winning run for Naperville (3-3, 1-0) in the DuPage Valley.
Nazareth 4, Illiana Christian 2: Frank Pantera had two hits and two RBIs and Brian Villardito improved to 4-0 with 11 strikeouts for the Roadrunners (9-2, 3-0) in the Private School League.
Taft 10, Farragut 0: Joe Colucci threw a five-inning no-hitter with eight strikeouts to lead Taft (9-0, 4-0) in the Public West.
Willowbrook 7, Leyden 1: Terry Kekstadt struck out eight and allowed just one unearned run to lead Willowbrook (4-4, 2-1) in the West Suburban Gold. Terry Loresch led the offense with a two-run double, and Anson Fisher added a two-run single.
York 3, Glenbard West 2: Mark Stasch struck out six over seven innings and Rick Bieterman had three hits and two RBIs for York in the West Suburban Silver.
Bloom 8, Rich East 4: Bryan Jones led Bloom (8-1) with a two-run triple.
Bremen 10, Thornton 9: Eric Laxton struck out 11 and drove in four runs for Bremen (2-5).
Brother Rice 12, Gordon Tech 9: Tony Jirik had three hits, including a two-run homer, and five RBIs for Brother Rice (6-0, 2-0) in the Catholic League South.
Chicago Vocational 13, Harlan 10: Richard Brunt had two hits and drove in a pair as CVS (4-8, 3-2) won the slugfest in the Public Red South.
De La Salle 7, Leo 1: Al Reberski tossed three innings of relief to earn the win and Norm Pacyga belted a two-run homer for De La Salle (6-7, 1-1) in the Catholic League.
Englewood 16, South Shore 6: Jamie Mitchell (3-0) pitched a complete game with seven strikeouts for Englewood (5-2, 5-0) in the Public Southeast.
Homewood-Flossmoor 5, Rich South 4: Devin Griffin drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth for H-F (5-3).
Joliet 6, Bradley-Bourbonnais 1: Barry Vanderhyden had three doubles and three RBIs and Brett Novack struck out nine for Joliet (4-4).
Lindblom 12, Carver 2: Omari Williams had four RBIs and Derrick Kee three for Lindblom (3-3, 2-0) in the Public South.
Oak Lawn 6, Hillcrest 0: Ray Orban picked up the victory, tossing three innings of hitless relief for Oak Lawn (5-5).
Plainfield 7, Sycamore 2: Andy Urbancic’s three-run homer paced Plainfield (4-3, 2-0) in the Suburban Prairie Red.
Providence 15, St. Ignatius 5: Mike Lorenzo had a two-run home run among his three hits for Providence.
Reavis 12, Stagg 7: John Gill had two hits, drove in three runs and scored three for Reavis (5-5).
Robeson 17, Tilden 4: Lewis Turner had four hits, including a two-run homer, and five RBIs for Robeson (6-1, 4-0) in the Public Southeast.
Shepard 9, Richards 7: Tom Farmer struck out 12 to lead Shepard (6-4).
University High 13, Latin 3: Carlos Love had two hits and two RBIs for U-High (4-1, 1-0) in the Independent School League.
Washington 14, Julian 2: Tim Roland (3-1) earned the win, striking out 14, for Washington (3-7, 3-1) in the Public Red South.
Stevenson 10, Wheeling 0: Mike Jaroscak had three hits, including a grand slam, and six RBIs for No. 5 Stevenson (9-2). Andrew 6, Tinley Park 4: Andrew coach Frank Ganser earned his 400th career victory as Kevin Santiago hit two home runs for the seventh-ranked Thunderbolts (9-1).
Carmel 11, Antioch 3: Mike Kaywood had two hits and four RBIs for No. 9 Carmel (11-2).
Crystal Lake Central 7, Jacobs 5: Dan O’Hagan had three hits, scored two runs and stole three bases for Crystal Lake Central (5-3, 1-0) in the Fox Valley.
Hersey 10, Zion-Benton 4: Ryan McCarthy’s first-inning grand slam got Hersey (3-3) off and running.
Lake Forest 12, Grant 2: Spencer Moss had a double and four RBIs for Lake Forest (2-2).
Maine West 3, Evanston 2: Ed Garza’s two-run single in the top of the sixth was the game-winner for Maine West (4-5).
St. Edward 6, Marmion 0: Brian Wade (3-0) tossed a complete-game four-hitter with four strikeouts for St. Edward (3-2, 1-0) in the Suburban Catholic.
Westmont 3, Walther Lutheran 0: Matt Wieczorek’s two-run homer paced Westmont (4-1) to the victory.
Woodstock 6, McHenry 4: Cale Simes’ two-run single highlighted a four-run third inning for Woodstock (4-3, 1-0) in the Fox Valley.
