THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | FRIDAY, MAY 2, 2008
MSL-East Baseball Coming Down To Final Weeks
With only a few weeks left in the season the race for the Mid-Suburban League-East title is heating up and it looks like a three dog race.
But for other teams to have a chance, they'll have to cool down current leader Rolling Meadows, who with wins on Tuesday and Wednesday, have now won nine in a row.
The Mustangs (11-4, 7-2) solidified their spot on top of the division with a 13-3 blowout of Hoffman Estates Wednesday. Catcher Ben Sabal was 3-for-3 with a grand slam while Ted Metzger was 3-for-3 at the plate and earned the win on the mound.
The Mustangs had taken sole possession of first place in the MSL-East on Tuesday with a 6-1 conference victory over Conant.
Jon Carlson allowed just one earned run in 6-1/3 innings of work and helped his own cause with a 3-run double in the fifth. Kevin Serna added a 2-run double as the Mustangs beat Conant ace Austin Wright.
Wright struck out ten but walked four in four-plus innings. Bill Charvat was 3-for-3 and knocked in Conant's run with an RBI.
Close behind Meadows in the East is Prospect and Elk Grove.
The Knights started off the season hot but have dropped their last three conference games to stand at 6-3.
On Wednesday, the Knights dropped a contest to Fremd, 11-3. Shane Uhle was 2-for-3 to lead the Knights.
Prospect fell to Barrington 15-4 on Tuesday as Bronco Gus Handler had a field day, going 3-for-4 with two 3-run home runs. Tim Scanlan was 2-for-3 for the Knights.
And while Prospect has cooled, Elk Grove has gotten hot. The Grens have quickly put themselves back into the MSL-East mix and stand at 6-2 with Wednesday's result still looming.
Elk Grove saw their game with Barrington delayed due to darkness after the two battled to a 4-4 tie through ten innings.
Josh Daniels was solid in relief and Chris D'Angelo was 3-for-5 as the Grens battled to stay only a game behind Meadows.
The game will resume in the 11th inning on Tuesday at Elk Grove.
On Wednesday, the Grens won a strange 6-4 contest over Palatine. The game was suspended from Tuesday and continued Wednesday with both teams tied. Palatine put up three runs in to top of the 11th but Elk Grove would answer. Colin Semler capped the rally with a 2-run bomb for the win. Kevin Miller also had a home run to tie the game for Elk Grove in the 8th.
So as inter-division games resume next week, every game will be huge as each of these three look to get an edge.
Meanwhile, Hersey earned their second division win Wednesday with a 7-3 victory over Conant. Chris James pitched the complete game win and the Huskies used a big 3-run fifth to break the game open. Bobby Gehm was 2-for-3 with 2 RBI and Matt Frenzer drove in three more.