It was an all West Suburban final in the Illinois High School Association class 4A baseball final as Oak Park River Forest one upped conference rival Lyons Township 4-3 Saturday at Silver Cross Field in Joliet.
With the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Oak Park's Jack Picchiotti tripled to lead off the inning. Lyons intentionally walked the next to batters to get to Mike Brennan who singled in the winning run. Zachary Weigel got the victory on the mound giving up three runs on seven hits and striking out four.
Lyons Township High School flexed their own muscle and defeat the Providence Catholic Celtics 8-3 to win their third the Illinois High School Baseball State Championship.
Conner Cuff threw all seven innings for Lyons giving up 3 runs on 5 hits while striking out six. Cuff also drove in four runs on the evening and 2B Steve Hellenbach went 3-4, SS Spencer Mahoney 2-2, and 1B Brian Rodemoyer was also 2-2 with an rbi. Lyons pounded out 11 hits off of Brandon Magallones, Dan Wetzel and Matt Throwbridge.
The Illinois high school baseball finals are set in class 3A and class 4A.
Class 3A:
In game one Oak Forest pitcher Cody Funkhouser went all 7 innings giving up one run (a homer by Nazareth catcher Justin Gonzalez) on three hits as Oak Forest defeats Nazareth Academy 3-1. Oak Forest scored all three runs in the fourth inning on a walk, a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch.
In game two Kaneland defeated Waterloo 8-2 as Bobby Thorson threw a complete game allowing four hits and strking out 5. First baseman Sam Komel went 3-4 with 2 rbi's. Waterloo shortstop/second baseman Alex Wittenaur went 2-3 with an rbi.
Finals Saturday at 11:00 am Oak Forest vs. Kaneland
Class 4A:
In game one Providence topped Prospect 9-1. Matt Throwbridge went the distance allowing one run on four hits. Providence center fielder Brady Wilkin went 2-3 with an rbi, catcher Dan Potempa was 2-4 with an rbi. For Prospect Pete Bonahoom was 2-3 and scored a run.
In game two Lyons defeated Mt. Carmel 4-1 Zach Remijas threw six innings allowing one run on five hits. Keith Lehmann threw a scoreless seventh with two strikeouts. Lyons 1B Brian Rodemoyer was 2-3 with an rbi and Mt. Carmel DH/C Tom Hayes went 2-3.
Finals Saturday at 5:00 pm Providence Catholic vs Lyons
