Sports
Baseball: L-W North Clips Brother Rice in Regional Title Game
Lincoln-Way North 3, Brother Rice 2. Three Crusader errors lead to two unearned runs and the Phoenix capitalize to notch their 30th win.
Touching All the Bases: When Lincoln-Way North left-hander Jake Harper takes the mound, the margin for error is slim for opponents. Brother Rice committed too many miscues and it cost the Crusaders in a 3-2 loss on Saturday in the Class 4A Homewood-Flossmoor Regional championship game.
The Phoenix scored in the bottom of the first thanks to a Crusader error. After Jack Irace led off with a single, Stephen Snedden hit a grounder to second that looked routine. But the ball was misplayed. Irace eventually scored on Alex Eaton's groundout.
The Phoenix scored their second run in the second inning when Brother Rice shortstop Brian McQuillan misplayed a groundball off the bat of Luke Waldier with two outs and nobody on. Waldier came around to score on a single by Irace.
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After the Crusaders cut the lead in half with a run in the fourth, the Phoenix countered in the fifth inning. Ryan Koziol was the tough-luck loser for Brother Rice. The Crusaders had their chances against Harper, scoring a run in the fourth and another on Conor Sullivan's solo homer in the sixth inning, but it was not enough as the Phoenix advanced.
Patch’s MVP: Jake Harper, Lincoln-Way North. Harper picked up the win on the mound, going the distance. He allowed one earned run on four hits while striking out eight.
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Lincoln-Way North Leaders: Jack Irace went 3-for-3, scored a run and also had a sacrifice, while A.J. Neufeld had a hit, two walks and a sacrifice.
Brother Rice Leaders: Conor Sullivan hit a solo home-run while Brian Mcquillan had a hit and scored a run.
Quotable I: “Jake (Harper) absolutely battled," Lincoln-Way North coach Joe Skarbek said. "He had his good stuff and was real confident and ready to go."
Quotable II: “Mistakes. Too many. Way too many. And all our mistakes cost us and cost us the game,” Brother Rice coach Dan Szmergalski said.
Team Records: Lincoln-Way North improved to 30-3, while Brother Rice finished with a 14-16 record.
What’s Next: Lincoln-Way North advances to the Sandburg Sectional semifinals. The Phoenix will take on district rival Lincoln-Way East at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
