Baseball: L-W North Powers Into Summer State Championship Game

Touching All the Bases: Lincoln-Way North swung hot bats from the outset of Wednesday’s summer state semifinal game against Maine South and rolled into tonight’s championship game with an 11-3 victory in Lisle.

Maine South was unable to turn a double play on Lincoln-Way North No. 3 hitter Ryan Pellack's hopper to third base in the top of the first inning. Cleanup hitter Reed Hero made the Hawks pay when he launched a towering two-run home run down the left-field line. The Phoenix added another run in the inning to take a 3-0 lead.

Lincoln-Way North broke the game open in the top of fourth inning, sending 10 men to the plate, banging out six hits and crossing the plate six times to build a 9-1 lead.

The Phoenix went on to an 11-3 victory to move into the Phil Lawler Classic title game against Prairie Ridge.

Patch’s MVP: Reed Hero went 2-for-4 for the Phoenix with a two-run homer in the first inning to give the team an early lead and added a two-run double as he drove in four runs.

Lincoln-Way North’s Leaders: Jack Troike went 3-for-4; Ryan Pellack was 2-for-4 with a walk; Dominic Hartman went 2-for-4 with an RBI; Andy Ricker was 2-for-3 with a run; Josh Reid contributed a 3-for-4 effort at the plate with a walk, two runs and two RBIs; Carter Bialka made two diving catches in right field; and Bo Venezio pitched earned a complete-game victory.

Maine South’s Leaders: Leadoff man Jack Touhy went 2-for-4; Kyle Richardson was 2-for-4; Jesus Saavedra went 2-for-3; and Zach Jones had a pinch-hit RBI double.

Quotable I: Lincoln-Way North coach Joe Skarbek on his team's offensive production: "The Maine South coach (Bill Milano) said it's the best hitting team he's seen all summer, which is a nice thing to say."

Quotable II: Lincoln-Way North pitcher Bo Venezio on how he was able to shut down Maine South: "I threw a lot of first-pitch breaking balls to get ahead and then got a lot of ground balls. That was pretty much it."

Team Records: Lincoln-Way North improved to 20-4. Maine South fell to 18-11.

What’s Next: Lincoln-Way North will face Prairie Ridge at 7:30 p.m. today at Benedictine University for the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association's Phil Lawler Classic championship. Maine South will resume play during the spring season.