L-W North Hopes Everything Keeps Clicking in Tonight's State Title Game

You can't give a good hitting team extra outs.

Any coach at any level will tell you that.

On Wednesday at Benedictine University in Lisle, Maine South was reminded of that painful lesson, as

Maine South wasn't able to turn what appeared to be a tailor-made double play ball off the bat of Lincoln-Way North catcher Ryan Pellack in the top of the first inning. The hard hopper to third base resulted in a forceout at second base, but Pellack reached first base to save an at bat for red-hot cleanup man Reed Hero.

Hero, who was 5-for-7 with 5 RBIs during Lincoln-Way North's two victories on Wednesday, launched a two-run home run down the left-field line to give the Phoenix an early 2-0 lead in the Phil Lawler Summer Classic semifinal game.

"I hit it and didn't really know it was gone," Hero said. "I saw the left fielder go back and I was like, 'That's gone, but is it fair?' so I asked my first-base coach and he said it was, and I was like, "Thank God—finally.'"

Lincoln-Way North (20-4) wasn't done, though. Jack Troike singled and moved all the way to third base on an errant pickoff attempt, Carter Bialka walked and designated hitter Dominic Hartman smashed an RBI single to make it 3-0.

While the Hawks failed to turn what would have been a key double play, the Phoenix shined on defense, turning a pair of twin killings, while getting a diving putout from second baseman Andy Ricker and a pair of highlight-worthy efforts from Carter Bialka in right field. Bialka charged in full speed to make a diving catch in the third inning and then outdid himself by racing back in the fifth and made a leaping catch while going backward.

"The double plays today were pretty amazing because the scouting report we had on them was they hit pretty well, and those were two kind of routine, tailor-made DPs, which we'll take every day," Lincoln-Way North coach Joe Skarbek said. "Carter is such a great athlete. He can run, has a nice arm and gets good jumps on the ball. When he starts hitting—and he's really streaky—he's a big-time prospect in my book."

Maine South (18-11) opened the bottom of the third inning with consecutive singles, and the runners moved to scoring position on a wild pitch with no outs. But winning pitcher Bo Venezio limited the damage. Ricker made a diving play on an RBI groundout before Venezio fanned Kyle Richardson and got Keenan Kelly to fly out.

"I just tried to minimize the damage and make sure things never got out of hand it worked today," Venezio said. "The defense played great. I think this was the best game we played defensively."

The big inning for the Phoenix proved to be the fourth, when they extended their 3-1 lead to 9-1 after sending 10 men to the plate and knocking out Maine South starter Rocky Saavedra.

Hartman and Ricker opened the frame with back-to-back singles. Josh Handzik's sacrifice bunt was misplayed by the third baseman, who fired wildly to allow Hartman to score and the other runners to move into scoring position. Corey Krupske followed with an RBI single, Josh Reed drove in two with a single, Pellack walked and then Hero came through again. Despite having two strikes on him, he hammered a two-run double just inside the third-base line.

"With two strikes I was just trying to put the ball in play and make them make the play," Hero said. "I don't want to strike out and just want to get it in play, and that's what I did."

Since Hero's been so effective at the plate, Skarbek has often been asked where Hero was during the spring season. 

"He's a big-time player and it was weird. We were 30-4 in the spring and everyone kept asking me where Reed Hero is," Skarbek said. "I don't want to sound bad, but we didn't need him then. We let him play at the sophomore level and let him develop and get experience, which is a great thing. He's a player."

With a big lead, Venezio had little trouble, allowing just a pair of singles from the fourth through sixth innings. He was touched for a couple runs in the bottom of the seventh, but he headed to the mound in that inning with an 11-1 lead.

"When I saw the wind blowing in today here, I was like, that's perfect for Bo," Skarbek said. "Bo will throw strikes. He throws a ton of strikes and he's not afraid to pitch to contact.

"He did such a nice job. He throws four good pitches—a fastball, curveball, slider for strikes and he's got a real nice changeup he's starting to trust."

Now, after seven games in the Phil Lawler Summer Classic, the stage is set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday with only Prairie Ridge standing in the way of the 2011 championship for Lincoln-Way North.

"I wish we could play right now," Hero said. "It's crazy, but I'm ready to play."

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