McQuillan's blast powers Catholic League to win

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When Mike McQuillan turned on a fastball in his second at-bat Thursday, he knew exactly what he'd done.

"Oh yeah, I knew it was gone as soon as I'd hit it," the Brother Rice second baseman said.

But it was when he was rounding the bases at U.S. Cellular Field that a bit of disbelief crept into his head.

"I was actually [thinking], 'Is this really happening?' " McQuillan said.

Yep, it was. And that was good news for the Catholic League All-Stars, who held on for a 12-7 win over the Public League All-Stars in a game called because of rain with two out in the top of the sixth.

McQuillan was at bat with a 1-2 count when play was halted, but he didn't have much to complain about. He helped the Catholic League jump ahead 4-0 in the top of the first with a little small ball -- a leadoff single, two stolen bases, a run scored on a fielder's-choice grounder hit by Fenwick's Reid Rooney.

Then McQuillan took Simeon's Troy Williams deep in a five-run second that pushed the Catholic League lead to 9-1.

Not a bad way for the University of Iowa recruit -- a Sox fan playing at his favorite team's home park for the first time -- to bid farewell to prep ball.

"First off, I'd like to thank coach [Tim] Lyons for the opportunity to be around for four years," McQuillan said. "The players at Rice are great ... the coaches -- everyone takes care of each other."

Ditto for the Catholic League All-Stars, as McQuillan (2-for-3, two runs, two RBI, two steals) wasn't the only one contributing offensively.

Mount Carmel's Matt Mirabal singled in each of the first two innings and drove in a run, while Cameron Anello (Brother Rice) Chris Heaney (Mount Carmel) and Charles Honeywood (Hales) also had run-scoring hits. Loyola's Chris Serritella drove in one run and scored another on the front end of a double steal.

The Catholic League's pitching highlight came in the fifth, when St. Rita's Tony Zych struck out the only three batters he faced.

"I was just going [with] fastballs [to] see what I could do and that's what happened," Zych said.

The Public League was led by Lake View's Deion Geiger (2-for-3, three RBI), who took some solace from his club's comeback from the early eight-run deficit.

"We showed that we can compete with the Catholic League," Geiger said. "The Public League is coming up with good young players."

mclark@chicagosuntimes.com