Thunderbolts stay hot, take down St. Laurence

After struggling to get runners on base, much less score, Andrew broke through with five runs in the top of the 10th inning and hung on to beat St. Laurence 6-4 in a Class 4A Andrew Sectional semifinal Wednesday.

Andrew (19-15), which knocked off Brother Rice in the regional final, had only four hits through the first nine innings before the Thunderbolts erupted for seven hits in the 10th to turn a 1-1 deadlock into a 6-1 advantage. Senior catcher Eric Mason delivered the biggest blow with a two-run double.

As it turned out, Andrew needed all the runs it could muster, as St. Laurence (26-10) rallied in the bottom half of the 10th with three runs and loaded the bases before reliever Brett Maus struck out the final batter to send the Thunderbolts to Saturday's sectional final.

"Once we made some adjustments and figured it out, we came out smashing," said Mason, who had two doubles for Andrew. "We're on a roll now."

St. Laurence sophomore right-hander Mike Chimera allowed only four hits in 8 2/3 innings with no walks and did not allow a baserunner between the fifth and eighth innings.

Jeff Zimmerman had two hits for Andrew, including a double and a run-scoring single in the 10th.