Conlon, Mustangs put brakes on Caravan

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Shane Conlon didn't pitch like a guy who was tossing and turning the night before.

Instead, the St. Rita pitcher put Mount Carmel's bats to sleep Saturday in the Class 4A Mount Carmel Sectional final.

Conlon took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and shut down the Caravan 3-1 to lead the Mustangs to their third sectional title in six years.

No. 3 St. Rita (33-6) plays No. 1 Sandburg (30-2) Monday in the Crestwood Supersectional at Standard Bank Stadium with a trip to the Class 4A state semifinals on the line.

"I didn't sleep very well last night," said Conlon (8-1), who struck out three, allowed three hits and walked none. "Once I got out here, (the nervousness) all went away after the first pitch."

Conlon had Mount Carmel's hitters popping the ball up, getting just three groundouts all day.

His formula: "Fastballs in on the hands. ... I just left one pitch out there."

That was a 2-2 offering that Brad Myjak drove over the fence in right-center with two out in the fifth, cutting St. Rita's lead to 2-1. The homer would have been a two-run shot if not for second baseman Kyle Stearns' leaping grab of Steven Bajenski's liner one batter earlier.

Conlon's timing, like Stearns', couldn't have been better in the opinion of Mustangs coach Mike Zunica.

"That's the best I've ever seen him pitch," Zunica said. "We knew he had that in him. He's a champion.

"He really stayed on offense, even though he was on defense. He attacked every hitter, got ahead in counts and just threw a gem."

Conlon got the only runs he would need in the bottom of the third, when singles by Stearns and Justin Kopale (2-for-3) set the table for Mark Payton with one out. Payton drilled an 0-2 pitch from Mike Stirling (7-2) down the left-field line for a two-run double.

"I was just trying to get the guys over," Payton said. "He left the changeup up, luckily."

Myjak pulled the Caravan (23-16) within a run in the fifth, but Anthony Andres restored St. Rita's two-run lead when he led off the bottom of the sixth with a homer to right-center.

"No shocker," Zunica said. "He's been our leading hitter all year. He's got confidence to go along with great athletic ability."