Zych does it all for the Mustangs

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St. Rita's Tony Zych showed why Louisville intends to utilize his bat and arm when he enrolls at the university as a freshman in the fall.

The Mustangs' cleanup hitter launched two home runs - the first igniting a four-run rally in the fifth inning and the second providing the game-winning run in the sixth - and earned the save on the mound as St. Rita registered an exciting 5-4 victory over Marist at the Marist Regional semifinal Tuesday.

St. Rita will play Stagg on Saturday for the regional title.

"We were waiting for our inning," Zych said. "We finally got it in the fifth. I knew we were going to bust out. The whole team stepped up."

Zych was right.

The 6-foot-3 senior may have been the game's shining star, but others produced in dramatic fashion for the No.3-ranked Mustangs (29-6).

Such as senior Matt Toomey, whose clutch two-out, two-run double in the fifth cut the Mustangs' deficit to 4-3.

And sophomore Mark Payton, who followed Toomey's bingo with a rope single to right that tied the game 4-4. Payton finished 2-for-3.

"I told the guys when we were down that there was no way this is how our season was going to end," said Toomey, an Orland Park resident.

With the game still tied at 4 in the bottom of the sixth, Zych strolled to the plate. He drilled a low curveball on a 1-and-1 count over the left-center fence for a 5-4 lead.

"I saw it and put a good swing on it," Zych said of his second long ball. "He (Marist pitcher Mitch Merman) had a great curveball."

For four innings, Merman baffled the Mustangs. The right-hander mixed his fastball, curveball and dazzling changeup effectively, allowing just one hit.

While Merman was stymieing the Mustangs, his teammates knocked out St. Rita starter Anthony Andres and built a 4-0 lead.

Jake Koehne's two-out single scored Brian Pyznarski (single) for a 1-0 first-inning lead.

The RedHawks rallied for two more runs in the third and sent Andres, a sophomore left-hander, to an early shower. Pyznarski coaxed a one-out walk and Chris Gorski, who made a fine running catch in center field in the sixth, singled. Dave Nowaczyk (2-for-4) then ripped a 2-and-2 fastball into the left-center gap for a 3-0 advantage.

Andres was hit or miss in his brief 22/3 innings. He allowed five hits and two walks, but also struck out seven and picked a runner off first base.

"We came out swinging the bats," said Marist coach Joel Jonas, whose RedHawks finished a disappointing year with a 13-20 record. "Mitch threw the ball well. His changeup was exceptional and he kept them off balance."

The RedHawks added a solo tally in the fourth against freshman southpaw Joey Filomeno, who limited Marist to an unearned run in 22/3 innings of relief.

Zych relieved Filomeno with two on and one out in the sixth and got pinch-hitter Tom McDermott to line into an unassisted double play.

In the seventh, Pyznarski walked and Nowaczyk singled with two outs, bringing Koehne, a junior cleanup hitter, to the plate.

Zych, who consistently hit 91 mph on the radar gun, got Koehne to hit a comebacker to the mound to end the game.

"Seniors need to step up at this time of the season," St. Rita coach Mike Zunica said. "Ours did today."

Merman went the distance for Marist, allowing six hits, one walk and striking out four.

Marist's Steve Mazurski had a good day at the plate, going 2-for-3.