Caravan rolls into regional final

Updated: March 22, 2011 3:54PM

Mount Carmel has bashed its way into the finals of the Richards Regional and no one has been swinging the bat better than Jeff Boehm.

The Caravan banged out 18 hits en route to a 15-5 semifinal win over Brother Rice Wednesday at Richards, with Boehm leading the way.

The incoming senior first baseman went 4-for-5 with three runs scored, three RBI and three stolen bases. That makes him 18 for his last 20 with 12 RBI.

"I'm seeing the ball well," Boehm said. "It's like a softball."

Playing elite competition with the Illinois Sparks has helped get Boehm locked in now that he's back with the Caravan for the summer playoffs.

"You usually face (pitchers throwing) 88, 89, 90 (mph)," Boehm said of his travel ball experience. "Coming down here, you've got to time it more, wait back. ... I'm just looking away, away, away (and turning on) the ones that are inside."

"He's playing with a lot of confidence now," Caravan coach Brian Hurry said of Boehm. "He's being the leader we need."

Boehm wasn't the only Mount Carmel to put up big numbers on Wednesday.

Leadoff man and Indiana recruit Chris Sujka was 3-for-4 with a hit by pitch, two runs scored, an RBI and a stolen base. Also contributing were Jerry Houston (3-for-5, two runs, RBI), T.J. Laurisch (3-for-5, homer, two runs, four RBI) and Tom Hayes (2-for-5, run, two RBI).

That was more than enough backing for John Kravetz, who pitched a seven-hitter with 10 strikeouts.

"If John gave us a good outing, I felt pretty confident about our chances," Hurry said.

The Caravan jumped ahead 7-0 through 3 1/2 innings, but Rice's Garrett O'Neill slugged a three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth to narrow the gap to 7-3. It was 8-4 going into the top of the seventh, when Mount Carmel scored seven runs to put the game out of reach.

Dan Frain was 2-for-3 with a run for the Crusaders.

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