Remijas, Lyons oust Hilltoppers

Since No. 2 pitcher Zach Remijas remains undefeated this season, Lyons has to be doing something right.

Remijas limited West Suburban Silver rival Glenbard West to four hits Saturday as the conference champion Lyons won 7-2 Saturday in the Class 4A St. Charles North Sectional final.

Remijas (10-0) allowed two runs and three walks over five innings and struck out seven batters. Glenbard West (19-19), a No. 14 seed, had its eight-game win streak snapped, but scored for the first time against Lyons (34-4) since the first game of a doubleheader April 2.

“It’s been good. We have high expectations. This is where we wanted to be,” Remijas said. “There is a plaque in the balcony where we practice (at North Campus) that lists all the Lyons teams that have headed Downstate. I want to put our name up on that.”

The Hilltoppers have lost their last two meetings to Lyons by scores of 13-0 and 6-0. Entering the sectional final, Lyons has outscored Glenbard West 36-3 on the season.

Lyons won its 10th sectional title, but earned its first title since the 2006 team lost to O’Fallon in the Class AA state quarterfinals.

Glenbard West’s runs scored in the top of the sixth after Tom Alt and Tyler Curtis reached base to begin the inning. Sophomore reliever Keith Lehmann then replaced Remijas, but Alt scored on Bob Targo’s RBI groundout and Curtis crossed the plate on a wild pitch.

All of Lyons’ runs came in the first and fourth innnings.

Instead of No. 2 pitcher Tyler Curtis, Glenbard West coach Brian Wojtun started senior Garrett Stalker, who pitched in Lyons’ 6-0 victory on April 5. On Saturday, Stalker gave up three runs in the first inning and was quickly replaced by Curtis in the second inning. Curtis gave up one hit in the next two innings, but allowed the four runs in the fourth.

“(Stalker) didn’t have his stuff so we went to Tyler Curtis right away,” Wojtun said.

Three of Lyons’ first four batters had hits and two of them were doubles by Steve Heilenbach and Tom Walsh. Walsh’s drove in the inning’s second run and then Walsh scored on a wild pitch.

The biggest blow in the fourth was a two-run single by Valparaiso-bound leadoff hitter Spencer Mahoney (3-for-4), who drove in Mike Pett (2-for-3) and Brian Kelley with his hit to right field.

The game’s most bizarre play came in the next at-bat when Heilenbach hit a pop fly in the infield near home plate. First baseman Mitch Monocchio caught the ball in foul territory, but with catcher Ben Krusen and Curtis converging on the ball, no one covered home plate. Dan Zehe broke from third base and slid head first across the plate to score on a rare sacrifice fly within the infield.

“It was heads up with that kid tagging,” Lyons coach George Ushela said. “I saw all three headed to home (at the ball). Danny made a good decision.”

Lyons will play Streamwood (30-6), a 2-1 winner over Cary-Grove (28-10), in the Rockford Supersectional at 7 p.m. Monday at Road Ranger Stadium in Loves Park. The Sabres will face Lyons ace Connor Cuff (9-0), who hasn’t lost in 17 decisions the past two years.

Between Prom on June 2 and Graduation ceremonies Sunday, Lyons didn’t overlook Glenbard West despite the decisive outcomes in the three previous meetings.

“We really take advantage of teams we face this year,” Mahoney said. “Being on the team the last two years, I’ve never seen a group like this. The sectional championship step is one step, but we still have three games to go.”

With seven returning starters and an entire three-man pitching rotation back from last season, Lyons has been winning even the close games during the playoffs such as the 3-2 sectional semifinal over Glenbard North.

“This group is very experienced,” Ushela said.

Glenbard West was one win away from the school’s second sectional title. The 2002 Hilltoppers reached the state quarterfinals. This year’s Hilltoppers started the season 1-8 and 3-12, but lose only four starters including pitching ace Ben Krusen.

“This was a tremendous team. They put a lot of hard work in,” Wojtun said. “It’s great to see them reap the benefits of their hard work and see the playoffs at the end. It’s a compliment to the seniors. They have been great.”

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