Stay Connected with YourSeason
Mount Carmel led by Boehm’s blast
Updated: June 6, 2011 10:28PM
Mount Carmel and Lincoln-Way East traded blows all night in a back-and-forth Class 4A Crestwood Supersectional Monday at Standard Bank Stadium.
The Caravan’s Jeff Boehm delivered the biggest shot. Boehm’s two-run home run in the sixth inning lifted Mount Carmel to a 9-7 win and a spot in the state semifinals.
Mount Carmel (32-7) will face Lyons at 5 p.m. Friday at Silver Cross Field in Joliet.
Boehm’s one out-blast broke a 7-all tie, driving in Jerry Houston (walk).
“I knew (East pitcher Alec Ornelas) was throwing straight fastballs,” Boehm, the Caravan’s left fielder, said. “He came up and in and made a mistake and I hit it out. I was just trying to be a leader.”
Caravan starting pitcher T.J. Laurisch finished the job from there, retiring the Griffins (25-12) in order in the final two frames.
After struggling early, Laurisch settled down to earn a complete-game win, allowing five earned runs.
“I just had to push what happened earlier aside,” Laurisch said. “I didn’t have my best stuff, but eventually I settled down. We got some run support. This is an incredible feeling.”
Mount Carmel took full advantage of a two-out error in the second, pushing across three unearned runs. Josh Gaal and Jason Gasser, the bottom two hitters in the Caravan order, delivered consecutive RBI singles and Chris Sujka made it 3-0 with a base hit.
But the Caravan committed two errors of its own in the bottom of the frame as the Griffins exploded for five runs. Matt Rosenberger and Dan Huizinga led off with back-to-back singles. After Rosenberger scored on an error, Jake Hickey doubled home Huizinga.
Zach Jones followed with a towering two-run homer to left to give the Griffins the lead and Cody Justus reached on a three-base error and scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-3.
Mount Carmel struck right back with three more in the third as Boehm and Sam Kint singled to start the rally. Laurisch followed with an RBI double and Tom Hanes and Dan Pappas produced run-scoring groundouts.
East reclaimed the lead in the fourth. Joe Piersanti singled and scored on Bobby Kosola’s fielder’s choice grounder. Hickey (walk) came home on an error for a 7-6 edge.
Boehm singled and came home with the help of two wild pitches in the fifth to tie it and set the stage for the left fielder’s heroics.
© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.
Cell Phone Alerts
Comments Click here to view or make a comment