Hawks’ run falls short

Updated: July 28, 2011 11:52AM

The sting of the loss in the semifinals still very much there, Maine South catcher Jimmy Frankos was still able to look ahead Wednesday night.

The Hawks had just fallen 11-3 to Lincoln-Way North in the semifinals of the Phil Lawler Classic at the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association playoffs, ending their tournament run.

“This is definitely a boost for our confidence,” Frankos said. “We know if we play how we’re capable of, we can play with the best teams in the state. Hopefully everyone remembers this and the feeling of getting so close, and we carry it over to the spring season.”

Maine South finishes the summer campaign with an 18-11 overall record. Coach Bill Milano’s squad will hope to build off a solid season as the Hawks return four of the top five pitchers that racked up 15 of the team’s 21 wins last season.

“It was a great run,” Milano said. “You finish third or fourth out of 160-plus teams, you’re doing something right. I have great kids who work hard. We earned some respect, and there will be a target on our back. Let’s handle it, and work hard, prove it.”

After cruising through the first two days of action, Maine South found itself in an early 3-0 hole against North as Reed Hero blasted a two-run homer in the top of the first.

On this night, North starter Bo Venezio would not need much more in the way of offensive support, putting Maine South runner on but consistently able to strand them. In the bottom of the third, Frankos’ RBI groundout scored Pat Aloisio as the Hawks cut the lead to two runs.

“(Venezio) got into a rhythm, mixing speeds and hitting spots,” Frankos said. “He wasn’t throwing hard, but when you hit locations, we were trying to do too much. We try and hit a three-run homer with no one on base. He pitched a great game.”

Lincoln-Way North (20-4) countered with six runs in the top of the fourth, and the route was on. Maine South scratched two more runs across in the bottom of the seventh, but the early lead proved to be too much.

Aloisio, Jesus Saavedra and Jack Touhy all managed two hit performances for the Hawks in the semifinal loss. Eight runners were stranded overall as Milano’s squad was never able to bring runners around against Venezio.

“We had some base runners, but we could never get that big inning,” Milano said. “(North) hit the crap out of the ball so tip your cap to them. They were relentless and kept hitting the ball.”

Maine South last made the summer state tournament in the 2003 season. Ultimately coming up one game short of their summer goal, Frankos and the Hawks were still pleased with the summer as a whole.

“We wanted this and played all summer to get here,” Frankos said. “We gave it all we had. Give credit, Lincoln-Way North beat us and made the plays.”

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