Bonahoom blasts Prospect past Viator

Updated: June 2, 2011 7:45PM

Prospect’s Peter Bonahoom got some advice for assistant coach Andrew Butkus. Bonahoom took that advice to heart and drove the next pitch for a two-run homer to lift Prospect past St. Viator 5-3 Thursday in the class 4a sectional game at Barrington.

Prospect (24-8) will meet Warren in Saturday’s sectional final.

Prospect used two St. Viator errors to tie the game at 3-3. During a break on the mound, Bonahoom met with Butkus down the first baseline.

“He told me that coming out the break, the first pitch would be an off-speed one, Bonahoom said. “Of course I listened. Coach Butkus played in college and he knows what he is talking about.”

After Bonahoom’s homer, Prospect pitcher Jack Landwehr (12-2) kept St. Viator at bay, allowing just one hit in each of the final two innings.

‘I was fired up after the homer, said Landwehr, who struck out seven and allowed seven hits. “After we had fallen behind in the top of the inning, I knew we could come back.”

St. Viator (22-14, which advanced to the sectionals for the second consecutive year, trailed 2-0 entering the fifth. The Lions parlayed four hits and a Prospect error into three runs with RBI’s coming from Brian Wilhite, Nick Prazuch and Cory Kay.

“I was pleased with how our kids battled,” St. Viator coach Mike Manno said. “Prospect is just two good of a team to give them extra chances.”

Prsopect took a 2-0 lead thanks to a homer in the second by Brad Gerdes and a run by Kurt Donner when Steve Dazzo reached on an error in the fourth.

“I loved our kids approach today,” Prospect coach Ross Giusti said. “They just kept wanting to put the ball in play.”

© 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.