By Drake Skleba
For the Bugle
With first-place on the line, on a beautiful 87-degree day, on the East Side of Plainfield, the Cougars of Plainfield South’s (16-3, 11-0) bats, were as hot as the weather. With the bases loaded and nobody out, in the very first inning, Cougar cleanup man AJ Mannucci, dug in.
Mannucci, would come through with a two-RBI single, for a 2-0 Cougar lead. Shortstop Griffin Lapp, would follow with an RBI single and Plainfield South would roll to an 11-1 Southwest Prairie Conference victory, in five innings. With the win, the first-place Cougars would increase their SPC lead, to two full games over Plainfield East (20-3, 9-2) and Plainfield North (16-5, 9-2).
Mannucci, would go on to have a perfect day at the plate, with three singles, two runs scored, a walk and the two RBI, that got the Cougar party started.
“I went up to the plate and had a good approach with the idea, to hit it the other way,” Mannucci said. “I was able to come through for us, once again.”
Second baseman Connor Blake, would score three runs along with a single and a two-RBI double, in the six-run Cougar fourth.
“I had a number of two-strike counts today,” Blake said. “I was able to get good swings, for solid two-strike hits.”
The six-run fourth inning explosion, was ignited by Cougar first baseman Ryan Pawlak. Pawlak led off the fourth, with a monster blast, that sailed over the right field fence. Romeoville Doplar radar, picked up Pawlak’s blast heading over Bolingbrook.
After throwing consecutive no-hitters in his last two Cougar starts, junior lefty Austin Richardson (5-1) settled for a two-hitter. Having thrown 16 consecutive no-hit innings, Richardson had his streak broken, by a bomb off the bat of Plainfield East centerfielder Sean Hebreard. Hebreard’s blast, was also picked up by Romeoville Doplar Radar, somewhere over Bolingbrook.
“I had absolutely no command of my pitches, tonight,” Richardson said. “My curve ball was out of control. That’s why I hit three batters. All the success I had today, I owe to my outstanding defense.”
Speaking of the outstanding Cougar defense, what follows is a list of Cougar Web Gems.
First inning laser caught by third baseman Zach Pawlak, to end East’s bases-loaded threat.
Lapp’s snaring hard-hit grounder, off the bat of East’s Jake Havis and turning a Lapp-to Blake-to Ryan Pawlak, 6-4-3 double play, to get out of the second.
The best web gem we save for the last play of the game.
East’s Andy Hoffman hit a rocket heading into left field, with a teammate aboard, with one out in the bottom of the fifth. What happened next would have made Plainfield South head basketball coach Tim Boe proud.
Lapp showed off what appeared to be his 40-inch vertical leap, to grab the Hoffman’s laser and fire a strike top Pawlak, for the double play. Game Over.
“I just reacted to the last play of the game,” Lapp said. “I didn’t know I could jump so high. It was amazing! I didn’t even realize I had caught it until I looked in my glove. Huge win for us and an other big game with East tomorrow.”
“Austin (Richardson) will tell you he did not have much today for us on the mound,” Plainfield South head coach Phil Bodine said. “All his performance today showed was what a truly great pitcher he can be. To battle against a great Plainfield East team and get us out of here in five innings is a great accomplishment.”
“We really hit the ball well against a great Plainfield East pitcher. “We played great defense and we must come out and do the same tomorrow, against East.”
SPC REPORT
Plainfield North 5 Joliet Central 1
The Tigers (15-5, 9-2) moved into a second place tie with Plainfield South (20-3, 9-2) with the win. Eben Heine and Tiger closer Nick Cerrato, combined on a six-hitter. Heine went the first four innings allowing a run and Cerrato slammed the door on the Steelmen (11-13, 0-11), firing three shutout innings to get the save.
Ryan Summers drove home two Tiger runs while Sean Tilmon, had two hits and an RBI. Garret Cook chipped in with two hits, while Cam Kissel picked up a Tiger RBI.
Plainfield Central 7 Joliet West 4
The Wildcats’ (15-8, 6-5) were led by their hard-hitting, third baseman David Ascensio. Ascensio, hammered a two-run bomb and drove home three runs, for the Wildcats. Bobby “Boogaloo” Boekelo, also went deep for the Wildcats, while Justin Divelbiss, had two singles, scored a pair of runs and drove one a run.
Chris Conrad (3-2) pitched six solid innings to pick up the Wildcat win. In a scary Joliet West seventh, Anthony Noble and Charlie Bischoff closed out the victory with Bischoff nailing down the save.
Joliet West (6-16, 2-9) was led by Mark Garcia who drove home a pair of Tiger runs and Tyler Pransky, who chipped in with two hits.
Minooka 9 Romeoville 2
The Indians (10-8, 5-6) were led by Cole Alstott and Seth Gutknecht on Tuesday. Alstott had two hits and drove home four Indian runs. Gutknecht went the distance on the mound, firing a six-hitter with six strikeouts, at the Spartans. Gutknecht also had three Indian hits at the plate. Cherokee Lebeau had two more hits and catcher Luke Faifer drove in two Indian runs.
Romeoville (3-20, 1-10) was led by Hunter Frost who drove home both Spartan runs.
ESCC REPORT
Joliet Catholic 14 Nazareth 4
The Hilltoppers rolled past the Roadrunners in La Grange Park, behind Jared Cushing and the still red-hot Tony Fleischauer. Cushing drove home three Hilltopper runs and Fleischauer continues to tear the cover off the baseball, with three more hits. Matt Bebar also had a three-hit day, while Greg Ziegler picked up a pair of Hilltopper ribbies.
With the win (yawn) the Hilltoppers (20-3, 10-0 ) have added the 17th,, 20-win season, in the legendary coaching career of head coach Jared Voss. If anyone is still counting, the Roadrunners became the 504th victory, of Voss’ career.
Benet Academy 11 Marian Catholic 8
The Redwings (11-10, 6-4) outslugged the Spartans in Lisle on Tuesday. Redwing left fielder Mike Wymer, known throughout for his outstanding defense, continued to torch the baseball with two hits and three RBI.
St. Viator 10 Notre Dame 0
The Dons (11-8, 6-4) seven-game winning streak came to an end on Tuesday.
INTERSTATE 8 REPORT
Lisle 14 , Seneca 3
At Field No. 7 Field in Lisle (14-8, 8-2), the host Lions unleashed an 18-hit onslaught against the Fighting Irish. Aaron Cail, had four hits and drove home four Lion runs. Damien Guerrero had three hits and three RBI, while Jay McGrath, chipped in with a pair of RBI. Zach Webber also had a three-hit day for Lisle, who keeps pace with I-8 North leader Coal City (20-4, 10-1)
Once again, there were reports of Lion fans, in the cool waters of the nearby DuPage River. This time, being refreshed from scorching 87 degree temps on Tuesday.
Coal City 11 Westmont 1
The Sentinels (11-12, 3-9) were crushed by the I-8 North leading Coalers (20-4, 10-1).SOUTHWEST
SUBURBAN BLUE
Homewood-Flossmoor 10 Lockport 5
The Porters (13-8, 4-2) were knocked out of first-place by the Vikings on Tuesday. John Weis had a double and two RBI to lead the Porters. CJ Weins chipped in with a single, double and an RBI for the Porters.
Stagg 12 Bolingbrook 8
The Raiders (2-12, 0-6) were outslugged by the Chargers on Tuesday. Josh Madsen, went deep with two Raider teammates aboard and Sebastian Ramirez had three singles and an RBI, for The Brook. Tyler Christy also had a three-hit day for the Raiders with a pair of doubles.
WEST SUBURBAN GOLD
Downers Grove South 4 Willowbrook 2
The WSC Gold leaders inched another game closer to wrapping up another WSC Gold title on Tuesday. DGS (14-5, 11-1) scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth to roll to victory behind the red-hot Jack Blazevich and Nick Stacey. Jake Pileggi chipped in with a pair of Mustang hits.
Blazevich, continued his hot-hitting with two hits and two RBI. Stacey fired a six-hitter at the Warriors (14-9, 8-6) with two strikeouts.