RBHS, LTHS baseball teams’ seasons end in regional

Senior shortstop Sean Campbell and his Riverside Brookfield High School baseball teammates hoped to play local rival Nazareth Academy in the Class 4A Nazareth Regional final. Despite a strong effort, however, the Bulldogs lost to Oak Lawn 4-1 in the regional semifinals Thursday.

“It is just disappointing how many barrels we put on balls that were just right at somebody, but I think we played well,” Campbell said. “Mainly we just wanted to keep playing and see how far we could make it and disappointing we couldn’t make it to (the regional final). But it’s always fun to play good teams (like Nazareth).” 

RBHS (19-14), the No. 7 seed in the Reavis Sectional, tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning as Damian Noe hit a leadoff single and scored on a two-out single by Zach Ryzewski. The No. 10 Spartans (23-14), who homered in the first, pulled ahead 2-1 on a run-scoring double in the fifth and runs in the sixth and seventh inning.

No. 2 Nazareth (31-6) defeated Oak Lawn 10-0 in Saturday’s regional final behind winning senior pitcher Chase Zidlicky from Riverside (4 strikeouts, 2 hits allowed in 4 innings). The Roadrunners face No. 6 Mt. Carmel (21-13) in Wednesday’s semifinals with the sectional final at 11 a.m. Saturday. 

“We talked all year about prepping for games that are tight and just came up a little short,” RBHS coach Mark Ori said. “We played well. We thought we hit the ball decent. Defensively, we made three great plays, highlight plays. Their pitcher (John Olejniczak) did a nice job, kept guys off balance a little bit. Although we got hits, we didn’t capitalize.”  

RBHS had seven singles, two by Ryzewski, and stranded four runners in scoring position from the second through fifth innings. The Bulldogs also had runners on second and first in the seventh when a double play ended the game. The “highlight reel” defensive plays kept the Bulldogs in the game. On the RBI double in the fifth, the Bulldogs threw out the trail runner at the plate on the relay from right fielder Ryzewski to first baseman Eli Costello to catcher Gino Pigoni. In the third, left fielder Ethan Smith threw out a runner at second trying to extend a single. The fourth began with senior center fielder Jaden Despe making a sprawled-out diving catch with his back to the infield. 

“They could have easily went up 5-1, 6-1,” Ori said. “We still had a chance in the seventh with two outs. (Those plays) kept us in the game.” 

In their first year in the Upstate Eight Conference, RBHS finished second in the East Division and had four all-conference players – Campbell (.449 batting average, home runs, 26 RBIs, 11 doubles), senior leadoff hitter Smith (,376, 2 HR, 14 RBIs, team-high 36 runs) and juniors Noa (.277, HR, 20 RBIs) and pitcher Aidan Polich (5-2, 2.20 earned-run average, 44 strikeouts in 35 innings).

“I think this team has grown together as a group and this was an amazing team and season,” Campbell said. “For myself, I hit much more XBH (extra-base hits, 14) than I ever have.” 

Besides captains Campbell, Smith and  Despe, the seniors included standout pitcher Mike Oppegard (6-1, 1.49 ERA, 39 strikeouts in 37.2 innings), who was injured since midseason.

“He could have easily packed it up. He was there, willing to do (stats) or talk through stuff with the pitchers,” Ori said. “Just the leadership at the senior level is going to be tough to replace. In the offseason, they took charge, ran all of the workouts. If I even offered an opportunity for an off day, they wanted to at least come in and hit or do something. Overall, it’s a hard-working group.” 

In the Roadrunners’ victory, Zidlicky had four strikeouts and allowed just two hits in four innings. Landon Thome (4-for-4, triple, double, 2 RBIs) and Jimmy O’Connor (2-for-3, 2 RBIs) led an 11-hit effort.

Lyons Township baseball

The Lions were the No. 3 seed in the Reavis Sectional but had the task of beating No. 5 Mt. Carmel on its field in Saturday’s regional final. 

The Lions (22-11-1) lost 10-2 after Mt. Carmel (21-13) jumped to a 6-0 lead with three runs in the top of the first and second innings. The Caravan will play No. 2-seed Nazareth (31-6) in Wednesday’s sectional semifinals.

“From the games we had scouted them, they didn’t seem to do as well hitting but they came out and were ready to swing, that’s for sure. They were a tough-hitting team,” LTHS coach Kevin Diete said. “In addition to it being their day, it wasn’t our day. We didn’t field the ball well (3 errors) and just didn’t hit the ball well. It speaks to the quality of the sectional but we also have to try and host our regional. I think that would help. When you’re running into a Mt. Carmel or Brother Rice, you’d run into them in the sectionals most likely.” 

The Lions were limited to three hits by Mt. Carmel pitcher and Notre Dame commit Connor Elenteny (3 strikeouts, 3 walks), two singles by junior catcher Justin Heydorn and an RBI double from senior designated hitter Noah Fitzgerald.

The Lions finished third in the West Suburban Conference Silver Division, one victory from sharing the title. Their all-conference players were seniors Tucker King (4-2, 2.07 ERA, 40 strikeouts in 40 innings), Saturday’s starting pitcher, and first baseman Dom Pisciotti (.333, 27 RBIs), junior Lou Ratcliffe (.404, 3 HR, team-high 34 RBIs) and sophomore shortstop Blake Ragsdale (.352, 2 HR, 26 RBIs), who continued to excel after a mid-season elbow injury.

“The best part about the team was they stayed level headed,” Diete said. “We lost a lot of games the last two, three weeks and we were still in the conference fight. To stay level headed, I was very impressed with that. I told the guys coming back we just have to learn from that and keep getting better in what we do.”

The Lions beat No. 14 Morton 10-5 in the regional semifinals May 27. Heydorn was 3 for 3 with a double and three RBI. Ragsdale (double, 2 RBIs), senior Luke Nicholaus (double) and Fitzgerald each had two hits.