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homerhorizon.com sports<br />
the homer horizon | April 25, 2019 | 39<br />
fastbreak<br />
Adam Jomant/22nd Century<br />
Media<br />
1st and 3<br />
LTHS baseball beats<br />
Andrew, falls to<br />
Lincoln-Way East<br />
last week<br />
1. Gaining more experience<br />
The LTHS baseball<br />
team beat Andrew<br />
by a final of 10-2 on<br />
April 16 before getting<br />
defeated 15-7<br />
by Lincoln-Way East<br />
Saturday, April 20,<br />
in Frankfort.<br />
2. Stingy giving up<br />
runs<br />
Before the loss<br />
against the Griffins,<br />
the Porters<br />
had only allowed 41<br />
runs in their first 20<br />
games.<br />
3. Building leads<br />
Lockport got out to<br />
a 7-3 lead against<br />
the Griffins and<br />
7-0 versus Andrew<br />
after the top of the<br />
third inning in each<br />
game.<br />
Baseball<br />
Celtics keep game close against Griffins’ ace, get players healthy<br />
Randy Whalen<br />
Freelance Reporter<br />
Cole Kirschsieper stands<br />
alone.<br />
Not only has the Lincoln-Way<br />
East pitcher been<br />
amazing this season, but he<br />
is also now officially the<br />
best pitcher in the 18-year<br />
history of Griffin baseball.<br />
With a complete game,<br />
4-2 victory over host Providence<br />
on April 15, Kirschsieper<br />
picked up his 17th<br />
victory as a Griffin varsity<br />
pitcher. With at least<br />
a month left in the season,<br />
the senior left-hander<br />
should certainly add to that<br />
total, too.<br />
With his victory to open<br />
last week, Kirschsieper<br />
improved to 6-0 so far this<br />
season. He was 10-2 last<br />
year and also picked up a<br />
varsity victory as a sophomore.<br />
Against Providence, a<br />
possible sectional opponent,<br />
Kirschsieper fired<br />
68 of his 101 pitches for<br />
strikes. He struck out seven,<br />
walked none and gave<br />
up his first earned run of the<br />
season, so his ERA in 34<br />
innings rose to 0.21. As of<br />
the end of the game against<br />
the Celtics, the University<br />
of Illinois recruit had 38<br />
strikeouts on the season.<br />
“I knew a lot of guys<br />
on that team, and I know<br />
how to approach them,”<br />
Kirschseiper said. “But<br />
they know what’s coming,<br />
too. Some of the pitches<br />
I didn’t locate well. But<br />
I was just trying to stay<br />
ahead in the count.<br />
Providence junior Brendan Slota, of Homer Glen, waits<br />
for a pitch during the April 15 game against Lincoln-<br />
Way East. Steve Millar/22nd Century Media<br />
“I would mix in my<br />
change-up, move the ball<br />
in-and-out with some offspeed<br />
stuff. That’s what<br />
I’ve done all season.”<br />
Even with their ace on<br />
the mound, the Griffins<br />
(14-3) found themselves<br />
in a 2-2 tie in the top of<br />
the seventh. With one out,<br />
senior shortstop Ryan Ritter<br />
(1-for-3, R) was hit in<br />
the head by a pitch. Junior<br />
catcher Ryan Mcoy (1-for-<br />
3) also looked like he was<br />
hit by a pitch in the foot.<br />
But in a strange ruling, the<br />
umpires said he intentionally<br />
kicked the ball. So still<br />
at-bat, McCoy flew out to<br />
right.<br />
Senior centerfielder Tyler<br />
Safarik (1-for-3, run) was<br />
then hit by a pitch for real<br />
as another breaking ball got<br />
away and also plunked him<br />
in the head. That brought<br />
a Celtics pitching change<br />
and also brought senior first<br />
baseman Casey Schilf to the<br />
plate. The senior first baseman<br />
took a strike and then<br />
drilled a two-run double to<br />
right-center for what proved<br />
to be the winning runs.<br />
“I was looking for something<br />
early; I didn’t want to<br />
get deep in the count,” said<br />
Schilf, who was 1-for-3<br />
with 3 RBI. “I just wanted<br />
to hopefully hit something<br />
hard. In my earlier at-bats, I<br />
didn’t get the result I wanted.<br />
I was just looking early<br />
in the count to hit it hard<br />
somewhere, and luckily it<br />
found a hole.<br />
“It was good to come<br />
back from a couple of losses<br />
in a row. Providence is a<br />
good team, and we wanted<br />
it.”<br />
Approaching the<br />
105-pitch limit, Kirschsieper<br />
retired the side in<br />
order in the bottom of the<br />
seventh on 10 pitches.<br />
That included a three-pitch<br />
strikeout for the second out.<br />
East, which entered the<br />
game on a two-game losing<br />
streak, scored a run in the<br />
top of the first. But it could<br />
have been a lot more, as the<br />
Griffins had the bases loaded<br />
with no outs. They did<br />
score on a sacrifice fly to<br />
center off the bat of Schilf.<br />
That scored senior third<br />
baseman Matt Watson, who<br />
had walked to lead off the<br />
game.<br />
With the game tied 1-1,<br />
East retook the lead in the<br />
fourth. Senior left fielder<br />
Joey Selvaggio (1-for-3)<br />
smashed an RBI double<br />
down the first base line to<br />
score senior pinch hitter<br />
Jack Bertolani. Junior right<br />
fielder Cael Geijer (1-for-4)<br />
and junior second baseman<br />
TJ DeVies (1-for-2, walk)<br />
also had hits for the Griffins,<br />
who had seven hits,<br />
three walks and two reach<br />
on hit by pitches while only<br />
striking out three times<br />
against a trio of Providence<br />
pitchers.<br />
The Celtics scored their<br />
first run in the bottom of the<br />
third. Sophomore shortstop<br />
Ryan O’Neil had a one-out<br />
double to left center, went<br />
to third on a two-out wild<br />
pitch and scored when<br />
senior right fielder Josh<br />
Mrozek (1-for-3) reached<br />
on the second of East’s<br />
two errors. The Celtics tied<br />
the game in the fifth when<br />
O’Neil (2-for-2, run, RBI)<br />
had an RBI double down<br />
the left-field line. That<br />
scored junior Luke Pell<br />
(1-for-3, run), who had a<br />
two-out single to left. Junior<br />
second baseman Jake<br />
Mucha (1-for-3) and junior<br />
catcher Gavin Delrose (1-<br />
for-3, double) also added<br />
hits for Providence.<br />
“I think we played well,”<br />
Providence coach Mark<br />
Smith said. “We were facing<br />
a tough pitcher, it’s a<br />
neighborhood rivalry and<br />
I’m not disappointed in<br />
the way we played. We’ve<br />
battled illness and injury.<br />
We had [senior center fielder]<br />
Alex Helmin was back<br />
for the first time in three<br />
weeks, and Josh Mrozek<br />
was back for the first time<br />
in a week. We still have [senior<br />
catcher] Tyler Struck<br />
out with a shoulder strain.<br />
“We’re a young team,<br />
and we made some big<br />
plays. We’ve pitched well<br />
and played some great defense.<br />
We just have to get<br />
some key hits.”<br />
Providence rebounded<br />
the next day, April 16, with<br />
a much-needed 6-5 win<br />
over host Mount Carmel.<br />
Junior right fielder Ryan<br />
Manikowski (3-for-4, run)<br />
led a 10-hit team day for<br />
the Celtics, who improved<br />
to 9-7 overall and 2-3 in the<br />
Catholic League. Senior<br />
center fielder Alex Helmin<br />
(2-for-4, 4 RBI) had tworun<br />
singles in both the first<br />
and second innings, and<br />
Vitas vaporized a two-run<br />
home run to left in the fifth<br />
for a 6-2 lead.<br />
Mount Carmel (9-9),<br />
which won the 2013 Class<br />
4A state title and lost to<br />
Providence 6-5 in 8 innings<br />
in the 2015 state championship<br />
game, scored single<br />
runs in the fifth, sixth and<br />
seventh, but the comeback<br />
fell short, as a pop-up ended<br />
the game.<br />
LISTEN UP<br />
“We are grateful for the opportunity to continue to<br />
learn and get better over the last 14 games of our<br />
season as we prep for a deep playoff run.”<br />
Andy Satunas — LTHS baseball coach, after the loss<br />
to Lincoln-Way East<br />
Tune In<br />
Baseball<br />
Home battle — 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 26, vs. Homewood-Flossmoor<br />
• The Porters host another key conference matchup when the<br />
Vikings come to town.<br />
Index<br />
34 - This Week In<br />
34 - Athlete of the Week<br />
FASTBREAK is compiled by Editor Thomas<br />
Czaja, tom@homerhorizon.com.