Spartans capture summer league regional title

Playing four straight days during the hottest summer stretch in five years can wear out arms in a hurry.  So it was a good thing for Marian Catholic that even with ace lefty Brett Lilek off on the travel ball and showcase circuit, pitching was in good supply this week. 

Starter Mitch Weissenhofer nursed a lead into the sixth inning of Thursday’s Richards Regional final and Chris Molyneaux came in to get his second save in two days as the Spartans edged Mount Carmel 9-8 for the regional title.

Marian (15-9) advances to next week’s Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association’s Phil Lawler Classic, which serves as the unofficial summer high school state tournament. 

It was a statement win for the Spartans, who don’t have the pedigree of programs such as Mount Carmel, which was fourth in Class 4A this spring; Providence, this year’s 4A runner-up; or Joliet Catholic, which has won five state trophies and one championship since 2000. 

“This is my fourth summer and I’ve been trying to build something here,” said Spartans coach Phil Wail, a Marian grad. “No one thinks about Marian baseball. When you think of Catholic (powers), you think of Providence, you think of Joliet Catholic. We try to (tell players) that they can be in that (group), too. It’s not just a football and band school.” 

Players such as Weissenhofer, Molyneaux, left fielder Patrick Swanson, first baseman Pat Schmidt and shortstop Erik Callaghan did their part Thursday to help put Marian on the map.  Weissenhofer, making his first mound appearance of the week, held Mount Carmel (9-5-1) to four runs on seven hits through five innings before tiring in the heat, which approached 100 degrees.

He left after giving up hits to the first two batters he faced in the sixth and Mount Carmel kept up the pressure against reliever Regynold Johnson. Jerry Houston’s RBI single pulled the Caravan to within 9-5 and Frank Kelly followed with a two-run homer to make it 9-8.  In came Molyneaux, who retired the only two batters he faced Wednesday to save Marian’s 11-8 semifinal win over defending regional champ St. Laurence.

This time, the rising senior lefty retired six of the seven hitters he faced to earn another save. 

“(Wail) told me at the beginning to be ready if I had to go in,” Molyneaux said. “I went in and I threw strikes.”  “My plan in a perfect world was to wait till that seventh (inning) to get to their lefties,” Wail said. “Chris came in and picked up (Johnson). Any time you’re on a roll like this and you’re winning, guys are picking each other up the whole week.” 

Swanson and Schmidt led the 10-hit Marian attack. Swanson (3-for-4, run, RBI) was a fifth-inning groundout away from a second straight perfect day at the plate, while Schmidt was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI. Callaghan added a two-run homer in a five-run fourth that gave the Spartans a 9-3 lead. 

Kelly (2-for-3, HR, 3 RBI), Houston (2-for-4, 2 runs, RBI) and Josh Gaal (double, 2 RBI) led Mount Carmel. 

“We made too many errors (3) and we struck out too many times (9),” said Caravan coach Brian Hurrry, who nonetheless is looking forward to next spring when ailing mainstays such as staff ace T.J. Laurisch and power-hitting Sam Kint will be back in the lineup.