The picture for the upcoming playoffs brightened for No. 9 St. Charles East on Tuesday when Nick Prater, one of the Saints’ four left-handed starters, pitched an 8-0, two-hit, 10-strikeout victory over Streamwood.
St. Charles improved to 24-6 overall and 23-4 in the Upstate Eight. Prater (7-3) picked three runners off first base, struck out the side on nine pitches in the second inning and lowered his ERA to 0.79.
Geoff Blahnik shut out the Saints on one hit through six of the seven innings. But in the third the Saints scored all eight of their runs on five hits, including catcher Gabe Bauer’s two-run single and left fielder Richard Peel’s two-run double.
“After I had that lead I didn’t try to make the perfect pitch every time,” said Prater, who needed only 81 pitches in his complete game. “I just tried to throw strikes and let my defense do its work.”
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Lefties Tod Moore (9-1, 0.59 ERA) and Matt Reynolds (4-2) have joined Prater to form St. Charles’ big three this season. With the playoffs set to begin in two weeks, the Saints may receive a giant bonus.
Lefty Eric Jones, also a talented outfielder, is recovering from the shoulder injury that has sidelined him almost the entire season and is scheduled to return this weekend.
— Bill Jauss
Lyons Township 10, York 5: In the West Suburban Silver, Kevin Brandush went 4-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs for the No. 1 Lions (24-3, 12-3).
Maine South 4, Evanston 3: Mark Ori (6-0) struck out 12 and also scored the winning run for the No. 2 Hawks (16-5, 12-0) in the Central Suburban South.
New Trier 8, Niles West 0: The No. 6 Trevians (21-3, 11-1) won in the Central Suburban South behind Rob Anderson’s three RBIs.
Homewood-Flossmoor 4, Thornridge 2: Tony Steele went 3-for-4 with an RBI for the No. 8 Vikings (17-4, 5-1) in the SICA East.
Bradley-Bourbonnais 3, Rich East 2: Matt Brooks belted a three-run homer and Kyle Arthur struck out 11 for No. 10 Bradley (20-4, 5-0) in the SICA South.
Hinsdale Central 7, Downers Grove North 5: Adam Bozich scored the go-ahead run in the ninth for Hinsdale (19-6, 12-3) in the West Suburban Silver.
Marist 1, Marian Catholic 0: Nick Karko threw an eight-inning no-hitter as Marist (15-9, 7-5) won in the East Suburban Catholic.
Softball
Oak Park 3, Downers Grove North 0: Mary Kolbusz’s three-run double in the ninth gave the No. 2 Huskies (22-1, 9-0) the edge in the West Suburban Silver.
Lincoln-Way Central 4, Stagg 0: Winning pitcher Laura Severson helped her own cause with an RBI as No. 4 Central (21-2, 6-2) topped No. 7 Stagg (19-7, 3-5) in the SICA West.
Evergreen Park 1, Riverside-Brookfield 0: Amy Bachler’s RBI single with two outs in the seventh lifted the host Mustangs (19-6, 11-2) over Riverside-Brookfield (23-2, 8-1) in the Suburban Prairie White.
Oak Forest 2, Tinley Park 0: Megan Missaggia hurled a no-hitter with 11 strikeouts for the Bengals (14-9, 8-1) in the SICA Central.
Girls soccer
Evanston 3, Maine South 0: Goalkeeper Louisa Bigelow notched her 14th shutout for the top-ranked Wildkits (18-0-2, 8-0) in the Central Suburban South.
St. Charles East 3, Larkin 1: Kirstie Linkimer earned the shutout with three saves for the No. 2 Saints (15-2-3, 7-0-1) in the Upstate Eight.
Naperville Central 1, Wheaton Academy 0: Julie Baum’s goal was the difference for the No. 5 Redhawks (13-3-2).
New Trier 8, Waukegan 0: Nell Compernolle had one goal and one assist for the No. 6 Trevians (16-3-2, 6-1-1) in the Central Suburban South.
Neuqua Valley 10, Streamwood 0: Kiley Tirreno had two goals for No. 8 Neuqua (16-2-2, 6-2-1) in the Upstate Eight.
Libertyville 2, Stevenson 0: Joyce Kleinheinzand Ginny Graczyk scored the goals for the No. 9 Wildcats (14-2-3, 5-0) in the North Suburban Lake.
Lake Zurich 6, Dundee-Crown 0: Sarah Uyenishi’s hat trick paced the No. 10 Bears (13-3-3, 7-0) in the Fox Valley.
Boys volleyball
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Naperville Central d. West Aurora 13-15, 15-4, 15-2: The No. 3 Redhawks (25-3, 9-2) won in the DuPage Valley behind Ross Kimball’s 14 kills and two blocks.
Providence d. Oak Lawn 15-5, 15-7: Jason Ogrizovich’s 11 kills led the No. 7 Celtics (20-5).
Sandburg d. Lincoln-Way Central 15-7, 15-8: Chris Schulte had 11 kills for the No. 8 Eagles (27-6, 10-0) in the SICA West.
Marist d. Carmel 15-10, 15-12: Luke Schrieber had 30 assists for No. 9 Marist (20-3, 8-0) in the East Suburban Catholic.
Naperville North d. Glenbard North 15-10, 15-13: Matt Carnavale recorded 18 assists for the No. 10 Huskies (23-6, 9-2) in the DuPage Valley.
Chicago Latin d. De La Salle 2-15, 16-14, 15-11: Ari Silver set an IHSA record for aces in a single season as he recorded his 95th of the year, surpassing the old record of 89 set by Adam Toren of Loyola in 2000 and Troy Vidovic of Mt. Carmel in 2001.