February 07, 2025
Baseball | Kane County Chronicle
Baseball

St. Francis baseball surges to 3A supersectional

By DAN HOWELL

St. Francis' Jake Gorski beats a tag from Richmond-Burton's Casey Williams during the sixth inning of Saturday's 3A Grayslake Central Sectional title game, won by the Spartans, 6-2. (Candace H)

GRAYSLAKE – What goes around, comes around –after Richmond-Burton starter E.J. Trapino threw a no-hitter in the semifinal of the IHSA Class 3A Grayslake Central Sectional, St. Francis almost matched it in the final.

Spartans senior starter Jack Roback held the Rockets to one hit through five innings, reliever Jack Petrando pitched the final two innings without yielding a hit, and a pair of three-run innings eased St. Francis to the sectional title, winning 6-2.

The Spartans (25-12) will take on Nazareth Academy at the North Central Supersectional at 4:30 p.m. Monday.

"This is the first time in the history of our school that we've been in the supersectional," St. Francis coach Rich Janor said. "It couldn't have happened with a better group. Great captains, great leadership. This is big for our program."

Roback (8-1) added to his mound effort by going 2-for-3 at the dish, including a two-RBI triple in the second to get the scoring started for the Spartans.

"I just came with a good mindset to the game," Roback said. "I just needed to do whatever I could for the team to win, whether it be on the mound or at the plate. I just happened to hit well and pitch well on the same day."

R-B scored one unearned run in the fifth as Parker Johnston reached on an error and eventually scored on a fielders choice by Kevin Kurowski. R-B's first and only hit came in the same inning as Matt Malecki hit a bloop single but was stranded.

Roback pitched to one batter in the sixth, giving up his fifth walk to Ryne Blanton who eventually came around to score on a groundout. Roback was done after 92 pitches and one earned run.

"We told our kids we thought we had to get five or six runs to win this game," R-B coach Mike Giese said. "They were better than us today and that's the bottom line."

R-B junior starter Ray Wojciechowski (9-2) gave up two in the second on Roback's triple. His courtesy runner Jake Gorski scored on a suicide squeeze by Preston Preusser.

He gave up three more in the fifth. A walk to Joel Birch and an error allowed KC Zimmerman to reach. RBIs from Eric Stout on a single, a sacrifice fly by Petrando and a single by Lonnie Hicks made it 6-0.

"We've come a long way. Two years ago we were like 12-24 so it's big for us and the program," Wojciechowski said. "Just for the seniors, I know it's tough to lose but we had a good year."

St. Francis No. 1 starter and Butler recruit Eric Stout will get the nod against Nazareth in the supersectional.

"In the playoffs we ride those two guys (Stout and Roback)," said Janor. "Obviously we take these games one game at a time and that's our philosophy. Overall we put it all together today."