Palatine coach Bill Koller has had some outstanding play in the playoffs from Jeff Forsberg and Bill Lange, right when almost everyone had written his team off. Koller`s squad had been ranked among The Tribune`s top 10 teams most of the season, but a six-game losing streak near the end of the year left Palatine fourth in the Mid-Suburban League North with a 7-9 record, well behind first-place Barrington and out of the minds of the poll`s voters. ”We had a phenomenal year and one bad week where everything wrong,” said Koller. ”Prior to and after that streak, where we got no pitching and defense, the kids played great ball. They`re gutty kids. We`ve never been to a sectional in 100 years of Palatine and with graduation on Sunday, and Barrington on Monday, it`s a pretty exciting couple of days for our guys.” Palatine stole six bases Saturday in its 10-6 victory over Freeport.
– In the seven sectional semifinals Saturday, the team with the worse record won on only 4 of 14 occasions. Two of those teams, however, were Highland Park and Glenbrook South, which will meet Monday in the Niles West sectional.
– Of the 14 Catholic League teams, six: Fenwick, Loyola, St. Rita, Leo, St. Laurence and De La Salle received enough votes during the season in The Tribune`s poll of coaches for the area`s top teams. It was seen as a relatively strong and balanced league this year. Only Fenwick, the No. 6 team in the final regular season poll, made it past the regionals and the Friars were ousted by Highland Park 6-2 in the sectional semifinals. Fenwick coach Dave Hogan denied that the Friars were thinking ahead to a much anticipated sectional final against neighborhood rival Oak Park, which eventually bit the dust against Glenbrook South in the second game at Niles West. ”No, all week long the kids were talking Highland Park, not Oak Park,” said Hogan. ”I wish I had an explanation for this. Today we were just mentally flat. Instead of being the agressor, we were the agressee. I think we were pressing a bit, and that`s not our nature. What I feel the worst about is that we got this far and had to end it all on a sour note.”
– Said Highland Park coach Jim Troy on the underdog Giants facing Fenwick ace Jason Abramavicius Saturday: ”We`ve won 10 of 11 and have been playing steady ball. We`re in awe of no one. We read in the papers that this kid is 6- foot-4 and blah, blah, blah. It doesn`t mean anything to them.”
Abramavicius threw 134 pitches, gave up 8 hits, 6 walks and struck out 6 Saturday in losing only his third game in 16 decisions. In his previous outing against Morton, Abramavicius tossed his 7th shutout of the year and didn`t let a runner get past second base. In fact, going into the Highland Park game, he had allowed only one run in 21 innings. ”I wasn`t comfortable at all today,” said Abramavicius. ”We were lucky to not get blown away with all those jams we got into. I don`t know why, I guess I just picked the wrong time to have a bad game.”
– Oak Park trailed Glenbrook South 2-1 with one out and Matt Marino on first with a walk in the bottom of the seventh of Saturday`s Niles West sectional semifinal, when Huskies coach Jack Kaiser had Marino attempt to steal second. Although the throw from Glenbrook South catcher Tom Cuggino was high, shortstop Eric Nelson got the tag down in time to nail Marino and end Oak Park`s last threat. Two pitches later, pinch-hitter Kris Amen was called out on strikes to end Oak Park`s season. Was Titans coach Jeff Aaron surprised Kaiser sent Marino? ”No,” he answered matter-of-factly. ”I was more surprised we threw him out. We did look vulnerable to stolen bases.” Kaiser said the Titans simply deserved to win the game. ”You`ve got to give their kids a lot of credit,” he said. ”Their kid threw strikes and got ahead on us; he made us swing at pitches we didn`t want to swing at. We only had two strikeouts, but when we hit it, it was right to `em. They made some tough plays and certainly didn`t give anything to us.” Sean Lawrence ends his high school career with a 4-1 record in his injury-marred senior year, and will attend Texas A&M this fall.
– St. Rita catcher Jack Johnson has been named the Gatorade Circle of Champions Illinois High School Baseball Player of the Year. He becomes eligible to win both Regional and National Player of the Year honors.
– St. Charles will play host to an all-star double-header between players from the Fox Valley Conference and the Upstate Eight Conference on June 18. Games will be at 10 a.m. Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for students with I.D.
SOFTBALL
It`s not easy to be an athlete this time of year. Especially when you`ve got to juggle graduation exercises with a sectional tournament semifinal three hours later. That`s what happened to Sandburg`s players Saturday when they received their diplomas during a 10 a.m. ceremony in Orland Park, then hustled to South Holland in time to beat Bradley-Bourbonnais 10-2 in a 1 p.m. semifinal at Thornwood. Guess where their minds were. ”The game`s a lot more exciting,” said pitcher Michelle Warren. ”We were all nervous during the graduation. We all went running off the field afterwards trying to rip off our caps and gowns. We had our uniforms on underneath.” ”We were ready to play,” added third baseman Dawn Wiktor, whose 3-run double was the game-winning hit. ”We were all looking forward to the game more than
graduation.”
– Not all of Sandburg`s starters were worried about graduation. Of the infielders, only Wiktor took home a diploma. Second baseman Dawn Klutcharch, whose twin sister, Tracy, starts in center field, is a junior. First baseman Jenny McGuinness is a sophomore, and shortstop Missy Kies, who will probably double as the Eagles` point guard during basketball season, is a freshman.
– Sandburg`s opponent in Monday`s sectional title game is St. Francis de Sales, a 5-4 winner over No. 1-ranked Thornwood on Saturday. Thornwood may be down, but the Thunderbirds are anything but out. They`ve got a good nucleus returning for 1989, led by second baseman Jane Marzke, third baseman Debbie Urbianco and designated hitter Michelle Rucker. In addition, freshman first baseman Michelle Venturella showed great promise after she was summoned late in the season to replace injured senior Wendy Orloff. Saturday, she had a triple in three at-bats and made a sparkling defensive play to prevent a de Sales run from scoring.
– All during Saturday`s game, St. Francis de Sales second baseman Jennifer Nardi was hoping somebody would hit a ground ball in her direction with a runner on first. Her wish was granted in the seventh with two on and one out when pinch-hitter Tracy Gaspardo smacked a two-hopper straight at her. Nardi, who lives in South Holland, where Thornwood is located, scooped it up, tagged runner Carrie Rauwolf and fired to first to complete the game-ending double play. ”I was hoping for that the whole game. I knew I could turn that double play like that,” Nardi said. ”I was lucky enough to get that ball hit right at me, and it worked.”
– In a day of upsets, No. 2-ranked Morton also lost, falling to Maine South 5-3 in a semifinal at Morton. It was the final game for Morton coach Jim Kulawiak, a victim of staff cutbacks. He leaves quite a record. In the three seasons since Morton East and Morton West merged, the school was 102-8-1. That included the 1986 Class AA state championship and a 46-game winning streak.
”It`s time to go on to something else,” said Kulawiak, who has taught three years at Morton in physical education and has coached there 11 years.
”Life goes on. I`d love to stay in coaching, but no one seems to be interested. I`ve got to go on to something else.”
– Maine South and Morton have met four consecutive years in state tournament play. Maine South is 3-1, with Morton`s only victory coming in 1986, when it won the Class AA state title.
– Maine South will meet York in the sectional finals Monday. York, which defeated Schaumburg 6-1 Saturday, was playing under a handicap. Six regulars went to the prom Friday night. ”You`re always concerned about the prom,”
said York coach Tom Babyar. ”Fortunately, it was a late start, so the girls got to sleep in. The nice thing about it was Jerry Lombardo, my assistant, was in charge of the prom, so he kept an eye on them.”
– Schaumburg`s loss wasn`t so tough to take, considering the young Saxons started tournament play with an 11-13 record. ”We`ve been building for four years,” said Schaumburg coach Kay Winkelhake, who loses just two regulars.
”I think we have turned the corner. This will help the school. Now we`ll be able to get the better athletes out.”
– The S/A All-Star Softball Camp will have two sessions this summer, June 12-16 and 19-23. A camp profile of all participants will be distributed to colleges. For more information, write to 2201 McFarlane, Joliet, 60435, or call Ed Serdar at 815-436-3637 or Frank Aguilar at 815-744-6745.
BASKETBALL
Purdue Calumet in Hammond has two openings in its summer boys` high school basketball league. Call John Friend or Larry Liddle at 219-989-2540 for information.
– The Weber basketball camp is June 15-26 and June 29-July 10 for boys entering 5th through 8th grades and June 29-July 10 for 9th graders. Contact coach John Bonk at 637-7500 for more information.
– The College of Du Page`s Don Klaas Basketball Camp will be June 20-24 for boys 10 through 14 and June 27-July 1 for boys 10 through 14 and girls 12 through 16. Fee is $50 ($85 for boys attending both sessions). For information, call Klaas at 858-2800, ext. 2466 or 2365.
– The Bill Probst Basketball Camp at Harper College is for girls and boys in grades 5 through 12. There is a June 20-30 camp ($100 fee) and a July 11-14 session ($50 fee). For more information, call 397-3000, ext. 2466.
– St. Ignatius is offering a basketball camp for boys in 6th through 8th grades June 20-24 and June 27-July 1. Cost is $60. Call 421-5900 (ext. 328) or 421-3558.
– St. Xavier College is offering basketball camps for boys and girls. Session I (ages 7-10) meets June 13-24 from 9 to 10:30 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. to noon. Session II (ages 11-13) meets June 27-July 8 (same time as Session I). Session III for girls meets July 11-22 as follows: ages 7-10, 9-10:30 a.m.;
ages 11-14, 10:30 a.m-noon; ages 15-17, noon-1:30 p.m. Call 779-3300, ext. 230 or 309.
– Scott Skiles of the Indiana Pacers is conducting a basketball camp for boys 8-17. Sessions are June 12-17 and June 19-24 at the Midwest Sports Complex, seven miles west of Plymouth, Ind. Cost is $235 for overnight campers and $185 for day campers. For information, call 655-1711 or 219-936-7529.
MISCELLANEOUS
Homewood-Flossmoor cross country coach Ted Van Dorn will become the principal at Reavis this fall. The 37-year-old Van Dorn spent 13 years as H-F cross country coach. He compiled a 188-20 dual-meet record and took six teams to the state meet. He also spent eight years as head track coach. Van Dorn, who has been director of instruction for math and summer school principal at H-F, is a graduate of East Leyden and Cornell College with masters and doctorate degrees from Northwestern. ”I`m really looking forward to it,” he said. ”At age 37, you don`t always get a break like this. It will be a challenge. I`ll still be around cross country and track, though.”
– Lewis University will conduct baseball and softball camps June 13-17. The camps will have three two-hour sessions-ages 6-9 at 8:30 a.m.; ages 10-13 at 11 a.m. and ages 14-18 at 1:30 p.m. For information, call 815-838-0500, ext. 255.
