One bad inning wasn’t enough to keep T.J. Laurisch, Jeff Boehm and their Mount Carmel teammates down.
Laurisch overcame a five-run second inning and Boehm hit a tie-breaking two-run homer in the top of the sixth Monday as Mount Carmel outlasted Lincoln-Way East 9-7 in the 4A Crestwood Supersectional at Standard Bank Stadium.
Despite committing four errors, the Caravan (32-7) rallied from deficits of 5-3 and 7-6 to set up a showdown with Lyons in a state semifinal Friday in Joliet.
“You’ve got to have a short memory as a pitcher,” Laurisch said. “The first couple innings I didn’t have my best stuff. You can’t do anything about it. I came in, threw a rag over myself to cool down and started taking control.”
Boehm, whose solo home run broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning of Mount Carmel’s 3-2 win over Oak Park in a sectional final Saturday, singled and scored in the third and fifth before coming up with one on and one out in the sixth.
The Kentucky-bound lefty, a four-year starter, turned on a fastball and easily cleared the right-field fence to score Jerry Houston in front of him and give Mount Carmel a 9-7 lead.
“I’ve been doing this since my freshman year, and I’ve played with a lot of leaders who taught me how to be a leader,” Boehm said. “When I hit that ball, it brought the whole team up. It seemed like T.J. was dealing better than he was in the first, second and third innings. He started hitting his spots, getting ahead and working the curveball.
Laurisch (8-2) actually started settling down an inning earlier.
Four of the six hits the junior right-hander allowed Lincoln-Way East (26-12) came in the second. He rebounded after costing himself two runs with a throwing error in the fourth.
He retired the final nine batters and 11 of the last 12, recording all five of his strikeouts in the final three innings.
Player of the game:
T.J. Laurisch, Mount Carmel, CG, 6 H, 5 SO, 1 BB; 2 hits, RBI.
Key performers:
Mount Carmel — Jeff Boehm, 3 hits, HR, 2 RBIs, 3 runs. Lincoln-Way East — Zach Jones, 2-run HR.
Next:
4A semifinal — Mount Carmel vs. Lyons, 5 p.m. Friday, Silver Cross Field, Joliet.
