Baseball: Oak Lawn Uses Five-Run Fifth to Top Marian Catholic

Touching All the Bases: Marian Catholic led 2-1 heading into the top of the fifth inning and then the bottom fell out in a 6-2 loss to Oak Lawn on Friday in a semifinal game at the Class 4A St. Laurence Regional. A team that has been plagued with poor fielding all season long picked a bad time to play some of its worst ball. Marian Catholic committed five errors in the inning and allowed Oak Lawn to score five runs.

Tony Swistek reached on an error. After a two-strike sacrifice bunt by Steve Childers moved Swistek to second, Oak Lawn looked to tie the game. But it did a whole lot more than that. The next six Oak Lawn hitters reached base, putting the game out of reach. Oak Lawn starting pitcher Bob Kametas was solid, especially after getting the big lead. 

Patch’s MVP: Bob Kametas, Oak Lawn. Kametas, just a sophomore, went the distance, giving up two unearned runs on two hits while striking out. He improved to 6-2. Kametas also was clutch at the plate, getting a hit and driving in a run.

Oak Lawn Leaders: Alex Krupa went 2-for-4 with a single and a triple and scored two runs.

Marian Catholic Leaders: Marian Catholic registered just two hits, one by Brett Lilek and the other by Richard Cervantes.  Starter Robert Nunn was terrific and deserved a better fate. He gave up four hits while striking out six in seven innings.

Quotable I: “(Kametas) was tremendous, getting ahead of most hitters,” Oak Lawn coach Brian Clifton said. “He is only a sophomore, but he has pitched in all of our big games this season.”

Quotable II: “I told the guys whoever plays defense is going to win the game and we did not do that,” Marian Catholic coach Phil Wail said.

Team Records: Oak Lawn improved to 20-14, while Marian Catholic finished with an 18-18 record.

What’s next: Oak Lawn looks to win its first regional title at noon Saturday against St. Laurence at the St. Laurence Regional final.