The Triton College baseball team saw their season end in the Region 4 Division I championship game in a 12-3 loss to McHenry County College May 11 in Crystal Lake.
The No. 3 seeded Trojans worked their way out the losers' bracket, winning a pair of elimination games the previous day before running out of gas in the seventh inning of the title game as the top seeded Scots broke open a close contest with six runs.
Missed scoring opportunities the first four innings led to Triton's demise. The Trojans stranded seven base runners during that span.
Triton had the bases loaded with one out in the first and McHenry starter Lleyton Grubich got out of the jam with consecutive strikeouts.
After the Scots put three runs on the board in their half of the second, the Trojans touched Grubich with a pair of runs in the third on a two-run single from
Alex Chaltin to make it a 3-2 game. The Trojans had runners at corners with one and Grubich retired the next two Triton batters to limit the damage.
In the fourth,
Deeiby Garcia and
Keyber Rodriguez each reached on McHenry errors.
Logan Kraus laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third. However. Grubich got out trouble again by fielding a groundout and then the frame ended on a line out to second.
McHenry (43-11) put matters out of reach with nine unanswered runs and led 12-2 entering the ninth.
Tournament MVP Mark DiCicco came in relief in the fifth inning and did not allow a neither a hit or run until the final frame when Triton scored their third run on a
Jorgie Vazquez RBI single.
The Trojans (18-35) fought hard during an injury-plagued season to just make to the finals, defeating Olive-Harvey College 8-3 in their first elimination game May 10.
Jason Sullivan set the tone with a two-out grand slam homer over the fence in left to give Triton a quick 4-0 lead.
That was more than plenty as
Tanner Johnson,
Donny Tober and
Bobby Lane combined to no-hit the Panthers.
Ky Gregoire who caught the no-hitter drove in three runs for the Trojans.
Later that day, Triton avenged their opening loss of the tournament to South Suburban College, by eliminating their long-time rivals 2-1 in a classic game.
Nolan Larson pitched sensational for the Trojans, tossing eight shutout innings while striking out eight.
The Trojans scored an unearned run without a hit in the fifth. Sullivan walked and Gregoire was hit by a pitch. With one out, Triton pulled off a double steal and Sullivan would score on a
Gunnar Ryans groundout. Chaltin would provided a key insurance run in the eighth with an RBI single.
Tober was able to close things out in the ninth. But the Bulldogs (30-29) made Tober and Trojans sweat it out before Chaltin made a game-saving playing at short to throw out Evan Pearce to end the game and set up the meeting with McHenry for the championship.
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