Seeking some pitching depth for his sixth-ranked Thornwood Thunderbirds, coach John Dunlop decided Tuesday was the time to start Jay Leggero, a lefty who had pitched only one inning of varsity baseball this season.
“He tore up his knee in football and wears a brace,” said Dunlop of Thornwood’s quarterback. “He said he felt he would be able to pitch.”
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“I was concerned about my control,” said Leggero. “That’s been my problem before. So I just tried to throw strikes.”
His control was near-perfect. So was his debut as a starter. He improved Thornwood’s record to 10-4 with a one-hit, 5-0 victory over Rich East (3-9). Kendal Allen led off the seventh with a clean single to spoil the no-hitter. Leggero needed only 65 pitches, missing the strike zone on only 26 of them in the briskly played 1-hour-15-minute game.
Leggero faced only one more than the minimum 21 batters. He issued his only walk to Rhett Friedericks in the third and then picked him off.
“I was aware of the no-hitter,” said Leggero. “I wasn’t happy when he made the hit, but I wasn’t going to pout. We won. That’s most important. The knee felt good. I worked hard in the off-season, and the trainer really helped me.”
– Bill Jauss
Stevenson 4, Warren 1: Peter Ogilvie struck out 14 and Jeff Skibitsky went 3 for 3 with an RBI triple to lead the third-ranked Patriots (13-2) in the North Suburban.
Lockport 6, Oak Forest 5: No. 4 Lockport trailed 5-3 with two outs in the sixth before Ken Tondini hit a three-run homer for the Porters (11-2). Jeff Blaesing and Vince Serafini both had three hits for the victors.
Andrew 6, Bolingbrook 3: Nick Trzesniak went 2 for 4 with a double and a game-winning three-run home run to lift No. 5 Andrew (13-1).
Argo 12, St. Francis de Sales 11: Brad Gilman scored on Mike Fries’ sacrifice fly in the seventh to lift Argo (10-9). Gilman doubled, tripled, homered and drove in four runs.
Joliet Catholic 4, St. Rita 3: With his team down 2-1 in the last of the sixth, Aaron Capista singled home two runs to put Joliet Catholic (10-4) ahead for good.
Kankakee 7, Bloom 1: Tony Sykes’ fourth-inning homer paced Kankakee (9-3). Justin Schroeder went the distance, striking out 11.
Thornton Fractional South 5, Eisenhower 4: In the seventh, Chris Richter tripled in the tying run and scored the game-winner on Trent Jensen’s single to keep T.F. South (12-1, 3-0) unbeaten in the SICA Central.
Tinley Park 11, Thornton Fractional North 1: Ray Schmeski singled, doubled, tripled and knocked in six runs for Tinley Park (5-10, 1-2) in the SICA Central. Schmeski has nine hits in his last 12 at-bats.
SOFTBALL
Morris 4, Minooka 1: No. 5 Morris (11-2, 7-0) won in the Suburban Prairie Red behind Kim Mackinson, who struck out 11. Amy Barr had two hits for the winners.
Crete-Monee 12, Homewood-Flossmoor 2: Michelle Weber (three RBIs) singled twice and homered and Leah Santori went 3 for 5 as No. 10 Crete-Monee (13-1) won its 12th straight, the Warriors’ best start ever.
Bishop McNamara 11, Herscher 7: Shari Sowell went 2 for 3 and drove in four runs for Bishop McNamara (9-5).
Coal City 13, Wilmington 3: Kelly Cleek (1-0) earned the victory and went 4 for 4 with two RBIs for the Coalers (9-2, 4-0) in the Interstate Eight.
Illiana Christian 8, Chicago Christian 6: Jessica Vanderlaan got the win in the Private School League, striking out eight, and Teri Schultz hit a two-run homer for Illiana (10-1, 5-0).
Lemont 16, Elmwood Park 2: Kirsta Ahlgren (four RBIs) tripled and homered for Lemont (10-3, 4-3 Suburban Prairie White).
Lincoln-Way 7, Providence 0: Autumn Wendler (6-3) allowed just two hits in the non-conference victory for Lincoln-Way (8-7).
St. Francis de Sales 14, Lourdes 3: Melissa Wilocki and Dominic Carillo each had grand slams in top of the fifth inning for St. Francis de Sales (13-6).
Sandburg 6, Richards 5: Sandburg (8-6) won in the 10th when Jill Kozeluh drove in Katy Otto.
Sandwich 4, Plano 2: Beth Boss struck out 16, and Sandwich (6-9) took advantage of seven errors to prevail.
Thornwood 9, Rich East 0: Stephanie Wiedeman threw a three-hitter for Thornwood (7-3). Joleen Klomp and Katie Biesbore each had two hits and two RBIs for the Thunderbirds.
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SOCCER
Homewood-Flossmoor 7, Bremen 0: Gina Napoli (two goals, three assists), Amanda Townsend (two goals) and Debbie Liang (goal, three assists) sparked H-F (4-0, 4-0) in the SICA East.
Rich East 11, Rich Central 2: Sara Figiel and AlainaJasinevicius each scored three goals to help Rich East (5-3, 3-1), which led 7-1 at the half in the SICA Central.
Stagg 2, Oak Forest 0: Genny Himler and Ali Pozulp each scored for Stagg (7-3, 4-1 SICA West).
VOLLEYBALL
Providence d. St. Laurence 15-1, 15-9: No. 6 Providence (10-1, 6-0) used five kills from Joe Gustafson to cruise in the Catholic League.
Brother Rice d. Mt. Carmel 15-11, 3-15, 15-12: Andy Neberieza’s 14 kills sparked the Crusaders (9-2-2, 5-1 Catholic League).
Stagg d. Thornton Fractional North 15-1, 15-10: Jason Rempert put away eight kills to lead the Chargers (8-3, 4-0) in the SICA North.