Oakton Baseball to Host NJCAA Region IV Tournament as Top Seed Starting May 11
(May 7, 2018) By sweeping Illinois Valley Community College by the scores of 9-1 and 13-4 on its home field in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region IV Sectionals on May 5, Oakton Community College’s baseball team advanced to the NJCAA Region IV Championship. The top-seeded Owls will host the next round of the tournament Friday through Sunday, May 11-13, at the Des Plaines campus, 1600 E. Golf Road.
With the most recent wins, Oakton (35-15) will compete in the double-elimination tournament, along with Joliet Junior College (30-21), Elgin Community College (26-18) and Rock Valley Community College (31-20). The Owls will entertain Joliet at noon (Game 1) Friday, May 11, and Elgin will face off in against Rock Valley (Game 2) at 3 p.m. Depending on the outcomes, contests on Saturday, May 12 are scheduled at 9:30 a.m. (Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser), 12:30 p.m. (Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner) and 3:30 p.m. (Game 5: Game 4 loser vs. Game 3 winner). The championship will be decided on Sunday, May 13 at noon (Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner) and 3 p.m., if necessary. The winner will advance to NJCAA District B Championship, scheduled May 19-20 at the site of the Region XII winner. That victor would represent the district in the 2018 NJCAA Division III Baseball World Series, May 26-30/31, at Pioneer Park in Greenville, Tennessee.
To get to the Region IV Championship, the Owls starting pitching stymied the Eagles. In game one, sophomore Alexander Crinigan (Hampshire, Hampshire High School) pitched a gem to improve to 8-2 on the season. He allowed no earned runs over eight innings while fanning 11 and surrendering six hits. In the second contest, Tommy Gertner (Northbrook, Glenbrook North High School) upped his record to 7-1 by pitching seven innings, striking out seven and giving up two earned runs. Offensively, first baseman Dan Sullivan (Palatine, Saint Viator High School) provided plenty of offense tallying nine RBI (including two homers) in the sweep.
“Our team was focused and clicked on all cylinders against Illinois Valley,” Owls head coach Bill Fratto said. “In the playoffs, we rose to the occasion, and I couldn’t be happier the way the team took control.”
Oakton already holds victories over Rock Valley and Elgin during the regular season but has not faced the Wolves during the 2018 campaign.
“We’ve beaten some good teams during the season and have a lot of confidence going into Friday,” Fratto said. “We’ll be ready to compete and keep our momentum going. This has been an unbelievable year so far and we want to keep going as far as we can. I’m excited about the possibilities and hope to bring a championship to Oakton.”
