Baseball: Lyons beats Mount Carmel
By Mike Clark mclark@suntimes.com June 2, 2012 10:52PM
Updated: August 2, 2012 1:16AM
With Jason Gasser still unavailable to throw, Mount Carmel was a little thin on pitching depth Saturday.
Defending Class 4A state champ Lyons made the Caravan pay, jumping ahead by five runs in the top of the first and cruising to a 9-1 win in the title game of the Mount Carmel Sectional at Haggerty Field.
The Lions (25-12-1) jumped on Mount Carmel starter Tyler Laurisch (10-4) for five runs on six hits in the top of the first. Laurisch had thrown 20 pitches in relief to nail down the Caravan’s semifinal win over St. Rita on Friday. That game had been postponed because of rain on Thursday.
“We’re just asking so much of Tyler,” Mount Carmel coach Brian Hurry said. “How many hours ago he came in and threw two innings against St. Rita?
“That’s on the coaches. It was a decision I had to make to put Tyler out there on not full rest.”
Gasser was 8-0 for the Caravan with an ERA of below 2.00, according to Hurrry. But although he’s been able to play center, he has not pitched in about three weeks because of elbow soreness.
“We didn’t want to make an issue of it ... but that has set us back,” Hurry said.
In any case, the early deficit proved way too big for the Caravan (32-6) to overcome against Lyons righty Keith Lehmann (9-2). By the time Mount Carmel got its first baserunner against the junior on Laurisch’s one-out single in the fourth, Lyons was up 8-0.
“They jumped on us early and we could just never get out of that hole,” Hurry said. “We were scrambling to get out. Against a tough pitcher like they have, it’s even tougher.”
Lehmann finished with a five-hitter, striking out five and walking none.
“I knew they were a very good team,” he said of the Caravan. “I was obviously a little nervous but our guys played well. The first inning was a nice little cushion so I got to settle down on the mound.”
Matt Robare (2-for-2, double, two RBI) had an RBI double in the first, while Lehmann, Brad Taylor and Stewart Nelson had run-scoring singles. Mike Lorenz also drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.
The Caravan scored its only run in the fourth when Laurisch singled, moved to third on Justin Gonzalez’s double and scored on Sam Kint’s sacrifice fly.
