Crestwood, IL-(ENEWSPF)- A seven-run outburst put Marian Catholic hurler Jordan Smevoll on cruise control and the sophomore finished a four-hit shutout to lead Marian Catholic to its second-ever IHSA State Finals appearance with a 10-0 decision over Solorio Academy on Monday at Standard Bank Stadium in Crestwood.
The Spartans (23-14) will take on Champaign Central/Mascoutah at 10 a.m. Friday in a state semifinal contest at Joliet’s Slammers Stadium.
Wyell Woods (two RBI, steal) and Mark DiLuia each went 2-for-3 to pace the Marian offense, the latter singling home Dan Gutierrez (three runs) in the first frame for the only run the Spartans would need. In the third-inning onslaught, Marian got RBI from Woods, Nick Bledsoe, Angelo Cantelo, A.J. Anderson, Sean Taylor and Pierce Jones.
Woods singled home Gutierrez with the slaughter-rule clinching run in the sixth, as Marian outhit Solorio, 9-4. Smevoll concluded his gem with five strikeouts.
In Marian Catholic’s lone other IHSA State Finals, the Spartans topped LaSalle-Peru for the 3A crown in 2012. ESCC foe Nazareth was a semifinal victim and the ESCC’s Saint Viator looms as a potential title-game combatant this year. Marian has won five straight.
The Spartans scored one run in the first, seven runs in the third, one in the fifth and sixth in a powerful display of hitting and solid base running.
Marian Catholic High School is a Catholic, coeducational, college preparatory high school within the Dominican tradition of study, prayer, community, and preaching. Marian Catholic students seek truth, exhibit personal responsibility, cultivate their individual talents, and demonstrate ethical leadership and Christian service.
