Baseball notes: St. Viator’s Beyna, Buffalo Grove’s Kelly reach milestones

Terry Beyna picked up his 400th career head coaching win Tuesday as St. Viator knocked off Freeport 9-5 in Arlington Heights.

Beyna, who is in his third season as head coach of St. Viator, spent 20 seasons at Elk Grove before heading to coach the Lions. While at Elk Grove, Beyna won 354 games, including three MSL titles, five regional titles and a state appearance in 2006.

“When you coach with a guy like Kenny Grams you learn about perspective” said Beyna. “I feel like I have done this a long time, and it goes by fast. The demands on being a head coach are as much as they have ever been. But the joys of teaching a game like baseball still outweighs those demands.”

Beyna is 46-33 at Viator, with his team at 6-5 this season. That includes a spring trip to St. Petersburg, Fl., where the Lions went 3-2.

Winona State commit Brock Harrer leads the Lions with a batting average of .515 while junior Jonathan Tschanz is batting .433. Tschanz had a pair of doubles and drove in four runs in the Lions’ win on Tuesday. Brock Harer had two hits, including a double, and drove in two runs. Brandon Thomsen had a double and a triple and drove in a run while Jacob Oberwise pitched all 7 innings.

Barrington: The Broncos (5-2-1) are trying to find out who they are right now. Aidan Gryzlo had a huge game last week with a grand slam and a double. Will Renshaw has thrown 9 2/3 innings for the Broncs and has posted an ERA of 0.72 and a WHIP of 1.13.

Buffalo Grove: The Bison (2-7-1) have been road warriors. They also played in St. Petersburg where they went 1-3-1. They will continue to be on the road all season thanks to the construction on their new home field which will not be completed until after the season is over. Griffin Kelly, who is a four-year starter, picked up his 100th career hit and is batting .467. He is also the team’s top pitcher with 19 1/3 innings and 33 strikeouts.

Conant: The Cougars (6-2), who finished second in the state last year in 4A, are off to a solid start. Conant is led by Alex Martinez, who has two homers and is hitting .522. Franklin Kirchner is batting well with three homers and a .423 average with 14 1/3 innings pitched and 32 strikeouts. Arjun Patel is also hitting .423, while Max Tutt is at .422 and Jacob Szpiganowicz is batting .400. Connor Keho is 2-0 with 10 strikeouts.

Elk Grove: With four sophomores on the roster, the Grenadiers (1-5) are still looking to work some kinks out. Isaac Santowski is batting .500 and has an OPS of 1.071 while Denis Rangel is hitting .389. Four-year starter Myles Schwartz leads the staff with an ERA of 2.00.

Fremd: The Vikings (6-0-1) are off to the best start in Chris Piggott’s 23 seasons as head coach with victories over traditional state powers Huntley and New Trier and a tie with defending 3A champion Crystal Lake Central. Piggott, who was hoping his bats would come alive this year, has a lineup led by Cooper Nelson, who is hitting .391, Tyler Schader at .389, Chase Nelson and Vinny Panzino each at .353, and Johnny O’Brien and Caleb Yoon each at .348. The pitching staff of Will Graba, Jack Crihfield, Myles Minier and Robby Seifert have combined to fan 48 in 44 innings.

Hersey: The Huskies (7-01) are off to a fabulous start. Hersey, which is hitting .333 as a team and averaging 7 runs per game, had a swing through Missouri and Southern Illinois over spring break and went 4-0. Mikey Sokan is hitting .583, Charlie Arvanitis .500, Diego Garcia .483 and Chuck Meister .370 with two homers. The pitching staff of Riley Blackwell, Lincoln Causero, Bennett McNeill and Keegan Luxem have a combined 90 strikeouts in 57 innings and an ERA of 1.84.

Hoffman Estates: After beginning their season 1-8, the Hawks (3-8) have won their last two games by a combined score of 21-2. Leading the way for Hoffman is Derek Conjardi (.357), Colin Karecki (.346) and Luis Tobella (.333). Conjardi has also struck out 19 on the bump with an ERA of 3.45 while Adrian Bello has an ERA of 3.58. Freshmen Mason Walker and T.J. Bond have also played well for the Hawks.

Leyden: Sammy Calderon and Hassan Khrawish have been leading the Eagles (3-3) in the early going this season. Newcomers Julian Martinez and Angel Gutierrez have been surprises on the diamond for Leyden.

Maine East: The Demons are 2-4 with a pair of one-run losses. Jackson Slamowitz leads the way, batting .500, while Kam'ryn Thompson is batting .400. Adolfo Lopez is the leader on the bump with 8 innings pitched and 14 strikeouts. He also has yet to allow an earned run.

Maine South: The Hawks (4-5) have played a tough early season schedule and had some successes along the way. Constantine Coines has been a leader with his bat and his legs, hitting .444 and already has 8 stolen bases. Cole Mutchler leads a pitching staff that has an ERA of 3.20. Mutchler is 3-0 on the season with 16 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings and an ERA of 0.51.

Maine West: The Warriors (3-6) are off to a slower start due in part to their lack in depth. Maine West went 1-3 on their Arizona trip and are led offensively by Perish Smith (.462), Jimmy Bober (.409), Joey Bruno (.379) and Julian Delao (.333), who also leads the pitching staff with an ERA of 0.87. Ryan Duffy has 15 strikeouts in 7 innings pitched while Konrad Dudzik has fanned 12 in 12 innings.

Palatine: New head coach Brent Carroll has the Pirates (6-4) heading the right direction, winning four of their last five. The Pirates are living up to their name with 38 stolen bases. Toby Peterson leads the team in hitting with a .391 average and a homer. Carter Monroe is batting .346 with 13 runs scored and 6 stolen bases while Ian Sherman is hitting .345 with a home run. Peter Mulhern has thrown 18 1/3 innings and has 27 strikeouts and 1.14 ERA, Toby Peterson has fanned 26 in just 12 2/3 innings while Brandon Ziebell has struck out 11 and has an ERA of 1.20.

Prospect: In his final season as head coach, Ross Giusti has his Knights (4-2-1) battling hard again. Prospect, which is hitting .367 as a team with 60 runs scored, had a successful trip to St. Petersburg, Fla., where they went 3-1. John Bazula is hitting .577, while Matt Jackson is batting .533, Ken Munao .429, Matt Fouch .417 and Aiden Nelson .400. Luke Nelson has an ERA of 0.53, Dominic Graf is 2-0, and Ryan Foley has a 2.30 ERA to lead the pitching staff.

Rolling Meadows: The Mustangs are stampeding. Meadows (10-0) is off to its best start in memory. The Mustangs are led by the Schneider brothers — Ryan, who is a senior, and Luke, who is a freshman. Sal Paisley is also a key contributor offensively while Cam Wachtel, Charlie Hoeper and Tino Savoino have been stalwarts on the mound. “The team worked extremely hard in the off-season,” Meadows coach Matt Rice said. “The collective mindset is: 'What can I do to help the team win?' It's been a strong start, and we are going to continue to focus on executing the things that matter most.”

Schaumburg: Hayden Adamowicz has been doing it with his bat and on the mound for the Saxons (4-5). The sophomore has a slash line of .525/.679/.842. His ERA is 0.95 and he has fanned 23. Jack Baker is also hitting well at .444/.429/.630.

Wheeling: The Wildcats (7-3) are hoping that their bi-annual trip to Disney in Orlando will keep things magical for them. Wheeling went 4-1 on the trip and is led offensively by junior Zach Neukirch who is batting .379 with 3 doubles, 1 triple, and a homer. His OPS is 1.075 with a team-leading 12 RBI. Freshman Owen Zalewski is hitting .304 with 2 doubles. Reid Gerjerts has an OPS of .942 and leads the team with 3 triples while Tyler Zangara is batting .353. On the mound, Dylan Baloun is 2-1 with a save and has an ERA of 1.56 with 23 strikeouts. Freshman Jose Rivera is 2-0 with an ERA of 3.50 while Neukirch has an ERA of 0.78 and has 13 strikeouts.