Trapino silences Cougars

Lauren M. Anderson - landerson@nwherald.com Teammates surround Richmond-Burton pitcher EJ Trapino (third from left) after the Rockets defeated Vernon Hills at the IHSA Class 3A Sectional semifinal game on Thursday. (Lauren M. Anderson ())

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GRAYSLAKE – Richmond-Burton pitcher E.J. Trapino felt a little nervous before the start of the biggest playoff game of his high school career Thursday.

But it faded fast.

“The first warm-up throws I threw, I knew I had it,” Trapino said.

Trapino’s last pitch – his 110th of the game – finished off a no-hitter and a 5-0 win for R-B against Vernon Hills (25-12) in an IHSA Class 3A Grayslake Central Sectional semifinal. The Rockets (24-8) will face St. Francis in the sectional final at 11 a.m. Saturday.

The first three innings were a duel between left-handed starters. Neither Trapino (9-2) nor Vernon Hills starter Tyler Feece allowed a hit through three innings.

“That makes me want to throw better,” said Trapino, who struck out 10 and walked six. “I want to beat that other lefty out there. I was just trying my hardest. I didn’t want anyone to show me up. I just wanted to go out there and throw my game.”

Trapino got stronger as the game went along, with six strikeouts in the final three innings, but the Rockets’ hitters eventually solved Feece.

R-B notched its first hit in the bottom of the fourth, then erupted in the fifth, when they sent 10 hitters to the plate and scored five runs.

After catcher Donnie Stupienski led off with a single and designated hitter James Lesniewski walked, Rockets first baseman Casey Williams pulled a grounder past third base that scored pinch-runner Tylar Stanton from second and opened the floodgates.

“[I had to] push something across for E.J.,” Williams, a senior, said. “ ... I knew he was going to keep it up the whole game; that’s just what he does. But I knew we had to get something started for our team, and it was just a good opportunity.”

Senior second baseman Parker Johnson followed Williams with an RBI single on a looping line drive that sailed over the head of Cougars’ second baseman Anthony Mazza, who was playing in.

That chased Feece from the game, but relief pitcher Ryan Lane couldn’t stop the Rockets’ hitters, either.

Left fielder Travis Jewell hit a sacrifice fly to score Williams and make it 3-0, and third baseman Kevin Kurowski was hit by a pitch while attempting to bunt. After a strikeout and an infield hit, Ryne Blanton delivered a two-out single that scored Johnston and Kurowski for the Rockets’ final runs.

“Our guys are resilient,” Rockets coach Mike Giese said. “They just keep plugging away, and when they get their opportunities, they take advantage of them, and that’s what they’ve been doing all year long.”