Box Score

NAPERVILLE, Ill. – Second seed Carthage turned three double plays and benefited from four Augustana errors Thursday to defeat the third-seeded Vikings 5-2 in first round play at the CCIW Tournament at Zimmerman Stadium. Coach Greg Wallace's club, 25-15 on the season, will face fourth-seeded North Park (18-22) in an elimination game at 9:00 a.m. Friday, May 11. The Red Men, 31-10, move on to face top seed and host North Central (26-12) in the winners' bracket.
 
Augustana had two hits off Kevin Tibor in the top of the first, but Ryan Kairis (Marist HS, Chicago, Ill.) was cut down stealing and John Moraski (Kewanee HS, Kewanee, Ill.) was left stranded. A Viking miscue led to an unearned run for Carthage in the bottom half. Ace Mike Powers (Benet Academy, Westmont, Ill.) retired the first two batters, but Cody Phelps reached on an error and eventually scored the game's first run on a Vince Schwartz single to center.
 
Ryan Grannemann's (McHenry HS, McHenry, Ill.) one-out single in the second sparked a two-run inning for Augustana. Jake Huber (Lockport HS, Homer Glen, Ill.) doubled Grannemann to third and the Viking catcher scored the tying run on Tyler Nunez's (Byron HS, Byron, Ill.) groundout to third. Jack Hallmark (Cherry Creek HS, Englewood, Colo.) followed with a single to left, plating Huber with the go-ahead run.
 
The lead was short-lived, as the Red Men tallied three in the third to go up 4-2. The first four batters reached on three hits and a hit batter. Nick Pierce had an RBI single in the frame, Schwartz a sacrifice fly and Joe Sisk knocked in the third run with a fielder's choice grounder.
 
Tibor settled in and shut Augustana out over the final seven innings. He stranded two Vikings in the sixth and his defense helped him out, turning double plays in the fifth, eighth and ninth innings. His teammates gave him an unearned insurance run in the sixth. Ryan Dalton reached on an error leading off and scored on a double by Ben Levicki.
 
Both starters went the distance. Powers gave up eight hits and three earned runs in his third complete game of the season. He walked none and fanned six, but fell to 7-3 on the year. Tibor scattered 10 hits, walked one and struck out five. He improved to 7-2 with the win.
 
Everyone in Wallace's lineup had a hit, including Grannemann, who had a pair. Pierce and Levicki each had two hits for Carthage.
 
Augustana will look to continue its success against North Park on Friday. Wallace's club took all three meetings during the regular season by a combined score of 32-8.