By Bobby Narang
Nazareth Academy made program history Monday night this week.
The Roadrunners, who won the Class 3A State championship last season, had yet to win an outright East Suburban Catholic Conference (ESCC) championship in program history.
They fixed that flaw against Notre Dame Monday, May 15.
The Roadrunners tacked on 10 runs in the bottom of the third inning to run away with a 15-0 mercy rule victory over Notre Dame.
May 6 Notre Dame defeated the Roadrunners, 8-6, but Monday’s game featured very little offense by the Notre Dame. Two Nazareth pitchers combined to hold the Dons to one hit in the game that ended on an infield error in the bottom of the fourth inning.
“It’s the first ESCC outright title we’ve won since we entered the Conference in 2002, so it’s quite an accomplishment,” Nazareth head coach Lee Milano said. “Everybody’s expectations for us have been really high for all year, so when you are number one in the State for a while and you lose a game, it’s magnified. But we did a really nice job of bouncing back and playing really good baseball on Saturday and today.”
Freshman Landon Thome, the son of legendary Hall of Fame Major League Baseball player, Jim Thome, picked a good time for one of the best games of his young, but, promising career. The left-handed second basemen batted three-for-three with three runs batted in, highlighted by a two-run double to left-center to give the hosts an 8-0 lead.
“I felt awesome out there,” Thome said, a left-handed hitter. “Coming out here and getting some hits off a good pitcher from the other team felt good.”
Designated hitter Nick Drtina had two hits and drove in four runs to spark the 16-hit attack for the Roadrunners.
“This win was amazing, to come out here and get a little payback on them after they beat us,” Drtina said. “It was a good team win. We put the bat on the ball, made plays, and threw strikes. This was a big win to set the tone. We still have to focus on our next games next week before regionals.”
Nick Hughes pitched the first three innings, and showed signs he might be ready to put in extended innings in the playoffs.
“I felt good,” Hughes said. “I just came out and had complete confidence in all of my pitches. It was the biggest game of the year. It was great to win this for coach Milano. He has done so much for us. I only get 50 pitches now… I’m coming back from an injury. I was trying to be as efficient as possible, throw as many strikes and let them hit it. That’s what I did today, and was able to get outs.”