Nazareth's Lucas Smith takes a tumble during the celebration pile Saturday after Nazareth Academy won the Class 3A state championship. Photo by Jeff Vorva

Nazareth's Lucas Smith takes a tumble during the celebration pile Saturday after Nazareth Academy won the Class 3A state championship. Photo by Jeff Vorva

Young Roadrunners win first baseball title to cap a huge sports season at Naz

Spread the love

By Jeff Vorva
Staff writer

Nazareth’s athletic class of 2024 could go down as the best in school history.

The Roadrunners’ girls volleyball team finished first in the state in the fall. Two sophomores were among the eight players who were on the court during the Class 3A state championship game.

The girls basketball team warmed up the winter by finishing second in the state. Four of the six Roadrunners who played in the title game were sophomores.

The latest high-achiever is the baseball team, which finished off the spring season by winning the first state title in program history. Nazareth defeated Glenwood, 5-1, on June 11 at Duly Health and Care Field in Joliet. Four of the 11 Roadrunners who played field in that game were sophomores.

That’s three top-two state trophies that brought home to LaGrange Park this school year, and considering that 17 of the 27 athletes who played in those title games were underclassmen, there could be some more hardware coming in the next couple of years.

“It’s definitely a special class,” sophomore pitcher Nick Drtina said of the class of 2024.

“Basketball sophomore, volleyball sophomores, baseball sophomores…it’s one of the best classes for sports. It’s great. It’s awesome.”

Drtina broke the program’s single-season record for wins when he notched his 12th in the finale. Brian Villardito had held the record since 1997.

“It’s a really good class,” Roadrunners baseball coach Lee Milano said. “We’re really fortunate because not only are they great athletes, they are really good kids. We’re happy to have them.”

He is also happy that after coming close four times, Nazareth was able to win it all on its fifth trip to state.

The Roadrunners finished second in 2015, third in 2012 and 2018, and fourth in 2011.

Nazareth (34-7) broke open a scoreless tie in the fifth inning by scoring five runs. Luca Fiore drove home the first run with a single while Cole Reifsteck, Luke Brabham and Drtina also drove home runs during the rally.

DRTINA scaled

Nick Drtina deals in the state championship game Saturday in Joliet. Photo by Jeff Vorva

Drtina got in and out of jams in the first two innings as he and Finn O’Meara combined to allow one run on three hits. Drtina, who has verbally committed to Louisville, wasn’t sure he was going to pitch after a rough outing in a 10-7 victory over St. Ignatius on June 6 in the Crestwood Supersectional.

Drtina got the call — the text, actually — to pitch on Friday night. He was sitting in his room relaxing when he got the word.

“It was unexpected because I threw a lot of pitches a couple of times,” he said. “Once I got the text asking if I could go, I was like ‘absolutely, I want to go.’

“I was ready to go.”

He said he got a good night’s rest, and he got the job done.

The Roadrunners opened the weekend in Joliet with a 16-3 victory over Crystal Lake South in the state semifinals.

David Cox had four hits and three runs.

Sebastian Gutierrez, regularly a reliever, picked up the start and allowed three runs on two hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings to help keep the bullpen fresh, in case it was needed in the title game.

Baseball is one of the toughest sports to win a state championship in when it comes to single-elimination competition. The best teams do not always win and even the top-ranked teams can run into a hot pitcher to have their seasons end.

“We stayed true to what our coaches have been preaching to us,” Drtina said. “We stayed patient. We were relaxed. We were calm. We were always trying to pick each other up.

“And we always worked and worked and worked. No matter what the rankings were and no matter the adversity that we faced, we always fought until the end.”

COACH scaled

Nazareth Academy baseball coach Lee Milano is about to receive a first-place medal from former Bears player D’Wayne Bates Saturday in Joliet. Photo by Jeff Vorva

Local News

Sorry, we couldn't find any posts. Please try a different search.

Neighbors

Appeals court skeptical of Mike Bost’s case to stop ballot counts after Election Day

Appeals court skeptical of Mike Bost’s case to stop ballot counts after Election Day

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – A panel of federal appellate judges on Thursday seemed skeptical of legal arguments made on behalf of Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, who claims Illinois’ law allowing counting of mail-in ballots for two weeks after an election is in violation of federal law. Bost’s late 2022…

DCFS hires on-the-spot at hiring events

DCFS hires on-the-spot at hiring events

By BETH HUNDSDORFER  Capitol News Illinois bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com Cyrenthia Threat spent Wednesday morning at a hiring event in Fairview Heights waiting for word on whether she was hired by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.  Threat wants to move to Illinois from Georgia where she works as a social worker. She has 20 years…

Capitol Briefs: Advocates push for guaranteed income, child care assistance

Capitol Briefs: Advocates push for guaranteed income, child care assistance

By HANNAH MEISEL & DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com The Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear the case of actor Jussie Smollett, who was convicted for staging a hate crime against him in 2019 in a case that drew criticism for Cook County’s top prosecutor. Smollett made what turned out to be…

Illinois teacher shortage persists, survey finds

Illinois teacher shortage persists, survey finds

By PETER HANCOCK  Capitol News Illinois  phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com  SPRINGFIELD – Illinois continues to suffer from a shortage of teachers and other education professionals, although recent efforts by the state to ease the strain have made an impact.  That’s according to the latest annual survey of school officials from the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools,…

Bills in state Senate would further regulate battery storage and disposal

Bills in state Senate would further regulate battery storage and disposal

COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois clongcor@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD — Two bills that would regulate battery disposal and storage are awaiting action from the full Illinois Senate after unanimous committee approval.   Senate Bill 3481, sponsored by Sen. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, would require facilities that store electric vehicle batteries to register with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency…

Prisoner Review Board chair, member resign in wake of boy’s fatal stabbing by released inmate

Prisoner Review Board chair, member resign in wake of boy’s fatal stabbing by released inmate

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com The longtime chair and a relatively new member of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board have resigned, Gov. JB Pritzker’s office announced Monday. The governor’s office announced the pair’s resignations within hours of each other nearly two weeks after Crosetti Brand was released from Stateville Correctional Center. Brand is…

Highest-ranking woman in state police history reflects on experience as force looks to diversify

Highest-ranking woman in state police history reflects on experience as force looks to diversify

By ALEX ABBEDUTO   Capitol News Illinois  abbeduto@capitolnewsillinois.com  The night before Rebecca Hooks started at the Illinois State Police Academy in 2002, she spoke on the phone with her father and her brother – both of whom worked in law enforcement.  Her father encouraged her, telling her she was strong and could get through the…

After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans

After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans

 By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO — State regulators are once again considering massive electric utility spending plans that would affect the state’s climate goals – and 5.4 million electric customers’ monthly bills – after rejecting previous versions late last year. The Illinois Commerce Commission forced the state’s two major electric utilities, Commonwealth…

After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans

After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans

 By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO — State regulators are once again considering massive electric utility spending plans that would affect the state’s climate goals – and 5.4 million electric customers’ monthly bills – after rejecting previous versions late last year. The Illinois Commerce Commission forced the state’s two major electric utilities, Commonwealth…

After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans

After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans

 By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO — State regulators are once again considering massive electric utility spending plans that would affect the state’s climate goals – and 5.4 million electric customers’ monthly bills – after rejecting previous versions late last year. The Illinois Commerce Commission forced the state’s two major electric utilities, Commonwealth…