Imperfect timing

Marmion Academy's Brian Burns pitches to Bartlett in the third inning at St. Charles East High School in St. Charles on Thursday.
(Andrew A. Nelles/For The Courier-News)

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BARTLETT -- Having set the school record for wins and claiming the Suburban Catholic Conference title, Marmion was primed for a deep run into the postseason.

However, the Cadets ran into a hot Bartlett team and were handed a 10-4 loss Thursday in a Class 4A St. Charles East Regional semifinal. Marmion (22-4-1) hit the ball hard off Bartlett starter Devin Rowland but fell victim to some stellar defensive plays in the outfield and couldn't come up with timely hits.

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Marmion Academy's Matt Milroy gets a base hit in the third inning at St. Charles East High School in St. Charles on Thursday. Bartlett High School defeated Marmion Academy.
(Andrew A. Nelles/For The Courier-News)

The No. 9-seeded Cadets looked to take an early 2-1 lead in the top of the second, but Brian Burns' bid for a solo home run was taken away after Bartlett left fielder Alex VanNess banged into and reached over the fence to haul it in.

"First two or three innings they made a couple diving plays and robbed a home run," Marmion coach Dave Rakow said. "On the flip side we made some errors and gave them the momentum and they did a really good job holding onto it."

At the plate, the eighth-seeded Hawks (21-12) got the best of Burns. He went 4 2/3 innings and gave up six earned runs. Down 3-1 in the top of the fourth, Marmion cut the deficit to one after Chris Tydd delivered a two-out RBI single, but Burns (5-2) ran into a jam in the bottom of the frame. After issuing his first two walks of the game, Bartlett No. 3 hitter Greg Partyka made it hurt by sending a 2-0 pitch over the left-field wall to make it 6-2.

"What carried us all year was our defense, keeping the ball low with our pitchers and playing small ball and we didn't have a lot of base runners today," Rakow said. "They did a great job in the field and never put us in a position to play the game we're comfortable with."

Senior left-hander Matt Milroy was in his team's ear all game while playing center field for Marmion. Knowing a tough Wheaton North team had advanced to the regional final, Rakow gave Burns the nod and planned to pitch Milroy, the reigning Beacon News Player of the Year, on Saturday.

"With Wheaton North on the horizon it's kind of an unlucky draw," Rakow said. "To beat Wheaton North most teams would need their ace. It's something where if you play to win one game you throw Milroy today. If not, then if you want to make a run I think you have to throw your No. 2 today. Burns has been real good for us the last two years and we didn't feel uncomfortable with him or anything like that."

Marmion had Rowland (8-1) on the ropes in the fifth but failed to score after having runners on first and second with one out.

C.J. Foster had a sacrifice fly in the first inning to give Marmion its only lead of the game at 1-0. Matt Garza had a home run in the sixth and a sacrifice fly in the seventh for Marmion.