Baseball: Scott Adamczyk, Maine South rebound against Hinsdale Central

Updated: April 23, 2012 8:34PM

Entering last week, Maine South and Hinsdale Central were two teams headed in opposite directions.

That was until Maine South played in Saturday’s quarterfinals at the Downers Grove South Invitational. The Hawks lost three times and looked to rebound Monday in their second trip in three days to DuPage County.

Maine South regained its winning formula with a 25-18, 25-22 nonconference victory at Hinsdale Central. Maine South’s Scotty Adamczyk and Hinsdale Central’s L.J. Booth had a match-high 10 kills each, but the Hawks (12-5) also received a boost from Nate Wolf’s seven kills.

Adamczyk, a senior outside hitter and four-year varsity player, had as many kills as the entire Devils team in the first set (seven kills each). Booth had six kills in the second set, but Hinsdale (4-12) let a 22-21 lead slip away when the Hawks scored four consecutive points to end the match.

Three of the last four points came on miscues by the Devils, who had a brief 21-20 lead after Danny Flynn’s ace. The last four points included a service error, a passing error and an illegal back-row attack to end the match against Hinsdale.

“We need to pick up our intensity, move around and talk more as a team,” said Booth, a 6-foot-6 senior middle hitter, who is in his third varsity season.

Maine South opened a 12-9 lead on back-to-back aces by Ivan Zelic.

The Hawks were coming off an eighth place finish at Downers South after losing to Oak Park-River Forest 25-21, 25-22 Saturday. Maine South has a pair of major Central Suburban South matches against No. 9 Glenbrook South Wednesday and against New Trier Thursday.

“We definitely used Downers South as a learning experience,” Adamczyk said. “We lost three times Saturday. They were close games, but we had to put it all in perspective.”

Maine South scored six consecutive points to pull away from the Devils in the first set to take a 19-14 lead. Setter Matt Garvey had 16 of his 24 assists in the opening set. All four of Mike Hopkins’ kills in the match came in the first set.

Adamczyk, who owns second and third place medals from the state tournament in his career, hopes to see the Hawks finish strong.

“Passing is something we’ve always worked on as well as defense,” Adamczyk said. “We’ll definitely improve and be where I’m sure we want to be.”

The schedule doesn’t get easier for Hinsdale Central, which plays at No. 7 Downers Grove North (18-2) at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Devils have not won in three West Suburban Silver matches.

“We have a lot to improve on before the season ends and the start of the playoffs,” Booth said.

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