Sandburg wins 10th straight regional

Updated: May 28, 2011 8:01PM

Another year, another regional championship for Sandburg.

The Eagles won their 10th consecutive regional title Saturday, disposing of T.F. South 6-0 at the Class 4A Andrew Regional.

The pressure of playoff baseball seemingly never affects Sandburg (24-8), which received good pitching, timely hitting and solid defense against the Rebels (14-17).

“We like to think that this doesn’t happen by accident,” said Sandburg coach Doug Sutor, referring to his team’s ability to avoid early playoff exits. “We try to play our best baseball come playoff time.”

Eric Chmielewski was marvelous on the bump, allowing just one hit, two walks and striking out eight during a complete-game 91-pitch performance.

Mike Malfeo drove in three runs on a two-out, bases loaded double, and sophomore Austin Cangelosi added two hits and two RBI for the Eagles.

Defensively, Sandburg was flawless.

“I was having fun out there,” said Chmielewski, who improved to 5-1. “I had the adrenaline going. (Assistant) Coach (Jim) Morso (Morsovillo) stressed to me before the game to get my off speed stuff down. That was a key.”

The only jam Chmielewski found himself in was the fourth inning.

Kevin Hallberg singled and Kyle Janowski coaxed a two-out walk.

Tyler Sindewald hit a screamer down the first base line that had double written all over it. But first baseman Nick Carney snared the drive to end the inning.

By that time, the Eagles had already built a 6-0 lead.

Cangelosi, son of former White Sox outfielder John Cangelosi, got the Eagles on the board with a single in the second that drove in Dan Rizzie (walk).

Malfeo later followed with his bases-clearing double that crashed off the right-field wall against pitcher Anthony Spangler and stretched the lead to 4-0 after two frames.

It proved to be all the runs the Eagles would need on the day.

“I was looking for a fastball on the outside half of the plate and he gave it to me,” Malfeo said.

Cangelosi, who also walked in the sixth, has been impressive since him promotion to the varsity late in the season.

“He’s really cemented some things for us, especially in the outfield,” Sutor said. “Austin’s got a bright future.”

The Eagles will take on St. Laurence, a 13-3 winnner Saturday against Oak Lawn, Wednesday at the Sandburg Sectional at 4:30 p.m.

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