SUPER SUPURGECI
Senior outfielder hits first career home run off Lausch as Mount Carmel holds off Brother Rice
Senior outfielder Myles Supurgeci has spent years imagining what it would feel like to hit a home run for Mount Carmel, but until Monday, it was just a dream.
“I hit a bunch of inside-the-parkers in Little League and stuff, but never over the fence,” Supurgeci said. “I dream about it all the time, but it never happened before.
“It feels really awesome. It’s really special.”
It sure was. Supurgeci crushed his first home run to center field in the sixth inning to help the Caravan to a 6-4 Catholic League victory over host Brother Rice.
Making it even sweeter, Supurgeci hit it off Brother Rice’s do-everything multisport star Jack Lausch, the Northwestern football recruit.
“I’ve met Jack a few times, and he’s an awesome kid and a great athlete,” Supurgeci said. “But I just knew he was going to give me a fastball, and once it came, I just hammered it.
“I was actually thinking about trying a push bunt down the first base line, but then I thought, ‘I don’t know. I’ve been swinging the bat pretty decent lately. Let’s just give it a hack.’ ”
Supurgeci hit a 3-1 fastball over the fence to give Mount Carmel (16-5-1, 9-1) a big insurance run and the 6-4 lead.
“I took the 3-0 fastball, but I read it perfectly and I was ready for the next one,” Supurgeci said. “I said, ‘Let’s just hammer it.’ I barreled it up and at first, I didn’t think it got out. I thought it was a ground-rule double.
“Once I realized it got out, we went nuts.”
Supurgeci also singled and scored two runs.
Oklahoma recruit Brandon Rogers, who transferred from
Brother Rice, hit a two-run homer and Colin Horneman had a solo shot for the Caravan, while Creighton commit Shane Curtin held the Crusaders to four runs in six innings for the win.
Will Flanigan, Christian Holmes, Nick Daugherty and Randall Nauden each had an RBI for Brother Rice (18-3, 8-1), which suffered its first loss to an Illinois opponent.
“I’m really happy for Myles,” Mount Carmel coach Brian Hurry said. “He’s a really hard worker and he’s definitely one of our leaders. I’m really happy with the way we competed as a team.
“Shane and TJ (Boyd) both showed a lot of grit and tenacity out on the mound. They kept battling, they competed with heart, and that’s the Mount Carmel way. I’m proud of them for that.”
Boyd pitched a scoreless seventh to earn the save.
Rogers, meanwhile, got the Caravan — coming off a tough loss Saturday to Evergreen Park — off on the right foot in the first by homering in his first at-bat against his former school.
That was a two-run shot. Rogers also made a big play in center field, throwing out Amir Gray at the plate to end the fifth and keeping Mount Carmel ahead 5-4.
“I kept the same mindset,” Rogers said. “Just to go out here and do what I was supposed to do to help my team as much as I possibly could.”
Owen Wilinski and Colin Small also had RBI hits for the Caravan.
Brother Rice lost for the third time in its last four games after a 17-0 start.
The Crusaders, who lost twice last week to nationally ranked St. Xavier of Kentucky, hope to get revenge Tuesday at Mount Carmel.
“Shane’s a really good pitcher,” Brother Rice coach Sean McBride said of Curtin. “We knew what we were in for. It’s a rivalry game. They just made one or two more big swings than we did. I thought we played OK.
“We just got beat. It’s baseball. It’s going to happen.”