Montini beats St. Laurence to win Class 3A title

Montini’s Nicholas Wind (16) and rest of the Broncos celebrate their 3A state championship at DuPage Medical Group Field in Joliet.

Montini junior Michael Koszewski is a good pitcher on a good baseball team, but before Saturday there was a limit on how much success he was even willing to let himself dream about.

“This morning I told my parents that I honestly had never even imagined pitching in a state championship game,” Koszewski said.

That was the reality on Saturday at DuPage Medical Group Field in Joliet. Koszewski was on the mound as the Broncos’ starting pitcher in the Class 3A title game against mighty St. Laurence. The lion’s share of the school’s hopes to win a first baseball state title rested on him.

It was a rocky first inning, but Koszewski settled down and pitched a complete game. Justin Lazowski was phenomenal at shortstop, Rocco Catalano had the key hits and Montini beat the Vikings 6-3 to win the 3A state title.

“The beginning of the game I was overthrowing,” Koszewski said. “I didn’t have a good feel on any of my pitches really. Then I just got a feel for my stuff. I started to settle down and was mowing people down.”

Montini’s Michael Koszewski (1) went the distance as the Broncos beat St. Laurence 6-3 to win the 3A state championship at DuPage Medical Group Field,

Koszewski allowed four hits and three runs in seven innings. Lazowski recorded nine assists, including seven of the final nine outs.

“It’s a huge confidence boost having him behind me,” Koszewski said. “Without him we honestly don’t win that game. He made all those plays and made them look easy too.”

Lazowski, a smooth, soft-handed, 5-7 senior, wasn’t in the lineup (the designated hitter was in his spot) but his influence on the game was massive.

“That was definitely a lot more action than usual,” Lazowski said. “I wanted them, you have to have that winning mentality that you want the ball. If I don’t do my part in the field everything just crumbles and we don’t end up with something like this.”

Catalano was 2-for-3 with three RBI and run scored. His two-RBI double with two outs in the sixth but Montini (23-11) ahead 5-3.

“I just went into the box thinking I have to prove to everyone that we are not who they think we are, we are greater,” Catalano said.

Antoine Harris, Nate Kremkow, Nicholas Wind and Estevan Moreno each had one hit for the Broncos. It is the school’s first baseball state title. The Broncos finished second in Class A in 2002 and 2005.

“This is history,” Koszewski said. “We are all pumped, this is huge. Obviously [St. Laurence] comes in as the better team up and down the lineup. But we just came out and had a lot of heart and got the job done.”

Montini’s Nicholas Wind (16), Benjamin Lah (3) and other Broncos give Rocco Catalano (30) a warm welcome after he knocked in the go-ahead runs and scored in the sixth inning.

After the first 16 games of the season Montini was just 8-8.

“Every player, every coach knew we were so much better than how we were playing,” Lazowski said. “We knew we could turn it around and make a run. Just a little bit of mentality changed.”

Chris Seropian started for St. Laurence (34-6). The junior lefty allowed four earned runs in six innings and struck out four. Leadoff hitter Luke Montgomery had two hits and scored two runs for the Vikings, who beat Montini 15-12 in April.

Montini celebrates winning the Class 3A state championship

“St. Laurence is an unbelievable team,” Lazowski said. “We lost that one game but we knew we could play with them. Everyone played their part today we ended up with the state title.”

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