Four-run rally carries Eagles to victory

Aurora Christian's Nate Hill (3) celebrates his two-run homer with teammates on Saturday at Driscoll Catholic in Addison. The Eagles won the sectional title with a 5-3 win over St. Edward.
Mary Beth Nolan / For the Beacon News

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ADDISON -- One big inning, stellar defense and an impressive relief pitching performance from senior Andru Ubert catapulted Aurora Christian to its first sectional baseball title Saturday.

The Eagles struck for four runs in the top of the third inning off St. Edward ace Riley Coleman, and that proved to be the turning point in a 5-3 victory against the Green Wave in the Class 2A Driscoll Sectional championship game.

Aurora Christian (25-10) advances to play Watseka on Monday in the Lisle Super-Sectional at Benedictine University.

"This feels great," Aurora Christian coach Andy Zorger said. "These kids have worked so hard in the offseason. They have a great work ethic. They've put the time in and they did what they needed to do to get to this spot."

St. Edward (18-13) pushed across a run in the top of the third to tie the score at 1, but it didn't take the Eagles long to regain the advantage.

Steve Clancy led off the bottom of the inning with a double and scored on Ubert's one-out double off the base of the wall in left field. Mitch Holtz followed with an RBI single before Nate Hill delivered the big blow with a two-run homer to left to put Aurora Christian ahead 5-1.

Coleman (8-2) cruised from that point and finished with 11 strikeouts and only one walk in six innings. However, the damage from the third was too much to overcome.

"We were feeling it that inning and maybe got in the pitcher's head a little bit," Ubert said. "We were really seeing the ball well and hitting guys over, getting them in and doing what we needed to get the job done."

The Green Wave appeared on its way to bouncing back from the rocky third inning in the top of the fourth when Jon Godfrey drew a bases-loaded walk with no outs to bring home Mike Kondrath.

Godfrey's walk chased Clancy -- who had issued seven base on balls up to that point -- as the Eagles turned to Ubert in relief. T.J. Madzy connected for a run-scoring sacrifice fly in the next at-bat to cut Aurora Christian's lead to 5-3, but the Wave couldn't muster much else against Ubert.

The senior retired the last 11 batters he faced to pick up the win in four innings of relief. He struck out three, walked none and also got plenty of help from his defense.

Shortstop Matt Morse saved what would have been a run-scoring single with a diving stop behind second base in the fourth. In the sixth, Clancy made a spectacular diving catch before crashing into the base of the center-field wall that robbed St. Edward of extra bases. The leather larceny continued in the seventh when Dan Jacobsen made a running catch on a fly ball hit to deep left.

"They not only made all the plays, but they made some spectacular ones to go along with it," St. Edward coach Gene Belmonte said.

St. Edward tallied only three hits, but nonetheless had plenty of scoring chances. The Green Wave stranded seven runners on base, six of which were in scoring position.

Ubert combined his strong pitching effort with a good day at the plate, reaching base in all three at-bats and going 2-for-2 with a pair of RBIs. Clancy (2-for-3, 2 runs) and Hill (2-for-3) chipped in as well for the Eagles, who took a decidedly aggressive approach on offense.

"Coleman has good stuff," Zorger said. "I'd heard that he gets a little rattled if he starts giving up some hits, so we just wanted to keep the pressure on him as much as we could." Baseball: Class 2A Driscoll Sectional