Prep Baseball: Green Wave advances to title game
SUGAR GROVE -- On an abnormally cold May afternoon, St. Edward had to do a lot of sweating.
Up five runs heading into the bottom of the seventh inning Thursday, the Green Wave surrendered four runs before reliever Jim Fraczek induced a bases-loaded game-ending groundout to give St. Edward a 7-6 win over third-seeded host Aurora Christian in a Class 2A regional semifinal at Waubonsee Community College.
Things looked like they were going to completely unravel for the fifth-seeded Green Wave (8-12) when with one run already in, starting pitcher Riley Coleman fielded a grounder. But in an attempt to grab the inning's first out on a force play at third, Coleman tossed the ball high and wide of third baseman Kyle Tourtellott, allowing two runs to score.
"That's a good example of what baseball is all about, when you get out of a routine and out of your comfort zone," St. Edward coach Gene Belmonte said. "Here's a pitcher throwing the ball to third base, which is a play that you never make."
Coleman rebounded by striking out the next hitter for the first out of the inning, but after allowing consecutive singles that squeaked past the left side of the infield, he departed with runners on first and third and with the score 7-6.
Fraczek then entered and got the second out when he nabbed a comebacker and got the Eagles runner trying to score caught between third and home. But after walking the next Aurora Christian hitter to load the bases, Fraczek would have to retire Tony Romero, who had singled earlier in the inning to start the rally.
Fraczek prevailed in the six-pitch duel, getting Romero to hit a chopper to Tourtellott, who flipped the ball to second baseman T.J. Madzy to record the final out.
"I felt pretty confident," catcher Kyle Horn said about the seventh. "I have confidence in my teammates. I never really felt at any time that we were going to lose."
After picking up two runs in the top of the second on three walks and an Aurora Christian throwing error, the Green Wave entered the hit column in a big way in the third. Mike Kondrath crushed an 0-1 pitch over the right-field wall for his third homer of the year and kick-started a four-run frame for St. Edward.
After singles by Horn and Jordan Torres, Tourtellott mashed an 0-2 delivery to right-center field for a two-run double. Tourtellott then came home two batters later on another Eagles' throwing error to make it 6-0.
At the same time, Coleman (3-4) seemed to be working on his high-wire act on the mound, getting out of big jams in both the second and third innings.
With the bases juiced and one out in the third, Aurora Christian's Andru Ubert hit a liner off Coleman right into the glove of Madzy, who flipped it over to shortstop Anthony Bauer to double off the Eagles runner.
After the Eagles plated their first run in the fifth, David Hoebbel delivered what became a big RBI single in the sixth, sending home Madzy, who had reached on a triple.
"We were fortunate to jump on them and score the runs early," Belmonte said. "(We) really kind of hung on. Obviously, we needed every run we scored today."
Another Eagles run in the sixth made it 7-2.
The victory put the Wave in Saturday's regional title game against second-seeded Lisle at 10 a.m. at Waubonsee. A win against Lisle would give St. Edward its first regional title since 2005. The Green Wave won three straight regional titles from 2003-05 and the program has four regional championships to its name.
"We just made all the defensive plays, we hit well and we just put together a good game," said Coleman, who struck out five in 6 1/3 innings, allowing four earned runs on 13 hits, two walks and a hit batsman.
Horn (3-for-4, double) led the Wave at the plate, with Kondrath (home run), Tourtellott (2-run double), Hoebbel (RBI) and Madzy (triple) also coming up with timely hits.
