ADDISON -- After a four-year postseason championship drought, St. Edward baseball was back in the winner's circle on Saturday afternoon.
Led by a solid pitching performance from ace Riley Coleman, the Green Wave beat Northridge Prep 5-1 and captured the Driscoll Class 2A Regional title, its first regional crown since 2005.
"Coach (Gene Belmonte) talked to us before our game and said it's been awhile since St. Ed's has brought anything back," shortstop T.J. Madzy said. "A bunch of our (school's) teams this year have gotten regional championships and we just wanted to be part of that."
St. Edward (17-12) will return here at 4:30 Thursday for a Driscoll Class 2A Sectional semifinal against Chicago Latin.
"We're finally all juniors and seniors and we're finally playing as a team," Coleman said.
After Coleman (8-1) retired the Knights in order in the top of the first, the Wave quickly hit the scoreboard with two runs in its half of the inning.
With men at first and third and one out, an errant pickoff throw by Northridge starter David Burke (7-3) sailed wide of first and allowed Madzy (2-for-4, 2 doubles, RBI) to trot in from third. David Hoebbel came around from first to third on the wild throw and scored a batter later on an RBI single by Jordan Torres.
The Knights (21-10) cut the deficit to 2-1 in the third inning on an unearned run, but Coleman was clearly in charge.
The right-hander allowed just four hits in seven innings and struck out 10.
"We needed Riley to keep us in control of the game and he did," Belmonte said. "He is a dominant No. 1 pitcher. He's the basis for everything we do."
An RBI groundout by Madzy in the fourth plated another run for St. Edward and the bats gave Coleman some more breathing room in the sixth.
After a one-out walk to Jon Godfrey, Madzy doubled to left. Anthony Bauer (1-for-2, RBI) sent Godfrey home with a sacrifice fly to center and Hoebbel knocked in Madzy with a triple to center, making it 5-1.
It was then back in the hands of Coleman, who after allowing a leadoff single, retired the next three Knights to seal the victory.
"I was excited," Coleman said of the last inning. "I got a little bit extra on my fastball. It was the adrenaline."
St. Edward's 2005 title was its third consecutive regional championship.
St. Edward had quite the day at Driscoll, as the girls softball team also won a regional title at the school, beating Driscoll 3-1 roughly a half hour before the baseball team won its championship.
The two squads showed off their regional plaques to one another after the girls came over to the baseball field to see the end of the game.
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