JOLIET -- After watching three of his teammates walk during the top of the sixth inning of Saturday's Class 3A state championship game against Chatham Glenwood, Joliet Catholic Academy's Steve Cservenyak had no intention of following suit.
"I never go up there waiting for a walk," said Cservenyak, who grounded an 0-1 pitch through the hole between first and second to score pinch-runners Matt Smith and Kendall Paluch and break a 1-1 tie. "I knew he (Chatham pitcher Tristan Molumby) didn't want to walk me and I was looking for a pitch to hit. I got a fastball and put a good swing on it.
"I normally don't hit the ball on the ground, but it was in the perfect spot."
Normally, Cservenyak would have been able to go out to his position in right field when the inning was over to relax and enjoy his moment a bit. But, much like his abnormal grounder, this was no ordinary situation.
Cservenyak was summoned to the mound in the bottom of the sixth to preserve the lead he had just given his team. He entered the game with a 0.00 ERA, but getting those final six outs proved to be anything but easy.
With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Glenwood's Jake Ingold singled to right, then Tim Sullivan hit a one-hopper off of Cservenyak's leg. The ball bounced to third baseman Andrew Cecchi, who threw to first in an attempt to retire Sullivan. The ball sailed wide, and the runners moved to second and third, bringing up Molumby.
The burly Molumby, who led the Titans in home runs this season with 9, caught a Cservenyak offering on the fat part of the bat and sent it on a high arc toward the left field fence. Had the wind not been blowing in from left, the ball most likely would have left the park and Glenwood would have owned a 4-3 lead.
The wind gods were kind to the Hilltoppers, however, and left fielder John Gerl was able to make the catch on the warning track. Ingold scored on the sacrifice fly, cutting the JCA lead to 3-2, but Cservenyak struck out Ryan Williams to end the threat. He then got the Titans in order in the bottom of the seventh, and the Hilltoppers (32-5) had their second state baseball title -- the other coming in 1994.
"It's a great feeling," Cservenyak said. "I'm actually pretty speechless right now.
"I planned on pitching the last inning in this game anyway. It just worked out that I pitched the last two. I didn't feel like I had my best stuff out there, but with the defense we have, it makes things a lot easier for a pitcher."
Starter Brock Liston, who got the win to up his record to 9-0, made good use of the JCA defense through his five stalwart innings. Liston allowed just 4 hits and 1 run while walking 2 and striking out 1.
"I struggled a little bit getting my curveball over," Liston said. "But I just kept pounding the strike zone. I knew our defense would take care of things and if we kept it close, I knew the offense would score.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous before the game, but I knew I had to bring it. Now, I'll always be the winning pitcher in the state championship, and that sounds good to me."
For the first five innings, it didn't look like Liston's name would be in the 'W' column. That seemed reserved for Molumby, who limited the JCA offense -- touted as one without a weakness -- to just 1 hit, a single in the fourth by Andrew Cecchi. Cecchi finished with 3 of the 4 Hilltopper hits.
The Titans (32-6) didn't do much against Liston, either, save a couple of batters in the second. Tim Sullivan led off by lining a 1-0 pitch down the right field line for a double. Molumby then hit an 0-1 pitch into center, scoring Sullivan for a 1-0 lead.
Following Molumby's base hit, Liston set down the next 10 Titans before walking Ben Parks with one out in the bottom of the fifth. Derek Piper sacrificed Parks to second before Derek Crouch walked. Jared Turner then lined a solid single to left and Glenwood coach Pat Moomey waved Parks around. JCA's John Gerl threw a one-hopper to relay man Cecchi, who fired to Nate Ruzich at home in time to tag out Parks.
"That was huge," JCA's Kevin Hulbert said about cutting down the run. "I've never played in front of a crowd this big, and that play got the crowd fired up. I've never been so pumped in my life when I came into the dugout."
The Hilltoppers carried that momentum into the top of the sixth. With one out, Cecchi singled to short and Gerl walked. An out later, pinch-hitter A.J. Plese walked, loading the bases. Hulbert then took a 3-1 pitch for ball four to force in Cecchi and tie the game, setting the stage for Cservenyak's heroics.
"It was real tough to take that pitch," Hulbert said. "But we were in a take situation. I wanted to put a good swing on something, but he didn't throw me anything over the plate.
"Whatever gets runs across the plate, that's what we do. Everyone on this team will sacrifice personal stats and stuff like that in order for us to win."
"In the fifth and sixth innings, we wanted to make him (Molumby) throw more pitches," said catcher Nate Ruzich, who walked in the fourth after being down 0-1 and saw seven pitches in the fifth before striking out.
Then, with the momentum fully on the JCA side, Cservenyak put it over the top with his single to right.
"Steve's a senior and he's been here before," coach Jared Voss said, alluding to the Hilltoppers' third-place finish at last year's state finals. "He's our No. 8 hitter, but he led the team in RBIs and he showed why. Everyone has to hit somewhere, and he's been very productive out of that spot.
"Brock Liston did a great job of keeping us in the game. He kept it to a 1-run game, and we felt pretty good about being able to come back from that.
"I am very happy for all the seniors. Plus, I have some former players that are coaching for me like Cory Churchwell, Jake Jaworski and Chris Gruber. I look up in the stands and I see some of my former players, too. I am happy for everyone, because they are all a part of this. We are a big family."
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