Glenbard West stuns St. Charles East
Less than a week ago, Glenbard West’s baseball team was two outs away from having its season come to an end.
Now, the Hilltoppers (19-18) find themselves just two wins shy of reaching the Class 4A state tournament semifinals after their 5-1 victory over St. Charles East in Thursday’s sectional semifinal clash held at St. Charles North.
Entering the state tourney as the sectional’s 14th seed, the Hilltoppers’ improbable postseason run has included a sweep of the two highly regarded St. Charles schools.
Senior Ben Krusen, whose dramatic 2-run, seventh-inning home run helped force extra innings during the Hilltoppers’ 8-5, 11-inning regional semifinal win over third-seeded St. Charles North last weekend, stole the spotlight once again Thursday.
Krusen (8-1) tossed a 3-hit complete game against the second-seeded Saints (27-11), while also driving in a pair of runs for the Hilltoppers, who will take on top-seeded Lyons Township (33-4) in Saturday’s sectional championship.
“He’s done that for us the last two weeks,” Glenbard West coach Brian Wojtun said of Krusen, who fanned 7, walked 4 and hit a batter in a gutsy 128-pitch performance. “Ben has just been on fire for us. I can’t give him enough compliments right now. He’s been outstanding — at the plate, behind the plate, on the mound.”
Krusen was at his best when he needed it most, making several pressure-packed pitches to work out of a pair of bases-loaded jams.
His toughest obstacle came in the fifth after the Saints loaded the bases with nobody out on a pair of walks sandwiched around Joe Hoscheit’s opposite-field double.
Facing the Saints’ formidable 3-4-5 hitters, Krusen reached back and struck out Luke Rojas, Tony Rallo and Johnny Hondlik to preserve his team’s 3-0 lead.
“It was definitely tense there,” admitted Krusen. “I’ve been in those situations so I tried to keep cool, throw strikes and not overthrow. I basically went to my change-up because it has been my go-to pitch for the most part all year.”
Krusen, who also struck out the side and escaped a bases-loaded, 1-out situation in the second, drove in the game’s first run in the third with a 2-out RBI single just inside the first-base line.
Clean-up hitter Tom Alt then fought off a 3-2 pitch from Saints left-hander Wes Benjamin (10 strikeouts, 3 walks, 1 hit batsman) and served a soft liner into center field, driving in a pair of runs to up Glenbard’s lead to 3-0.
“Getting up early was a key,” said Wojtun. “Obviously Wes (Benjamin) is an outstanding pitcher but we got a big hit from Ben down the line and we (Alt) happened to get a bat on a really tough two-strike pitch.
“We caught a break there but that’s baseball,” added Wojtun.
It all added up to a frustrating day for the Saints, who stranded 10 runners. Their normally potent 2-6 hitters were a collective 0-for-15 with 5 strikeouts.
“We struggled today offensively,” said Saints coach Dave Haskins. “You’re not going to win many games with three hits. Tip the cap to the pitcher (Krusen) — he attacked us and did an excellent job.
“The tough one was bases loaded and no outs — and we didn’t score. That was a big emotional letdown.”
Benjamin (10-2), who worked 6-plus innings before giving way to Dan Ditusa, finished his 3-year varsity career with a 25-5 record.
Meanwhile, Rallo, who broke team home run and RBI single-season records this season, also offered high praise for Krusen.
“You have to tip your hat to their pitcher,” said Rallo. “He pitched a heck of a game. We could have swung the bats a little better today with a little more clutch hitting — but it wasn’t there today.”
Now, the Hilltoppers find themselves in a familiar spot as underdogs against state-ranked Lyons.
“We’re the 14 seed,” said Krusen. “We started out 3-12 and now we’re a game over .500. We’ve got all the momentum we need. We know what we’re going to see (Saturday). We’re just going to try and pull off another upset.”