A victory drops in for Vernon Hills
While high enough, Drew Winegardner's towering popup didn't draw rain. Rather, it sprinkled good fortune on him and his Vernon Hills baseball teammates.
The sun shone on the Cougars and maybe in the eyes of Antioch's infielders, as the ball dropped untouched on the mound between two infielders with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, delivering the Cougars a walk-off win.
"It thought it might have even hit the (pitching) rubber," Vernon Hills coach Jay Czarnecki said of Winegardner's popup.
Matt Paszko raced home from second base, giving the Cougars a wild, 3-2 win in a North Suburban Prairie Division game Tuesday.
"It was high up in the air and I figured it had a chance with the sun," Winegardner said. "We got lucky on that one, I guess."
Antioch (4-8, 2-1) had rallied itself. The Sequoits spotted Vernon Hills (7-5, 1-2) a first-inning run on a wild pitch and faced that deficit until the sixth. They scored the tying run on a two-out throwing error and plated the go-ahead run on sophomore Ben Gutke's RBI single.
But after Cougars reliever Chick Smith stranded a potential insurance run at third base in the top of the seventh, the hosts went to work in the bottom of the inning.
Ben Geren coaxed a leadoff walk from Gutke, who was trying to save the game for starter Justin Stender (5 IP, 3 H, 5 K, 0 ER). Pinch runner Chris Kahn was on third when two one after he stole second and advanced again on Brennan Reback's bunt. Gutke then balked in the tying run. Antioch coach Paul Petty had yelled to Gutke to step off the rubber, but Gutke had just started his windup.
Gutke stopped and stepped off.
"I tried to get him in the stretch because with less than two outs and a guy on third against a team that bunts a lot, that was a safety squeeze waiting to happen," Petty said. "I got the call in too late. One-hundred percent my fault."
Gutke got a groundball for the second out, but he then hit Paszko, who proceeded to steal second base for the third time in the game. Connor McNamara walked, bringing up the sophomore Winegardner, who was batting in the cleanup spot.
His popup was anything but routine, as Antioch's infielders had to deal with sunshine and a swirling wind.
"Nobody really called it," Petty said. "We really didn't want a part of it. Which is too bad because that's unlike the players that I know."
"The wind was blowing in a little, so it looked like it was going to carry out a little bit more," Czarnecki said. "Normally you don't want your pitcher handling that, so I he cleared out of the way. It wasn't an easy play at all. The first baseman was back, and with two outs the third baseman was back."
Paszko sprinted across home plate, as the ball dropped.
"Two outs, just run on anything," Paszko said. "I wasn't really looking (at the popup). I was just running as hard as I can home. Then when I heard the fans cheer, I knew we won."
Vernon Hills starter Brendan Keogh earned a no-decision, pitching 5 1/3 innings, allowing 3 hits, walking one and striking out two. The 1 run he was charged with was unearned.
"He's been doing pretty well for us," Czarnecki said. "He mixes up speeds and hits his location."
Paszko was Vernon Hills' offensive catalyst. He walked and scored in the first and singled in the fifth, finishing 1-for-2. Antioch got 2 hits apiece from sophomore Connor Kaiser and junior John Neville, and the Sequoits outhit the Cougars 5-4.
"It wasn't pretty," Paszko said. "But as long as we win, we're happy."