Westminster Christian denies St. Edward in 2A regional
The upset-minded St. Edward baseball team scored in each of the first two innings against top seed Westminster Christian, but the Green Wave would regret not scoring more when they had chances in Wednesday's Class 2A regional semifinal in Sugar Grove.
St. Edward loaded the bases in each of the first two innings against control-challenged Westminster Christian starting pitcher Justin Rasmussen, but the Green Wave managed only 1 run in each inning via bases-loaded walks.
Rasmussen pitched a scoreless third inning and his team rallied for 4 runs in the bottom half to take the lead for good. Right-hander Luke Weston then shut the door with 4 innings of scoreless relief to seal Westminster Christian's 7-2 victory over No. 4 St. Edward in a light rain at Waubonsee Community College.
"That was our M.O. this year," St. Edward coach Tim Dovichi said of leaving 11 men on base, 6 in scoring position. "There's nothing to say when it happens almost every game. You're looking for that one guy to step up, that one key it. If we get one hit each inning, we're up 6-0 by the second inning, that's the thing. That's baseball."
The comeback victory was turnabout for the Warriors, who lost 5-4 to St. Edward (10-19) in nonconference action exactly a week earlier.
"We knew we were going to come back because we wanted revenge for last Wednesday," said Weston, who threw 60 pitches in 4 scoreless innings, allowed 2 hits, walked 2 and struck out 5.
Weston was a settling influence in relief of Rasmussen, who uncharacteristically walked 5 and beaned another hitter yet left the mound leading 4-2. He was lifted after tossing 68 pitches over 3 innings.
"If Justin got in trouble, we had his back," said Weston, who missed four weeks early in the season due to a sprained ankle. "That's mostly what we've done all year: have each other's backs."
Westminster Christian (17-18-1) advances to Saturday's Aurora Christian regional final at Waubonsee C.C. at 11 a.m. The Warriors will face the winner of Thursday's semifinal between No. 2 Aurora Christian and No. 3 Northridge Prep.
Westminster loaded the bases in the third inning on a single by Tyler Mamrot, a walk by Ian Merlak and an infield single from Frank Anguilo. Weston then drew a walk from St. Edward starting pitcher Alex Lara to pull within 2-1.
Peter Hahn then tied the game with a swinging bunt that could not have been better placed. Merlak scampered home on the play to knot the score 2-2.
"We knew coming in that it was a cold day and Alex Lara is a great pitcher," Hahn said, "so we knew we had to win with some small ball today and that's how we got our first runs."
The Warriors added 2 more runs on Tyler Schoemann's bases-loaded walk and Adam Greene's groundout.
Westminster tacked on a run in the fifth on Schoemann's RBI single and 2 more in the sixth, courtesy of a 2-run double by Anguilo.