Tassos is Benet's hero with 9th-inning HR
Junior third baseman Alex Tassos' first home run on any level for the Benet baseball team Monday concluded a tremendous extra-inning game - and years of waiting.
Tassos' game-ending blast down the left-field line just made it over the fence to give the Redwings a 4-3 victory over DePaul College Prep in nine innings for the Class 3A Benet regional title in Lisle.
"I still can't believe it. I thought it was going to be a pop fly. When I saw it went out, I was ecstatic," Tassos said.
"I just went up there, wanted to hit the ball hard. I was thinking about the seniors, honestly. I knew this would be a terrible way to end their season, at home in the regional championship. I pretty much did it for them."
Benet (19-17), the No. 2 seed in the Nazareth sectional, meets No. 3 Glenbard South at 4:30 p.m. in Thursday's sectional semifinal.
This is the Redwings' first regional title since 2008 and snaps a streak of four consecutive losses in the regional final. The last three under coach Scott Lawler had been by one run on the opposition's home field.
"I was telling (athletic director Gary Goforth), 'We are hosting. I don't care what I have to do, but we're going to have it this year,' " Lawler joked.
"Some of the guys, seniors, said, 'We've won conference (East Suburban Catholic) two years in a row. We didn't this year. We would trade those to go farther in the playoffs.' We didn't do that well in conference, but the conference is great this year, great experience for stuff like this, and here you go."
No. 7 DePaul (16-21), formerly known as Gordon Tech, won its regional last year and reached the sectional finals before losing to eventual fourth-place team Grayslake Central.
The Rams scored twice in the third and once in the fourth. Benet rallied with a 3-run sixth before both teams stranded runners in scoring position in extra innings.
"(This game) was outstanding," DePaul assistant coach Mike Wieda said. "We were in the sectional a few years ago and the intensity matched it."
The Redwings' Cole Channell was 3-for-4 and opened the eighth with a single. He was sacrificed to second but remained at third as a flyout ended the threat. The Rams' Tyler Elliott doubled with one out in the top of the ninth but stayed at third as winning pitcher Jon Kruppe (3-3) got an inning-ending strikeout.
Benet senior leadoff hitter Connor Hickey walked all four at-bats, including to begin the sixth. After an infield error, Channell's sacrifice bunt loaded the bases with no outs because no one covered first base.
Designated hitter Evan Plonis forced home Benet's first run with a full-count walk. Dan Sobolewski scored Lee Barnes and Channell with a single to right.
"That was one of the best baseball games I've ever played in. I'm glad we came out on top," said Hickey, who was on deck when Tassos homered.
"I saw (Tassos) hit it well, but the wind has been doing weird things all day. I thought (left fielder Mike Rodriguez) was going to catch it. It was going to be one of those SportsCenter top plays going over the wall and bringing it back. I don't remember what I did when it finally went over."
Kruppe switched from catcher to pitcher after a strong eight innings from starter Mike Powers, who allowed just 1 earned run and 6 hits with 7 strikeouts and 3 walks. Elliott relieved with two on and no outs in the sixth after a complete-game, 5-0 victory over Lake View Friday.
Tassos' homer came on an 0-and-1 fastball after Elliott fanned Benet's first two batters in the ninth.
"It was a great game. They fought hard. And we're going to fight hard whatever game we're in," Tassos said.
"(Tassos) was one of our best hitters at the beginning of the year. (Then) he hurt his shoulder," Lawler said. "The last couple of days he looks close to being 100 percent. We gave him a shot today and he did a fantastic job for us at the end of the day. Right guy, right time."