Vernon Hills edges out Grayslake Central

In order to make it to their graduation ceremony on time, the seniors on the Vernon Hills baseball team high-tailed it out of Grayslake Central Thursday afternoon, practically running off the field and out of the dugout.

That was after the Cougars walked away with a victory.

Literally walked.

"Never won a game in this way," Vernon Hills coach Jay Czarnecki said.

A close and intense Class 3A sectional semifinal game between Vernon Hills and Grayslake Central ended with a bit of a surreal whimper.

Vernon Hills, batting last due to its higher seed, had loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning with the score tied at 4 runs apiece. But the Cougars were down to their last out.

Grayslake Central pitcher David Llorens had just notched the second out of the inning with a resounding strikeout.

But Llorens then went from one extreme to the other. He proceeded to throw four straight balls to the next batter, Chris Kahn, to walk in the winning run, Joe Rangel from third.

That gave Vernon Hills a 5-4 victory and a spot in Saturday's sectional championship game (11 a.m.) at Grayslake Central against North Suburban Conference Prairie Division rival Wauconda.

"I was just looking for a good pitch," Kahn said. "After the first one was a ball, Coach gave me the take sign and it just worked out.

"I've never (seen something like this). Not in a game of this magnitude. It was really exciting for us. It was a crazy ending."

Vernon Hills (24-13) scored a single run in each of the final five innings, mostly scrapping together its offense through small ball, steadily moving runners a base or two at a time.

Only one player had an extra base hit the entire game. That was catcher Joey Marras with a double in the third inning that brought in Matt Gramins.

"We have been the type of team that has found a way to win a lot of close games," Czarnecki said. "It hasn't been on a walk before this, but we've found a way to scrap. That's built a little bit of a belief that we're always in the game and we always have a chance to win."

Grayslake Central (20-16), which had never lost a postseason game on its home field under coach Troy Whalen, did some scrapping of its own, scoring a run in the top of the seventh inning to force a tie.

With two outs, Sam Ruhlmann drove in the tying run with a single.

"It was a microcosm of our season. You almost get yourself out of this hole that you're in, to the point where your head is out and you can just see over the top of the hole, and then you slide back down," Whalen said. "David got up there out of the hole, and then …"

Llorens entered the game in relief with one out in the sixth inning. He hadn't pitched competitively in about two weeks due to some arm problems.

He got in a couple of jams but seemed to be in control when he got that second out in the seventh with a strikeout. Then, the slide started.

"The first pitch (on the walk), I thought it was borderline and I didn't get the call," Llorens said. "Next pitch, it just got away from me and I tried to re-group. But the last two pitches got away from me, too.

"It's hard. We're not used to losing in the postseason. We've been to supersectionals three straight years, so now with the season over, the first thing I thought about was these guys and how I'm never going to be able to play with them again. A whole flood of emotions came over me. It's surreal to think of."