Tassos, Benet walk off again

When junior and No. 9 hitter Alex Tassos came to bat with the winning run on third base Thursday, Benet baseball players and fans were reminded of his walkoff home run in the previous game Monday.

"My friend made a joke about it right before I got up," Tassos said. "He was like, 'Another game-winner here?' I was like, 'Uh, maybe.' "

Actually, yes.

Tassos delivered a game-ending single in the bottom of the seventh inning, and the Redwings once again overcame an early deficit to outlast Glenbard South 7-6 in the Class 3A Nazareth sectional semifinals in LaGrange Park.

Benet (20-17), the No. 2 sectional seed, will play top-seeded Nazareth (29-8) at 10 a.m. Saturday for the sectional title and a berth in Monday's North Central College supersectional. Nazareth won both of their meetings in East Suburban Catholic Conference play.

In the regional final Tassos hit his first homer of the season with two out in the bottom of the ninth for a 4-3 victory over DePaul College Prep after Benet trailed 3-0 until the sixth.

The Redwings overcame a 5-0 deficit to No. 3 Glenbard South (27-11) entering the bottom of the second.

In the seventh Tassos batted with one out, courtesy runner Kevin Doyle at third and Mike Ryan on first. Tassos' screaming shot deflected off the shoe of drawn-in third baseman Michael Ashe.

"They're both just as good (walkoff hits), just because we won. It doesn't matter, just that we won," Tassos said. "We're relentless. When we went down 5-0, we knew the game wasn't over. We always know we have a chance in whatever game we're in."

Hayes (6-2) was the winning pitcher with three scoreless innings of relief, was 3-for-4 with two extra-base hits and reached base four times, all resulting in runs. Benet's Connor Hickey and the Raiders' Robbie McGimpsey also had 3 hits.

Hayes led off the seventh with a single against Alex McGimpsey. Josh Crosby was hit by a pitch and Ryan reached on a force out at second.

This was the biggest deficit Benet coach Scott Lawler recalled overcoming this season. It also was Benet's second 1-run victory after a 5-8 regular-season record in 1-run games.

"Playing so many 1-run games throughout the year, this is what playoff baseball is all about," Lawler said. "If you're going to go far in the playoffs, you're going to have a game like this and you're going to have to come from behind. Good teams have to do that."

Hayes started the comeback by homering to begin the second. Lee Barnes' bases-loaded sacrifice fly soon made it 5-2.

Hayes' leadoff double in the fifth then created a 6-6 tie when Hickey beat out a two-out infield grounder.

"We knew we still had a lot of game left (down 5-0)," Hayes said. "It was still early, but I think (the home run) got everyone pumped up a little bit." Hayes stranded three runners over final two innings, two in scoring position.

In the seventh Hayes caught a potential sacrifice bunt after Dylan Brambora opened with a single. Facing runners on second and first, Hayes got a flyout and grounder back to him to keep the score tied.

"We sat on five runs a long time offensively," Glenbard South coach Mike Riley said. "We knew it would be a battle back and forth. We thought we had a chance to beat them. They hit the ball just a little bit harder than us, not a lot, but a little bit."

The Raiders five-run second began against starter Jon Kruppe, who pitched the ninth Monday. Tim Marks, Brambora and Dominic Fazzari delivered consecutive one-out singles and two runs scored after three consecutive two-out walks. Alex McGimpsey greeted reliever Bobby Ernsting with a two-out single.

The only other run scored off Ernsting in 2⅓ innings was on a single by Kyle Carli and RBI double by Ashe to open the fourth.

"Bobby pitched a (heckuva) game, coming in to hit, too (single, hit by pitch)," Hayes said. "(Lawler) told us we all need to be ready. Everyone on the staff is ready."

Benet scored twice in the third off starter Brian Ashe on Ryan's 2-run double following a two-out infield error with the bases empty. Cole Channell had an RBI double in the fourth following a single by stolen base from Hickey.

"We told our kids before the game we have to play clean defensively," Riley said. "We're traditionally this year very good defensively, but today we had key errors."

The Raiders say goodbye to a special senior group that resulted in five team captains - Joey Atkinson, Brambora, Fazzari, Alex McGimpsey and Andrew Wrona.

"It's the hardest working senior group that I've ever had," Riley said. "To have five kids that were at every weightlifting (session), every open gym, had great attitudes and were leaders all year. It's a group that we're going to miss."