Baseball: St. Charles East nips Bartlett
St. Charles East baseball coach Len Asquini has agonized over his team's one-and-done postseason results the past two years since the 2013 squad placed third in the state.
Therefore, you can imagine that his heart may have been beating a little extra hard as he watched Bartlett (16-18) put the tying and winning runs on base with 2 out in the top of the seventh during Thursday's Class 4A regional semifinal clash in St. Charles.
Senior pitcher Stevie Podany helped calm things down as he recorded a game-ending strikeout on an 0-2 breaking ball to preserve the Saints' 3-2 victory.
"I'm just happy to get out of that losing streak - to get that first (postseason) win after two years," said Podany, who allowed just 4 hits with 2 walks and a pair of strikeouts during a 101-pitch performance. "I just pitched like it was any other game."
During the state playoffs, no game is like any other game.
"It's been a long time," Asquini said of the postseason victory. "He (Podany) was super again on the mound. He kept the ball down and had all three (pitches) going for him. He bulldogged up and got the outs we needed."
Third-seeded St. Charles East (22-16) grabbed a 2-0 lead with a pair of second-inning runs. Junior Niko Klebosits led off with a ground-rule double and scored on an infield throwing error following Anthony Adduci's slow chopper.
Courtesy runner Brendan Benvenuti came across with the second run on an errant throw to first after Podany's sacrifice bunt.
The 2-0 lead held up until the sixth when the Hawks pushed a run across on Cameron Mays' 2-out RBI double to left-center.
The Saints, who will face Geneva in Saturday's 10 a.m. regional championship, tallied an insurance run in their half of the frame.
Singles by Jimmy Dale and Podany, sandwiched around a walk to Adduci, loaded the bases for senior Austin Gift, who delivered a run-scoring sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 3-1.
"That was a big run for us," said Asquini. "It got us to breathe just a little bit."
Bartlett pitcher Mike Prang, who fanned 3 in 6 innings of work, coaxed a 1-out walk during a 10-pitch at-bat in the seventh before Brad Nowak's infield single and an error put runners on first and third.
Austin Hilvert's RBI fielder's choice pulled the Hawks within 3-2 but they had their 10-game winning streak snapped a few moments later.
"We made contact all day but we didn't get enough where they weren't," said Hawks coach Chris Pemberton. "Two runs aren't going to win you a lot of games but I'm proud of the way we battled."