Baseball: Glenbard North pumps up bats against Wheaton North
One after another, Glenbard North's baseball players stepped to the plate and laced hit after hit.
Fourteen total hits among eight players lumped in four innings - something the Panthers rarely saw in an up-and-down regular season - as they flipped an offensive switch for the start of the playoffs.
Despite allowing a seventh-inning rally to Wheaton North, Glenbard North built a big enough lead to beat the Falcons 7-4 in Thursday's Class 4A St. Charles North regional semifinals.
The ninth-seeded Panthers (13-20) will face the top-seeded North Stars for the regional championship at 10 a.m. Saturday. It'll be their fourth straight postseason meeting.
"One through nine, I don't think there was a player who didn't hit the ball hard today," said Panthers outfielder Anthony Sottile. "We expected to be there on Saturday, and we expect to win on Saturday. It'll be a big game for us."
Glenbard North scored 2 runs on 5 hits in the second inning and 2 runs on 4 hits in the third. The Panthers built a 7-0 lead in the top of the seventh on Anthony Ferreri's 2-run single and had to hold on in what turned out to be an eventful bottom of the seventh.
The Falcons (15-18) sent 10 batters to the plate while scoring 4 runs. Erik Mueller doubled home a run and D.J. Hagen added an RBI single. With the bases loaded and two out, Sottile came on in relief and struck out the only batter he faced to end the game.
"We had some chances," said Wheaton North coach Dan Schoessling. "We just couldn't keep them off the bases and they had some big hits in those situations. It was nice to see the comeback but we lost to a good team."
Sottile, Ferreri, Zach Heck and Zach Bachara each had 2 hits for Glenbard North while Sottile, Bachara and Jasper Serences drove in runs. Jim Zay went 3-for-4.
Panthers starter John Marron, who pitched 6⅓ innings to earn the win, got out of some jams in the middle innings and even picked off two runners in the third.
"Everyone was swinging the bat well, and it's something we've been emphasizing all season," said Panthers coach Rich Smelko. "Hopefully we can keep it up come Saturday."
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