Baseball: Marmion moves on to championship game
It was not the best-played game that Marmion's baseball team has had this season.
At the end of May, however, what matters most is scoring more runs than your opponent and moving on to the next game.
The Cadets (20-16) did just that, advancing to Saturday's 11 a.m. Class 3A sectional championship game against Burlington Central (28-9) with Wednesday night's 10-6 semifinal triumph over Rockford Lutheran (16-14) in Sycamore.
Marmion, which had leads of 3-0 and 6-4 evaporate thanks in part to 6 errors, overcame plenty of adversity to reach the sectional finals.
"We had to grind through," said Cadets coach Frank Chapman. "We were very emotional. That's very uncharacteristic of us."
After the Crusaders tied the game at 6-6 in the fifth on an RBI single from Brock Guse and back-to-back fielding miscues, the Cadets went back to work in the bottom half of the frame.
Their 2-run rally began inauspiciously when Bobby Pierce reached on a dropped third strike when the throw from Rockford Lutheran's catcher pulled first baseman Riley West off the bag.
After a 2-out single by Bryce Burton, the runners advanced to second and third before Dylan DiIorio (2 for 2, walk) lined a 2-run single to left-center to give Marmion an 8-6 lead.
A few moments earlier, DiIorio psyched himself up while listening to "Sweet Caroline" playing on the speakers during a Rockford Lutheran mound conference.
"My grandma has been sick - she used to come to all of my games," said DiIorio. "When I heard the song, it reminded me of her. I know she's here in spirit. I went out there and did my job."
Junior catcher Chase Stanke supplied some insurance by belting a 2-run, 6th-inning home run over the 390-foot mark in straightaway center, and left-hander Nick Brummel worked out of a first-and-second jam by inducing Bryce Broege to hit a game-ending grounder to shortstop Trevor Taus.
"We talk to the kids about having that positive energy and feeding off each other," said Chapman. "We have to get back to playing with positive energy and enthusiasm so we're not in that roller coaster."
A hard infield may have contributed to some tough bounces as the two teams combined for 9 errors.
Chapman didn't make excuses for his team's glove work.
"I'm very happy that we should be getting some rain in the next two days but at the same time we have to be better mentally and physically with that," said the coach.
Marmion grabbed a 3-0 lead in the second, highlighted by RBI singles from Sam Ochoa and Jack Molenhouse.
A wild pitch, two Rockford Lutheran errors and Collin Gibson's RBI single capped the Cadets' 3-run fourth.
"That's what we do - we're relentless," said DiIorio. "We make errors but we get back up and help each other out."
Gibson worked the first 5 innings, allowing 6 runs (only 3 earned) on 6 hits with 5 strikeouts before Brummel (4 strikeouts) came on in the sixth and seventh to record the save.
"We'll take a win because that's all that matters," said Chapman.