Baseball: Camardo, Buffalo Grove gobble up another playoff win
With two strikes on him, he gets hungry - and then it's Big Mac time.
Buffalo Grove's Mac Camardo drilled an infield single with the bases loaded to lift the Bison to an exciting 7-6 win over Warren in the semifinals of the Class 4A St. Viator baseball sectional Thursday in Arlington Heights.
Buffalo Grove (29-5) avenged a 1-run loss to Warren in last year's sectional semifinals. Buffalo Grove, the top seed in the sectional, will meet Libertyville, a 1-0 winner over St. Viator, at 11 a.m. Saturday in the sectional final.
Camardo said his teammates tell him he's the best two-strike hitter on the team.
"It is kind of a joke with the team that I hit better with two strikes," said Camardo, who had 3 hits and 3 RBI on the day. "And for whatever reason, it is true. It was amazing, how we came back. This team just never quits."
Buffalo Grove trailed 6-5 going into the bottom of the seventh.
Tyler Concialdi, who'd reached base in his previous three at-bats, was hit with a pitch with one out. Connor Adams, quarterback on the football team, was then inserted to pinch run.
With Adams running on the pitch, Zach Fricke delivered a shot to right-center. Adams got waved home and was ruled safe on a disputed play at the plate to tie the game at 6-6.
After a walk to TJ Constertina, Riley Rundquist was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Camardo drilled a hard grounder in the hole between first and second. Warren attempted to go to second in an attempt to begin a double play, but the batted ball was hit too deep, allowing Fricke to score the winning run.
"It was awesome the way we just started coming back" said Fricke, who came in to pitch in the sixth inning and picked up the win. "It is not my normal role to come in in relief. I had to step up and do it. It was a little shaky in the first inning. But the runs we scored helped."
The Bison needed everything they had to get there. They trailed sixth-seeded Warren 6-3 heading into the bottom of the sixth. Buffalo Grove, which left 11 runners on base, including 6 in scoring position, finally had some timely hitting. The Bison finished by pushing across 2 runs in each of their last 2 at bats.
"We are going to talk about leaving all those guys on," Buffalo Grove coach Tim Miller said. "But they are forgiven. A little bit."
The Bison came into the sixth trailing by 3. They were able to inch closer on an RBI single by Rundquist which scored Concialdi, who had reached on an error to start the inning. Rio Komatani drove in the other run on a sacrifice fly.
"This is a team that fights to the end," said Miller, whose team won their regional title game last week in extra innings. "It sounds like a broken record. But we just battle and battle."
Warren (22-14), which was seeded sixth, pounded out 6 extra-base hits of the 9 they collected for the game against four Buffalo Grove pitchers.
That included a home run by Nate Rentas, which ignited a 3-run rally for the Blue Devils. Danny Ahn, who had 3 hits, including a pair of doubles, had a bases-loaded single to drive in a pair of runs as Warren pulled ahead 6-3 in the top of the sixth.
The teams had battled to a 3-3 tie through the first 5 innings.
Warren scored in top of the first on a RBI fielder's choice by Mickey Kocen to score Ahn. Buffalo Grove added single runs in their first 2 at-bats. Camardo doubled home Constertina, who had walked, and Concialdi knocked in Carter Gledhill, who also had walked.
Warren coach Clint Smothers said he was disappointed at the call on the play at the plate.
"It all boils down to one play," Smothers said. "We had a play at home plate and the ball beat him there."
Warren, which did not return a starting position player from the previous, made a nice run in the playoffs.
"I am real proud of these seniors," Smothers said. "For us to do what we did and have a regional championship and play the No. 1 seed in a game I thought we should have won, I am real proud of this group."