Baseball: Gregorio goes deep twice for Waubonsie Valley
Waubonsie Valley senior Cole Gregorio is already the kind of gifted hitter who needs few extra advantages.
He also has the psychology of baseball down pretty well. The combination yielded a personal-best performance.
Gregorio smashed two home runs and drove in a personal-best 7 runs as the Warriors pulled out the entertaining 13-9 comeback victory over Benet in nonconference play in Aurora on Thursday.
His signature hit was a grand slam in the bottom of the third that gave the Warriors their first lead at 10-6 after Waubonsie Valley fought off early deficits of 4-0 and 6-3.
Gregorio's opposite field 2-run blast in the first started the Waubonsie Valley comeback. His run-scoring single in the second inning helped sparked a 3-run rally that pulled the game even at 6-6.
His two-out grand slam gave the Warriors (2-4) their first lead, one they never relinquished.
"I got ahead in the count, and (Benet pitcher Josh Conrad) threw a curveball and I was ready for that inside pitch," Gregorio said. "I saw it well, I put my foot down and I drove it over the left field fence."
Behind Gregorio, the Warriors amassed 13 hits, including 5 for extra bases. Gregorio was the headliner, but it was an equal opportunity attack.
"When we get baserunners like that, we get really confident," he said. "We had guys who were stepping up and getting hits. When we get a few guys on base, we tend to get hot."
He did not just overwhelm the four Benet pitchers. He stayed a step ahead mentally.
"My first two hits, the home run and the single up the middle were both outside fast balls and I think they were trying to work their way back inside," he said.
"I was just ready for it. I really surprised when I saw how many RBIs I had. I never had a game like this before."
Benet senior Dolan Glasgow ignited the offensive fireworks. He smashed the second pitch of the game over the left-center field wall, highlighting a 4-of-5 performance that included 2 doubles.
"It was a very good team performance today," Glasgow said. "We were jumping on the first pitch and just getting what we could get. We were slapping it the other way and moving runners."
Ben Wright also collected 4 hits and drove in 3 runs for the Redwings (6-3).
Waubonsie Valley junior starter Sebastian Koldoff (1-1) allowed 7 runs and 14 hits. Despite his early struggles he pitched into the fifth inning.
Backed by the offense, he achieved enough to slow the Redwings' batters after the second inning.
"The first start I had, I kind of had a meltdown," he said. "I was not really feeling it. I got upset. With this game I let everything go and did not worry about hits by the other team. We had a really good energy in the dugout. That really helped us hit today."