BG treats Wendell to 400th … and regional title

There have not been a lot of memorable moments in the last two regular seasons for Buffalo Grove.

But the last two baseball postseasons have been unforgettable for the Bison.

Mainly because BG forgets about sub-.500 struggles and remembers what leads to big celebrations. And there were a few more Saturday afternoon after the Class 4A regional title game at Barrington's Kirby Smith Field.

Retiring head coach John Wendell won his 400th career game and the 14th-seeded Bison (13-14) claimed their second straight regional as they ended the drama and tension with a 7-run ninth inning in an 8-1 victory over No. 10 Barrington (18-13).

"Beautiful," Wendell said after he was "doused" with a bucket filled with styrofoam peanuts by BG senior outfielder Evan Kander, who drove in the winning run.

"We've had it in us," said BG senior right-hander Tom Moran after his gutty complete-game performance. "We couldn't avoid the big inning during the season and ended up losing a lot of games we should have won."

Moran (3-5) scattered 7 hits and threw 81 of his 127 pitches for strikes for his second postseason win. The Bison, who went from No. 13 seed to the Elite Eight last year, advanced to Thursday's 4:30 p.m. Libertyville sectional semifinal against No. 2 Mundelein, a 5-0 winner over Fremd.

Moran's mastery was one reason for the latest magical run to BG's sixth sectional title. There is no mystery to the other for a team that endured its first last-place Mid-Suburban League division finish since 1989.

"Zero errors," said BG third baseman Mike Ricciardi, who had a 2-run single in the ninth. "Without that we couldn't have won that game.

"The fact Tommy kept his cool the entire game and let them hit the ball definitely helped our fielders stay in the game."

Right from the start when Johnny Day hit a shot off Ricciardi's glove but Eastern Illinois-bound shortstop Zach Borenstein fielded it and got Day on a bang-bang play.

Moran and Ricciardi picked a runner off third with the bases loaded in the first. Ricciardi made a nice stop on Mark Minner's shot in the second and nailed Steve Janezic (2-for-4) at the plate.

Borenstein and second baseman Jon Moore turned a double play to end the fourth. Moore's nice play on Connor Jenkins' slow roller left a runner at second in the sixth.

"They played good defense and we played good defense," said Barrington coach Jim Hawrysko.

Russ Zeisloft, who had an RBI single in the fifth, made two diving catches in right. Shortstop Tim Conroy and Minner turned a double play as Tom Unak and Ryan Nolan allowed 5 hits in 8 innings.

Borenstein swiped the tying run on a 2-out double steal with James Hurley in the sixth. Three errors and 3 walks after Steve Pollokov's leadoff double led to 6 unearned runs in the ninth.

"I never really get nervous," Moran said after retiring 12 of the last 13 hitters and pitching around a 1-out single in the seventh. "I think of it as being excited instead of being nervous."

And the Bison keep producing exciting moments this time of year.