Rams' rally falls just short
There was drama all the wayt o the final out Saturday afternoon at the Wauconda Class 3A boys baseball regional.
No. 3-seeded Grayslake Central fell behind No. 6 Richmond-Burton 6-0 headed into the bottom of the fourth inning, but the Rams refused to quit.
Grayslake Central (19-14) cut the gap to 6-3 on a 3-run homer by Sean Seiler in the bottom of the fourth and added 3 runs in the bottom of the seventh.
But the Rockets held on for an 8-7 victory and the regional title, advancing to the Grayslake North sectional Thursday against Marian Central.
Richmond-Burton (16-15) exploded for 5 runs on 5 hits against Grayslake Central starter Kevin DeRue in the top of the second,
A 2-run single by Matt Donnellan put the finishing touches on the Rockets' big inning.
An RBI single by Steve Roeske boosted the lead to 6-0 in the top of the fourth before No. 8-hitter Seiler's 3-run homer over the fence in left-center cut winning pitcher Trevor Whatmore's lead to 6-3.
"It was a great high school baseball game, it was very well-played by both teams, and we did what we had to do," said Richmond-Burton coach Mike Giese, whose team had 14 hits. "Our hitting came through today, it spotted us some runs and it gave us some breathing room until the end."
After a solo homer by Angelo Gargano cut the gap to 6-4 in the bottom of the fifth, Richmond-Burton got a pair of 2 runs on 4 hits to take an 8-4 lead in the top of the sixth.
The Rams put together one final rally in the bottom of the seventh as Richmond-Burton reliever Pete Lesniewski walked Seiler with the bases loaded to make the score 8-5 with one out.
A wild pitch by Lesniewski brought home Mitch Tielke with the sixth run before Nick Obenauf came on in relief of Lesniewski with runners on second and third.
Pinch hitter Alex Rosenkrantz followed with a sacrifice fly to deep left that cut the lead to 8-7, but Obenauf got a popout to the shortstop to end the game. Obenauf threw just 2 pitches to get the final two outs.
"You've got to give Richmond-Burton credit, we didn't beat ourselves, but they beat us," said Grayslake Central coach Mike Giese, whose team had 11 hits. "The kids haven't quit all year, they overachieved and we fell 1 run short."
Grayslake Central had beaten the Rockets 6-1 earlier this season.
"The home run was exciting and it sparked our offense, but our hits just didn't land in the right spots at the right time," said Seiler, whose team left nine runners on base. "They just put the ball where we weren't, and that was the roughest part defensively."