Wheaton North 4, Loyola 1
Adversity is nothing new to Wheaton North's baseball team. In fact, a 1-run deficit probably doesn't even qualify at this point.
So when the Falcons scored all their runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to rally for a 4-1 victory over Loyola on Monday, it became just another speed bump on the road to Joliet.
With the come-from-behind win in the Class 4A Benedictine University supersectional, Wheaton North advances for the first time into the state semifinals at 4 p.m. Friday at Silver Cross Field in Joliet.
The Falcons (24-13) will play Oak Park (29-9), a 7-3 winner over Sandburg, for a berth in the state title game.
"We probably had to play about a perfect game today, and we just about did that," said Falcons coach Dan Schoessling, whose program also claimed its first sectional title Saturday. "Not just the fact that we won the supersectional but the way we carried ourselves, I was real proud of our team today."
Hampered by injuries throughout the season and dogged by a late slump of 7 losses in nine games, everything is coming together for Wheaton North in the postseason.
The Falcons and starting pitcher Jack DeAno fell behind 1-0 in the second inning after an error put Loyola's Charlie McElveen on base. A wild pitch got him to second base, and another wild pitch allowed him to score an unearned run.
Loyola (24-14) starter Jack Keating (8-4) kept the Falcons at bay through five innings, allowing 3 hits and stranding the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth.
The Falcons, though, exploded in the sixth in their third time facing Keating.
"We usually hit pretty good when we see a pitcher a couple times around," said Falcons junior Wade Cervenka, who drove in the go-ahead run with a double. "We had a pretty good feeling he was going to throw a lot of curveballs. We just sat on it, drove the ball and things turned out pretty good."
Matt Palackdharry led off the sixth with an infield single and scored all the way from first on Travis Otto's game-tying double. Cervenka's double to deep center gave the Falcons a 2-1 lead.
The tight margin expanded two batters later when Trey Martin belted a 2-run homer over the left-field fence.
That was plenty of wiggle room for reliever Aric Dama (7-2), who capped a 4-inning stint of scoreless and hitless relief to send the Falcons into the semifinals.
Despite not pitching for the last two weeks, Dama was masterful while allowing only a fifth-inning walk and a seventh-inning hit batter. He struck out three and combined with DeAno for a 3-hitter.
"I felt good," he said. "I haven't thrown in probably two weeks, but I still felt like I could throw strikes and get people out. And our offense is so strong it's just a matter of time before someone gets it going."