Pfister, Grens corral Hersey

Kyle Pfister was an animal this week for Elk Grove.

At least that's how teammates and coaches regarded the Elk Grove right-handed pitcher after he finished an 8-5 victory Thursday over Mid-Suburban East rival Hersey in the Prospect regional championship game of the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association summer tournament.

"He's a bull," Elk Grove pitching coach Bob Pomazak said after the senior right-hander's third appearance in four days.

"Kyle Pfister is just an absolute bull," said Elk Grove coach Terry Beyna after he came in and left the bases loaded in the fifth inning and left them loaded again in the seventh.

Teammate Colin Semler chose a different, yet just as complimentary, four-legged beast as the 13th-seeded Grenadiers (16-11) advanced to next week's IHSBCA Elite Eight in Naperville. Their first of three guaranteed pool play games will be at 4:30 p.m. Monday at North Central College.

"He's a horse," said Semler, who drove in key insurance runs with a triple in the sixth and a single in the seventh. "He's been lights out this week and I knew he was going to get the job done. It was a matter of when."

Pfister went the distance to beat Huntley 5-1 on Monday. He threw 3 scoreless innings of 2-hit relief against Schaumburg on Wednesday and had enough left to hold off a late rally by No. 6 Hersey (16-9).

"I told him (Beyna) I could go 5 or 6 (innings)," Pfister said with a smile. "I felt good going in, but after the first inning my arm started to wear on me faster than I thought it would."

His strikeout in the fifth with the bases loaded kept Elk Grove ahead 5-4. When Pfister hit Mike Toljanic to force in a run with two outs in the seventh, Hersey had the tying runs on base.

But Bill Koch (2-for-5) grounded to shortstop Donny Duschinsky for a force at second that left the dangerous Chris James on deck.

"I was trying to focus on the mitt and block out everything else," Pfister said.

"We battled and competed and that's all you can ask for," said Hersey coach Bob Huber after his team got only 1 run from three bases-loaded situations. "But you're not going to win many games that way."

Elk Grove continued its roll by executing in similar situations. A 2-run double by Duschinsky (3-for-4) on an 0-2 pitch with two outs and the bases loaded made it 5-1 in the fourth.

Elk Grove scored early with an RBI single by Danny Lopez (2-for-3), an RBI double by Pfister and an RBI double by Matt Martinski scored. And it added on late Tony Logli had an RBI single in the sixth and Lopez's bunt single, steal and Pat Eder's sacrifice set up Semler's RBI single in the seventh.

"Our focus is higher now," Semler said. "We're executing and getting timely hits, too."

Josh Daniels and Matt Martinski kept the Grens in the lead the first 4 innings. With Semler and Duschinsky they are well-armed for next week.

"Hopefully we keep it going next week, too," Pfister said. "A lot of pitchers stepped up and threw good this week."

And 5 wins the last four days left a better taste for the Grens regardless of what happens in Naperville.

"It restored confidence and the belief we can play with anybody," said Beyna, whose team also made the summer Elite Eight in 2005. "I'm just so excited to see our progress.

"We went from just what are we capable of to we are capable of this. We can't lose going down there."

Hersey also got a lot out of a run that ended despite Steve Danielek's homer and 2 hits apiece from Matt Milligan, Joe Perricone and Kevin Polinski.

"I'm looking forward to the East next year - it should be good," Huber said. "We did a lot of good things. Getting here was a great way to finish and a good experience for us."