Glenbard South comeback falls short against Kaneland

The Glenbard South baseball team thrives off the belief that when it's down, it's never out.

Playing Western Sun Conference rival Kaneland Wednesday afternoon, the Raiders fell behind 5-0 in the top of the second inning. True to its motto, though, Glenbard South staged a late-game rally, yet eventually dropped a 6-5 decision in Glen Ellyn.

A pair of walks and defensive miscues buried the Raiders in the early 5-run deficit. Glenbard South starting pitcher David Suffern labored through the inning, throwing 46 pitches to 10 different Kaneland hitters.

First baseman Jeff Smith's single to center field scored the game's first two runs. After Jake Fiedler's single made it 3-0, shortstop Joe Gura laced his own 2-RBI single to center to push the Kaneland lead to five.

"We didn't execute, plain and simple," Glenbard South coach Mike Riley said. "We made some fundamental mistakes and they cost us big time."

The Raiders (8-5, 2-2) had a chance to escape the top of the seventh trailing just 5-3, yet another fundamental mistake allowed Kaneland (9-3, 2-2) to score the game-winning run. With runners on first and third and two outs, Kaneland's Joe Camiliere took off for second base.

The Raiders defense couldn't secure catcher Nick Slezak's throw toward the middle of the diamond, allowing Fiedler to cross home plate uncontested.

"There's no way we should have let them score on that," Riley said. "That was kind of characteristic of the way the game went."

Glenbard South looked determined to erase its gaffes in the game's final inning, as the Raiders loaded the bases with no outs. Second baseman Mike Meath's sacrifice fly to left field cut Kaneland's lead to 6-4, and Suffern's line-drive single to right field brought the Raiders within one.

Gura, who came on in relief of Knights starter Steve Colombe in the bottom of the sixth, followed Suffern's RBI single with a strikeout and flyout to secure the win for Kaneland.

"We expect ourselves to play better and not even be in that situation," Knights coach Brian Aversa said. "We have to learn from those mistakes, get out and do a better job."

Though it took Glenbard South's offense nearly all game to find a rhythm, first baseman Dylan Milkent never lost hope.

"We always feel like we're in every game, no matter the score," Milkent said. "When we get one run, or one guy sparking us, it feels like everybody is just ready to go."