St. Charles North locks up UEC crown
The Upstate Eight baseball title chase is over, thanks to Chase Williams.
With one out in the seventh inning of a 3-3 game at South Elgin on Wednesday, St. Charles North's right fielder singled with the bases loaded to drive in Ryan Richardson and Mike Budka with the go-ahead runs.
In the bottom of the seventh, North Stars reliever Phil Warner walked South Elgin No. 9 hitter Brad Zych to open the inning before he induced a tailor-made double-play ball to Richardson at shortstop. Richardson stepped on second and threw to first to complete the twin killing.
Warner issued another walk and was relieved by Kevin Borst, who struck out Storm shortstop Drew Buddle to seal the North Stars' 10th straight win, 5-3.
The victory clinched the UEC title for St. Charles North (29-4, 21-3). The UEC determines its champion based on highest winning percentage because not all teams in the 11-member conference play the same number of games. Second-place Waubonsie Valley (23-8, 19-4) defeated Larkin 9-8 Wednesday, but the Warriors cannot mathematically surpass St. Charles North's winning percentage with one game remaining for each team.
The title is the fourth for the North Stars in eight seasons and their first since 2007.
"I'm really happy for the seniors to win a conference championship," St. Charles North coach Todd Genke said. "We hadn't won one since (2007) and Waubonsie, man, they were right on our tail so we couldn't drop a game.
"Winning 10 in a row to win the conference - I'm really proud of the kids."
The North Stars took a 2-0 lead in the first inning against South Elgin starter Sam Jordt, who held the visitors to 3 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits in 6 innings. Borst delivered the big hit, a 2-run single that scored Richardson and Budka.
South Elgin (18-12, 13-11), which played with seniors only on Senior Day, scored an unearned run in the first inning with the assistance of an error. The North Stars extended to a 3-1 lead in the fourth, when a Storm throwing error allowed Williams to score from first.
South Elgin tied it at 3-3 in its half of the fourth, when an errant throw to first base by the catcher on a sacrifice bunt sailed into right field. But North Stars starting pitcher Austin Schuetz avoided further damage, thanks to a double play initiated by Richardson.
The Storm threatened in the fifth against Warner (6-0) after a walk, an error and an intentional walk loaded the bases with two outs. However, Warner struck out pinch hitter Kyle DeRoo on a high fastball to preserve the 3-3 tie.
"It wasn't exactly where I was supposed to throw it, but you don't complain when it goes right," Warner said. "They called for it inside. I brought it up and in and it just worked out the way we wanted it to."
"That's been our problem of late: We're leaving too many people in scoring position and not coming up with a two-out hit," said South Elgin coach Jim Kating, whose team lost its fifth in a row. It's things like that put a little more pressure on people."
Jordt stranded St. Charles North runners in scoring position in the fifth and sixth innings, but the North Stars loaded the bases in the seventh against reliever Tyler Walker (2-1). Richardson led off with a single, Budka was hit by a pitch and Matt Stevens was intentionally walked one out later. That set the stage for Williams, who ripped an off-speed pitch to the outfield.
Conference title in hand, the North Stars now turn their attention to bigger goals.
"It's nice to win (the Upstate Eight), but we know that we want to go far in the playoffs, too," Williams said. "We can't relax because we still have a long way to go."