Wright's walk off grand slam sinks Jacobs
Crystal Lake South's Billy Wright nearly had a home run robbed in the first inning Friday.
There was little doubt about his second home run - a walk off grand slam - as the Jacobs outfielders barely moved.
The grand slam capped an improbable 9-run bottom of the seventh inning as the Gators rallied for an 11-10 victory over the Golden Eagles in the Class 4A Jacobs regional semifinals.
"Right when I hit it, I thought it was gone. It really didn't feel like anything, just kind of felt like I got it all," Wright said. "It thought it was going to go and it did."
Wright was mobbed by his teammates at home plate. The celebration can't last too long as CL South (21-14) has to return the field today at 9 a.m. to play Huntley (25-9) for the regional championship. South will be after its second regional title in the last three years. Huntley won a regional title last year.
Jacobs (19-16-1) led 10-2 entering the bottom of the seventh. Robbie Lemke started the rally with a 3-run home run with one out off Brett Kale to make it 10-5. Chris Hauser, who hit a solo home run in the sixth, followed with a double. After a walk, Nick Martin hit a groundball to second base for what could have been a game-ending double play. But the Golden Eagles failed to get an out, loading the bases. Danny Paitl relieved Kale and walked Alex Lukaszewski to bring in Hauser. After a strikeout, Dom Winiecki walked, scoring Ryan Price to make it 10-7. Paitl quickly got two strikes on Wright. On the 1-2 pitch, Wright connected for a blast to left-center for the game-winner.
"Told him just to get a base hit. He got the biggest base hit of his career," Gators coach Brian Bogda said.
"We didn't want to go down lightly, not roll over and die," Wright said about the final inning. "We came out fired up."
Wright's solo home run in the bottom of the first cut the Eagles' lead to 2-1. Jacobs center fielder Henry Gigeous got his glove on the ball and began running to the dugout, trying to get the umpires to signal the third out. But Gigeous didn't have the ball and Wright, who waited at second base while the Golden Eagles jogged to their dugout, eventually completed his trip around the bases.
Wright (1-1) also picked up the victory, pitching 31/3 innings of relief. The senior did not allow a hit, shutting down a Jacobs offense that scored 10 runs in the first four innings.
Josh Kranz gave the Golden Eagles 2-0 lead in the top of the first with a 2-run home run. Ben Albano drove in a run in the third and Jacobs scored 7 unearned runs in the fourth. Albano had a 2-run triple and Kale added a 2-run homer in the inning as the Golden Eagles took a 10-1 lead.
"We talked about that (relaxing with a 9-run lead) and hope that they don't," Jacobs coach Eric Sanders said. "The last three innings offensively we just fell asleep. They kind of shut us down."