South Elgin a regional champ for first time
Few will forget the South Elgin baseball team's first regional championship.
The Storm rallied from a 10-run, third-inning deficit Saturday afternoon by scoring 11 unanswered runs to earn a 13-12 victory over Streamwood and the Class 4A Dundee-Crown regional title.
"Wow," Storm coach Jim Kating said. "That's probably all that can be said."
South Elgin (20-14) is in its fourth varsity season and had not won a postseason game until this season. The Storm will play Cary-Grove at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the Larkin sectional semifinals.
Through 21/2 innings Saturday a trip to sectionals seemed unlikely for the Storm.
The Sabres (23-14), who were also seeking the program's first regional title, took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a Dylan Noncek single. The Storm scored twice in the bottom of the first on a 2-run double from Dillon Gardner for a 2-1 lead.
Streamwood scored 11 times - all with two outs - in the next two innings. Noncek drove in three with a double in the second. Mike Diebold, Tim Cohen, Shawn Jordan and Josh Harris added run-scoring singles in the second. Diebold added another RBI single in the third and scored on Jordan's 3-run home run as the Sabres took a 12-2 lead.
But that would be all the Sabres would get. They had only 2 hits in the final four innings and only one off Drew Buddle (5-2), who picked up his second victory of the regional. Buddle, who came in after Richie Gorski singled to lead off the fourth, struck out seven and walked three.
"We didn't hit after (the third)," Streamwood coach Steve Diversey said. "We came up short. They played consistent and patience. They came out victorious. Tip your cap to them."
The Storm started its rally in the bottom of the third. Gardner, who went 3-for-5 with 4 RBI, Nathan Garris and Ryan Hicks had run-scoring singles. Robbie Green added a 2-run triple to cut the deficit to 12-7.
South Elgin added three more in the fourth to make it 12-10. Kyle Kinyon led off with a home run off the scoreboard that knocked the lights out showing Streamwood's runs. Two more runs scored on an error off a hard-hit ball from Hicks.
"Somehow we didn't fall into a hole and not want to play any more," Buddle said. "We came back bit by bit. We had five more innings to get it."
John Menken drove in a run in the fifth to make it 12-11. The Storm tied it in sixth when Green singled in Anthony Keaty, who was pinch running for Hicks after Hicks doubled.
In the bottom of the seventh, Buddle struck out swinging, but reached after the pitch got away from the catcher. After a flyout, Menken hit a groundball toward short, but the throw to second was low, giving the Storm runners on first and second with one out. Gardner singled to left, scoring courtesy runner Jimmy Mansfield from second for the game-winning run.
"We never gave up. We knew we could come back," Gardner said. "I was just looking for something I could put a good swing on. (Diebold) blew a couple by me. He finally gave me one a little more inside. I just got a good hit on it."