St. Charles East topples Streamwood
Regular-season baseball games don’t come much bigger. Or end much better.
It was first place versus second place in the Upstate Eight Conference’s River Division Friday as future Big East lefty pitcher Josh Harris of Streamwood went head to head with future Big 12 lefty pitcher Wes Benjamin of St. Charles East.
Though the brewing pitching duel between Harris (Villanova) and Benjamin (Kansas) devolved into a slugfest midway through, the excitement level grew with each unexpected twist of St. Charles East’s improbable 11-9 comeback victory over the host Sabres in nine innings.
Trailing 9-6 in the top of the seventh inning of a game they once led 6-1, the Saints drew within 9-8 when junior Johnny Hondlik smacked a 2-run home run to center field with one out against reliever Richie Gorski (3-0), who entered the game with an ERA of 0.93 in 15 innings.
One out later, sophomore Brian Sobieski followed with the clutch hit of the season for the Saints — a solo home run the opposite way to right field, tying the game 9-9.
“I was just trying not to make the last out,” said Sobieski, who sprinted around the bases after his third home run of the season. “It was a 1-0 fastball down and I just drove it.”
St. Charles East’s relief pitcher, Hondlik, stranded the potential game-winning run in scoring position with one out in the bottom of the seventh, and the right-hander retired the Sabres in order in the eighth, setting the stage for the Saints’ 2-run ninth.
An error allowed the eventual go-ahead run to reach base in the form of Luke Rojas. Tony Rallo then ripped a single to right field, Hondlik bunted both runners over and Henri Desrosiers cashed in by rolling a 2-run single to left field to stake the Saints to their winning margin.
“I was reading the defense and they were playing middle to bag, so I got a pitch to drive that was low and I pulled it through into left,” Desrosiers said. “We have big hearts. It shows day in and day out.”
Hondlik closed out the victory on the mound by inducing a line drive to second base off the bat of Alex Morrow with a runner at first.
The victory tightened the Saints’ grip on first place. They improved to 17-2 in the UEC River, 21-6 overall. Streamwood fell 2 games back in the loss column to 17-4, 23-4 overall.
“We really showed a lot of heart and mental toughness against a very good team,” St. Charles East coach David Haskins said. “I’m very proud of this team because they could have folded. This might be the most mentally tough team I’ve been around.”
The Sabres, likewise, could have folded but didn’t. They led 1-0 until the fourth inning, when the Saints attacked Harris for 6 runs on 5 hits, keyed by a 3-run double to the right-field wall from junior Jordan Hayes.
With Benjamin dealing on the hill, prospects for a Streamwood comeback seemed dim. Nevertheless, they answered with a 6-run fifth inning in which 11 men hit. Harris, Patrick Manning and Gorski each singled in runs to make it 6-4, and Tim Cohen reclaimed the lead for Streamwood by cranking a 3-run blast over the right-field fence on a 3-2 fastball from Benjamin.
Even he was a bit surprised by the turn of events.
“It wasn’t looking good,” Cohen admitted. “I don’t know if we all truly believed we would come back like we did. It just shows you the kind of character we have.”
“It’s a tribute to all the kids on this team,” Streamwood coach Steve Diversey said. “With 6 runs usually Wes slams the door shut. We just told the kids to go up there loose and have some fun.”
The Sabres scored twice more in the sixth inning against Hondlik to take a 9-6 lead. Gorski (3-for-5) delivered a two-out single. But no lead was safe.
“It was a great high school baseball game” Haskins said.