Young Carmel impresses Wheeling
As the Carmel baseball team tried to stay alive in the present, fans got a look at what the future holds for the program.
And the future looks good. Real good.
The Corsairs, seeded 10th in the Barrington sectional, opened up regional play on Monday by hosting No. 21 Wheeling. Two of the youngest players on the roster led Carmel to an 8-4 victory.
Sophomore pitcher Matt Ryan rebounded convincingly from a tough start in which he gave up 3 runs and 4 hits in the first inning. He then dominated the next five innings by allowing just 3 more hits and no earned runs.
Then freshman Quentin Sefcik relieved Ryan and sealed the deal with an uber-efficient seventh inning in which he got three straight outs, two of which were emphatic strikeouts.
“It was kind of a surprise (to start the first game of the tournament as a sophomore),” said Ryan, who was recently promoted to varsity and is now 1-1 in his three appearances on the mound. “But I’m happy that (Carmel coach Joe May) did it to give me a chance. I think it shows he has some confidence in me. I just didn’t want to let him down.”
Quite the contrary. Thanks in part to Ryan, the Corsairs are on the upswing, now preparing for a regional semifinal showdown against fifth-seeded Libertyville, which is hosting the regional.
Carmel, which improves to 17-15 on the season, will face the Wildcats at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Wheeling Wildcats close out the season with a 5-21 record.
“We start a sophomore (pitcher) and we bring in a freshman (pitcher),” May said with a smile. “This is a decision that really could have burnt me because typically in tournament games, you always go with your ace in the first game.
“But we’ve struggled lately with throwing strikes. And Matt Ryan has proven in his previous two outings with us that he’s around the plate. So this worked out nicely for us. He really settled down after that first inning and did a great job.”
Wheeling teed off on Ryan out of the box, stringing together four straight hits, including a double by Joshua Matthys that scored 2 runs. Theo Yfantis, Kalvin Thong and David Shapiro accounted for the other hits.
As the Corsairs headed into their half of the first inning, they were already down 3-0.
Although Carmel didn’t match Wheeling immediately, it was soon after that the score was tied at 3-3.
The Corsairs scored 3 runs in the bottom of the second inning thanks in part to a lead-off double by John Salvi and RBI singles by Blake Bucsa and Jimmy Ryan, Matt’s older brother.
The Corsairs took the lead when Alex Young scored on a successful double steal in the third inning. They then put 4 more runs on the board over the fourth and fifth innings.
“I was just trying to be aggressive on the bases and luckily we scored on that (double steal of home plate and second base),” said Young, who went 2-for-3 on the day. “It feels great to get this win and I think we are kind of peaking right now. We’ve had a little bit of a disappointing season, a different kind of season than we’re used to. But we are playing a lot better right now and it feels like we have everything we need. We have the hitting and we’ve shown we have the pitching.”
Thong and Tyler Shapiro each managed 2 hits off of Carmel’s pitching. But it wasn’t easy, Thong said.
“Their starter (Ryan)…we got him pretty good at the beginning but he settled down and really did a good job,” Thong said. “Then the freshman came in and shut us down at the end.
“Our spirits were high and we were locked in once we walked on this field. We were ready to go and we were hoping to add on to those 3 runs that we got in the first inning, but their pitchers were good.”
Wheeling coach Mike Tice would vote for better than good.
“Their starter (Ryan) really kept us off balance after that first inning,” Tice said. “And what really impressed us was that freshman closer (Sefcik). He was just dynamic. I told our kids that they could see him on TV some day if he stays healthy. He’s that good.”