Westminster Christian ousted in sectional semifinal
Westminster Christian had the pitching, but costly errors, a lack of big hits and an opportunistic baseball team from Walther Lutheran knocked the reigning Class 1A champions out of the Class 2A state tournament in Lisle Thursday.
In the completion of a Benedictine University sectional semifinal that had been suspended Wednesday due to storms with the Warriors leading 3-1 at the end of an inning, Westminster committed 3 of its 4 errors late in the ballgame and Walther Lutheran capitalized for a 6-4 victory in eight innings.
The Broncos (15-14) advance to face Aurora Christian (29-6) for the sectional title on Saturday at 11 a.m.
“It all comes down to defense and hitting,” said Westminster pitcher Ryan Perez, who took the loss and made a key error after he moved to second base. “As a team we didn’t hit until the last inning. We had our chance to get some runs and our defense kind of booted the ball around, so that didn’t help at all.”
Walther Lutheran senior pitcher Dan Lodalce (7-1) kept the Warriors mostly under wraps. He allowed just 1 run on 5 hits in 7 innings, an effort which allowed his teammates to make their comeback.
Still trailing 3-1 in the sixth inning, it didn’t look as though the Broncos would be able to figure out Perez. Pitching left-handed, the junior was rolling. He struck out 12 Walther Lutheran hitters in 4 innings of work, however, the Broncos got to him in the sixth inning with the help of Westminster’s defensive miscues.
Perez issued a walk to Lodalce to open the sixth, and the jam escalated when Elder flubbed a routine groundball to third base. Pitching coach Juan Perez, Ryan’s father, called on Elder to relieve at that point.
“(Juan Perez) just wanted to give the hitter a different look,” Westminster coach Jeff Moeller said.
Josh Galvan grounded a ball toward second base, where Perez had just moved. The infield was drawn in, so Perez threw to the plate in an attempt to get the runner. However, the low throw skipped past catcher Frank Oliver all the way to the backstop, allowing the tying run to score.
Galvan, who reached second on the throwing error, was immediately driven in by Shaq Cockrell’s basehit to left field, staking the Broncos to a 4-3 lead.
“What totally killed us was our defense,” Elder said. “I made an error and gave them a chance to get in the game, and (Perez) had an error. That tied it and they got a hit and scored a run.
“We said if we played our game, we could play with anybody. But we didn’t play our game today.”
Lodalce retired the Warriors in order in the sixth and had them down to their last out in the seventh. Senior Andrew Mason kept Westminster alive with his two-out single, and he reached second on a wild pitch.
Lodalce then fired 2 strikes to put Perez in the hole, 0-2, but Perez found a way to deliver his team’s only big hit of the afternoon. He drove a 1-2 pitch the opposite way to left field for a game-tying single.
“I just had to take a deep breath and I had to focus,” Perez said. “I basically just tried to hit back up the box, and it worked.”
Lodalce minimized the damage by inducing a popup with the bases loaded, and the Broncos responded with 2 runs to retake the lead in the top of the eighth. A double by leadoff hitter Chris Stevens, an error by Westminster’s third baseman and an intentional walk loaded the bases. With Jon Lomnicki batting, Stevens was able to score from third base on a passed ball, which gave Walther Lutheran a 5-4 lead.
“That’s just my fault,” said Oliver, the catcher. “(Elder’s) breaking pitches move a lot, and once in a while I’m trying to frame them, to stick them in there, and the ball gets away.”
Lomnicki subsequently blooped a single down the right-field line to provide the final margin of victory.
The Warriors gained a two-out baserunner in the eighth against Lodalce, thanks to an error, but a flyball ended the game and the dream of back-to-back state titles for Westminster Christian (25-8-1).
“I still don’t think they beat us. We beat ourselves,” Westminster coach Jeff Moeller said. “I thought we were going to win it when we came back and tied it. I thought momentum’s going our way, something’s going to happen here.
“But baseball’s tough, man. Baseball’s tough. Ain’t no easy ride to get back down or to win. Especially in a one-and-done (tournament). One little goofy error. One mistake here. I mean ... killer. What are you going to do?”
The Warriors, who graduate senior starters Mason, Oliver and Ben Stevenson, won the Northeast Athletic Conference title and their fourth regional championship in five seasons.
“If you look at our season, we had a good season,” said Oliver, who will play for Judson University next year. “It’s a tough bunch of guys. We scratched and clawed every day to try to get a victory.
“At the end of the day, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.”