Schaumburg duo responds under pressure

Schaumburg assistant baseball coach Tom Mueller called seniors Ryan Hayes and Roger Lane the “R and R boys.”

And they have been fairly relaxed in pressure-packed situations that would leave a lot of players restless. Such as the ones Saturday where the Saxons’ season and their high school careers in their own Class 4A regional semifinal with visiting Elk Grove.

Hayes pitched 2⅔ innings of 2-hit, shutout relief and Lane’s two-out, 2-run double in the top of the seventh inning sent 10th-seeded Schaumburg (16-12) to a 6-4 victory over the No. 8 Grenadiers (17-13).

“We know we’ve been here before and we can come through again as a team,” said Lane, who has delivered clutch, late-inning hits on a number of occasions from the lower third of the batting order.

The Concordia-bound Hayes came into a tie game and improved to 7-0 in his relief role. That helped set up the Saxons’ shot with top-seeded Lyons Township (31-4) at 10 a.m. Monday.

“I like those spots, coming in in pressure situations,” Hayes said. “It’s exciting.”

So was the drama after Elk Grove, which was the home team as the higher seed, tied it at 4-4 in the fifth on an RBI double by Carl Sugihara (2-for-4) and an RBI single by Ryan Daubenspeck (2-for-3).

Hayes came in for Concordia-bound lefty Kurt Kempema and Jeremy Hall threw out courtesy runner Eddie Eid trying to steal.

Schaumburg managed only 2 harmless singles off reliever Mike D’Angelo after shortstop Tom Byrne (3-for-3) hit his first homer of the year in the fourth for a 4-2 lead. It was the only run allowed by D’Angelo in 3⅔ innings for sophomore starter Luc Dimaso.

Elk Grove coach Terry Beyna then went to junior Dan Guido to start the seventh.

“Our plan going in was to win the regional,” Beyna said of how he set up his pitching for Schaumburg. “Having looked at some of the other teams and pitching matchups, I felt this was the best matchup for us.

“I thought Mike D’Angelo pitched extremely well.”

Mike Pietritis (2-for-3) singled with one out in the seventh and Hall walked with two outs. After a conference with Schaumburg coach Paul Groot, the lefty-hitting Lane lined a 1-1 fastball to left-center for a 6-4 lead.

“I really felt comfortable with him up there,” Groot said.

“I was looking to attack and he threw a good pitch to hit,” said Lane, who also had a third-inning sacrifice fly. “Coach pulled me over before the at-bat and said, ‘Don’t try to do too much.’

“When I get in trouble I try to yank the ball (to right). He said, ‘Go up the middle or go the opposite way.’”

Sugihara singled with one out in the seventh but Schaumburg second baseman Dave Geller made a nice scoop and turn for a game-ending double play on Ryan Martinski’s grounder to third.

Hayes, who threw only 32 pitches, and Lane would love to be in similar spots Monday when junior Pat Bellinger gets the start against Lyons.

“We can play with anyone as long as our pitching and defense stays the way it is,” Lane said.

“They’ve got a good club but we think we can play with anybody,” Hayes said. “If our pitchers come out and throw strikes, we play good ‘D’ and we manufacture some runs … the pressure is on them.”