St. Charles E. blanks Geneva for title
It was déjà vu all over again in Geneva Saturday.
For the second consecutive year, pitchers Wes Benjamin of St. Charles East and Matt Williams of Geneva squared off with the Class 4A regional championship hanging in the balance on the Vikings' home field.
And for the second straight season, the Saints (27-10) carried home the hardware after their impressive 6-0 victory over the seventh-seeded Vikings (21-12).
Nobody was more impressive than Benjamin (10-1), who tossed a 2-hit complete game with 1 walk and 7 strikeouts.
“Wes threw an incredible game,” Saints coach Dave Haskins said of the Kansas recruit. “He held the runners perfectly, pounded the zone and had all three pitches working for him. He attacked both sides of the plate.
“He pitched like a Division 1 pitcher,” added Haskins. “That was his best outing.”
How dominant was the senior left-hander?
Benjamin, who improved his 3-year varsity record to 25-4, didn't allow a runner past first base and needed just 72 pitches (52 for strikes) to finish off the Vikings' season.
“That's the best pitcher we've seen all year,” said Geneva coach Matt Hahn. “His reputation obviously precedes him. He showed why he's that good.”
The second-seeded Saints grabbed a 2-0 first-inning lead with the benefit of just one base hit — a 1-out single by Jordan Hayes.
Back-to-back walks to Luke Rojas and Tony Rallo loaded the bases for Johnny Hondlik, who drove in the game's first run on a fielder's choice. After Brian Sobieski walked to re-load the bases, another free pass to Henri Desrosiers forced in the Saints' second run.
“The guys picked me up big-time,” said Benjamin. “The early run support helps out more than I can describe. It's (being up 2-0) a big difference. I'm not afraid to try and hit spots I might normally stay away from.”
The Saints, who advance to Thursday's St. Charles North sectional semifinals against either York or Glenbard West, played small ball for add-on runs in the second and fourth, sandwiched around Sobieski's 2-run, third-inning home run.
In the second, Ryan Shaffrey was hit by a pitch, took second on Joe Hoscheit's sacrifice bunt, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Hayes' RBI groundout. In the fourth, Hoscheit led off with a double and moved to third on Hayes' sacrifice bunt before coming across on Rojas' sacrifice fly.
“I told them (after the game) that's what I was so proud of was the quality at-bats,” said Haskins. “Moving the guy over, then with the infield in to elevate with a fly ball with Rojas, and Jordan Hayes did the same thing, hitting it on the ground with the infield back.
“Those are big RBI, and that's what we believe in. We played great little ball for five or six innings.”
That's exactly what Sobieski was thinking before belting his second postseason home run — and fifth of the season after Rallo walked and pinch-runner Jack DelloStritto advanced to second on Hondlik's sacrifice bunt.
“I was just trying to get him over to third and let the guy behind me get him in,” said the sophomore catcher. “I was trying to take it to right field and it worked out better.”
Pitching in front of his grandparents, Arthur and Gail, visiting from Pennsylvania, Benjamin did the rest, retiring the final 9 batters he faced.
“He was like a sniper on the mound hitting his spots,” said Sobieski. “I noticed it right away in the bullpen. He didn't miss one spot. He was lights out all day.”
Outside of Mitch Endriukaitis' first-inning single, the Vikings' only other base hit of the day came on Kyle Bender's leadoff bunt single in the third.
“It's always tough to go out like that and not being able to string anything together,” said senior Chris Hipchen. “But we all know that we were facing a real good pitcher. He's the best guy we faced this year.
“He's a tough competitor and he's fun to face. I think we're all going to be checking up on him to see how he's doing at Kansas.”