Prospect scripts another winner
There is no reason for Prospect to change what has become a familiar script for success.
It has been drama-filled in three of its last four big games. And there was plenty of suspense once again when the Knights faced nearby rival St. Viator in Thursday’s Class 4A Barrington baseball sectional semifinal at Kirby Smith Field.
The Knights needed to overcome a deficit the same way they did in the Mid-Suburban League and Fremd regional championship games. Thanks to a gutty complete-game effort from junior Jack Landwehr and big tiebreaking homer from Peter Bonahoom, they will be playing for a sectional title after pulling out a 5-3 victory.
“Even when we get down we all band together,” said Prospect junior third baseman Brad Gerdes, “and we know we can come back and get the win.”
Gerdes’ first homer of the year in the second inning for the third-seeded Knights (24-8) was the first of only 3 hits off senior ace Robert Romano (8-4) of No. 7 St. Viator (22-14).
The last hit was a 2-run blast by Bonahoom as the Knights scored 3 runs in the bottom of the fifth to match what Viator scored in the top half for a short-lived lead.
Landwehr (12-2) took care of the rest as he threw 125 pitches and had 8 strikeouts and no walks to put the Knights in Saturday’s 11 a.m. sectional final against No. 4 Warren (22-12). The right-hander pitched around leadoff hits in the final two innings to break the single-season school victory record set in 1987 by current Viator first base and pitching coach Eric Porter.
“Jack is just a battler and we never doubt him,” said Bonahoom, who increased his school-record career homer total to 21.
There was little doubt the Knights were in for a tough battle with the hard-throwing Romano. The Illinois Wesleyan-bound right-hander, who set Viator victory records for a single season (8) and career (16), allowed only 2 earned runs and had 6 strikeouts and 5 walks.
“What a great game,” said Prospect coach Ross Giusti, whose team beat Viator and Romano 5-1 on April 2. “You had two pitchers fighting their hearts out. Romano is one heck of a pitcher and Viator is a heck of a team.”
A pair of two-out walks and an error on Steve Dazzo’s grounder put Prospect up 2-0 in the fourth. Landwehr had a 1-hitter with one out in the fifth when Brian Pichardo reached on an error and Kevin Patzke and Kole Luthringshausen (2-for-3) singled to load the bases.
Brian Wilhite grounded into a force to break up the shutout and Nick Prazuch tied it on a single to center. After Joe Rossi was hit by a pitch, Cory Kay’s hard grounder was knocked down by Gerdes for a go-ahead RBI single.
“Especially with Robert on the mound,” Kay said of Viator’s apparent turnaround of the game. “They really weren’t getting good swings other than Bonahoom and Gerdes.”
But Prospect tied it at 3-3 when Viator committed 3 errors on grounders by Luke Bergman and Matt Molini to start the fifth.
“I thought two good teams battled today and we made a couple of mistakes,” said Viator coach Mike Manno, whose team won 13 of its last 18. “You can’t give a great team like Prospect any room for error and they capitalized on it.”
Which Bonahoom did after he was told to look for a changeup by Prospect assistant and former catcher Andrew Butkus. Bonahoom got all of one even though it was low and away and lined it over the left-field fence.
“He’s been around for awhile and played college baseball and he knows a lot about what pitchers are throwing,” Bonahoom said of Butkus. “He said to probably look off-speed when they were coming off the mound meeting they had.”
Viator got a Chris Myjak double to start the sixth and Wilhite’s single to start the seventh. Landwehr escaped both jams and got the dangerous Houston-bound Kay to fly to right for the final out.
“I was finishing it,” Landwehr said. “There was no way they could take me out of the game.”
That wasn’t how this one was scripted.