Grayslake Central a regional champion
Grayslake Central catcher Kristian Meehan had no trouble expressing his feelings on the importance of the Rams' 4-1 Class 3A regional championship victory over Notre Dame in Niles on Saturday.
“Huge,” said the senior. “This is why you do all the winter workouts, get up early in the morning, do all the sprints — it all pays off when you can get a great win like this for your team and your school.
“There's a lot of things that go on behind the scenes that people don't see.”
What the fans did see Saturday was a masterful pitching performance from senior Mark Ash, who allowed only 2 infield singles.
“He's our horse,” said Rams coach Troy Whalen. “We've been riding him all season.”
The next leg of the journey is Wednesday at the sectional hosted by Grayslake Central. The Rams will face Lakes, a 3-2 winner over regional host Antioch.
Ash threw a complete game, while at the other end of the spectrum Notre Dame coach Nelson Gord — a 1999 graduate of Buffalo Grove — used a different pitcher each inning.
The ploy had worked for the Dons the last 3 contests, but it backfired against Grayslake Central.
“It played right into our hands,” said Whalen. “Usually when a pitcher knows he's going to only pitch one inning, he comes out attacking — and that's exactly the kind of guy we like to square up and hit against.”
The Rams trailed 1-0 in the third when a double by Sean Boban and single from Kyle Balling led to 2 runs.
Grayslake Central was able to extend the lead, plating two more in the fifth on hits by Jon Burchak and Ryan Fontana, along with a couple of Dons errors and wild pitches.
Meanwhile Ash, who allowed 2 singles to the Dons in the fourth, completely shut down the hosts in the final three innings.
For the senior, it was redemption after last season's regional final, where the Rams went down to defeat.
“I started that game last year,” said Ash, “and I gave up a home run, and eventually they had to take me out of the game. It led to our loss — I remembered that and today I wanted to come out firing.”