Sectional title shot for South Elgin

The South Elgin baseball team is taking its high-wire act to the Sweet 16.

The Storm edged Hononegah 4-3 in a Class 4A McHenry regional semifinal at Petersen Park Thursday as starting pitcher Alex Wolfe and reliever Chris Bingham combined to strand 10 baserunners, seven in scoring position.

“We lived dangerously,” said exhaling South Elgin coach Jim Kating. “Alex pitched himself out of quite a few jams, the defense picked each other up and we came through. We got a couple of two-out hits to put some runs up.”

South Elgin has won 3 playoff games by a combined margin of 4 runs. The Storm escaped a bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning of a regional semifinal to beat Larkin 7-5; they defeated Elgin 4-3 in an eight-inning regional title game on Jake Buhman’s walk off single; and Bingham induced a flyball to center fielder Ryan Ford with the potential tying Hononegah run on second base in the seventh to seal the school’s first sectional victory.

South Elgin (21-12) will compete in a sectional title game for the first time in the program’s six-year history on Saturday at 11 a.m. The Storm will face the winner of today’s semifinal between Crystal Lake South (28-9) and Grant (22-11).

“We’re making a little roll,” said Bingham, who earned a tense, 4-out save. “It’s the farthest our school’s ever come. It’s great to be a part of this.”

The Storm jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning against Hononegah starting pitcher Jack Granath (7-1) and never trailed. Andrew Weedman’s 2-run, two-out, double to the right-field corner scored David Palmer (single) and Buhman, who had reached on an error.

“I was looking fastball, got it and just drove it opposite field,” said Weedman, who watched a recruiting video of Granath on YouTube to familiarize himself with the right-hander’s throwing motion.

The Storm kept the pressure on a young Hononegah team that had one senior on its roster. The Indians committed 4 errors, and South Elgin capitalized on 3 of them to score 4 unearned runs. The Storm played error free.

“That was the main idea: to put the pressure on and keep the pressure on,” said South Elgin senior Jake Buhman, who went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI.

The Storm moved to a 3-0 lead in the third inning, thanks to Buhman’s two-out double. Leadoff hitter David Goins reached base on an error, moved to second on Ford’s sacrifice bunt and scored one out later when Buhman delivered.

“Two-out hits are a killer,” Buhman said. “It’s all about battling, especially in the playoffs.”

Wolfe (5-3) escaped a jam in the third inning when first baseman Joe Crivolio scooped a low throw from third base with Indians on first and second with two outs.

However, Hononegah (27-10) broke through for 2 runs in the third. With two outs and the bases loaded, Daytona Bryden’s infield single brought home one run, and senior Max Frost scored on a two-strike wild pitch from Wolfe to draw his team within 3-2.

South Elgin added a key insurance run in the bottom of the fifth. Ford reached on a one-out error and moved to second on Palmer’s Baltimore chop single over the third baseman’s head. Buhman then pulled a single by the diving first baseman to score Ford for a 4-2 lead.

Wolfe lasted 5 innings, allowed 7 hits, 3 walks and struck out 7. He gave way to Bingham after No. 9 hitter Jacob Clouser doubled with two outs in the sixth.

“I came out throwing good the first couple of innings and had that rough third inning,” said Wolfe, a junior. “I came back and I started to get my pitch count up. I told coach I was getting tired so I told him to bring in Chris.”

Bingham promptly induced a flyball to Weedman in right field to end that threat, but he found himself back in the pressure cooker in the seventh after leadoff hitter Adrian Marquez beat him to the bag on a groundball to first base.

Bingham then had Marquez picked off, but a double-clutched relay throw from first base allowed Marquez to slide safely into second. Granath singled to right field one out later to put runners at the corners with one out.

Catcher Colin Schreck’s sacrifice fly scored Marquez to pull Hononegah within a run, and Bingham subsequently walked sophomore Donovin Sims to push the potential tying run to second base. However, he got Nick Naber to hit a lazy flyball to center field to end the biggest win in program history to date.

“I’m proud of my team,” Bingham said. “They played great (defense), and they got hits when needed. We got a good win.”