Wauconda tops Carmel for Final Eight berth

Last July, Kyle Bock was unpacking.

A year later, the incoming senior is packing.

Not that the catcher and his Wauconda baseball teammates will be traveling too far next week, but the Bulldogs are going somewhere they’ve never gone before, and it will be special.

By holding off Carmel Catholic 7-5 Thursday to win the Libertyville regional, Wauconda secured a berth in the Final Eight of the Phil Lawler summer tournament, which is co-hosted by North Central College in Naperville and Benedictine University in Lisle.

Wauconda begins play in the double-elimination tournament Monday.

The Bulldogs are headed to state, in short.

“It’s huge,” said Bock, who helped set the tone for Wauconda against Carmel by scoring from second base on Luke Kenny’s first-inning infield single and capped the Bulldogs’ scoring with an RBI single in the sixth. “It’s just an awesome feeling.”

Equally thrilling for Bock was winning a regional final. He played varsity baseball for Evergreen Park as a freshman and sophomore, and was on the losing end in a pair of regional finals. He moved to Wauconda last summer.

“It’s just nice to finally win (a regional final),” said Bock, who earned all-conference honors in the spring and helped the Bulldogs win 21 games.

Wauconda drew the No. 11 seed in the Libertyville regional but went 4-0. The Bulldogs knocked off Antioch, Prairie Ridge and Grayslake Central to advance to the regional final.

“Anytime you win something like this against the quality that we’ve been playing this week, it’s huge,” Wauconda coach Bill Sliker said. “It builds your confidence.”

Right-hander Jeff Lindberg earned the win, allowing only 1 earned run in 5 innings. Tyler Murphy’s 2-run double with two out in the top of the sixth got Carmel within 6-4, but Brandon Gibis induced a groundball for the final out.

Gibis then tripled to deep center field with two out in the bottom half of the inning and trotted home on Bock’s sharp single into center.

Carmel, which won only four games during the summer season and came in as the No. 16 seed, rallied again in the seventh. Andy Kantor, who had doubled earlier, lifted a sacrifice fly to score Billy Winegard, but Ryan Gick got a called-third strike to end it, setting off an on-field celebration for the Bulldogs.

Kenny had 2 RBI for Wauconda, Gick ripped a double and Ryan Geary was 2-for-2 with a walk.

“It was actually really relaxed,” Bock, who was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks, said of the team’s mood before the game. “We weren’t letting it get to us. We know (Carmel) is a good program, a storied program. But we knew what we had to do.”

“It’s a lot of baseball in one week,” Sliker said. “It really comes down to your pitching staff and how well they’re going to respond. I thought the guys responded very well. Everybody accepted their role, and they went forth with it.”

Carmel had won twice Monday, eliminating Stevenson and Warren, before defeating Crystal Lake Central Tuesday and McHenry Wednesday. The Corsairs have yet to name a new varsity head coach since Joe May stepped down following the spring season.

The Corsairs outhit Wauconda 10-6 but left 11 runners on base. Trailing 3-1 in the top of the third, Carmel had runners on first and third with none out, but Lindberg got one of his 6 strikeouts and then started a 1-6-3 double play to escape unscathed. Lindberg struck out the side in the fourth.

Andrew Wienke went 3-for-4 for Carmel, while fellow lefty hitter Murphy had a pair of hits. Corsairs starter Josh Walinski pitched 4-plus innings, allowing only 3 hits but walking six.

“I got to give credit to Wauconda,” said Carmel coach Mike Miller, who was May’s pitching coach the last two springs. “I thought our pitchers did a nice job. But Wauconda, they seem to be on a mission.”