Baseball: Benet grateful it got insurance against Glenbard South
Insurance runs are always nice, but the one Erik Jones gave Benet's baseball team was crucial.
Jones launched a solo home run as part of a 2-run bottom of the sixth, a blast that allowed the Redwings to hold on for Wednesday's 6-5 victory over Glenbard South in the Class 3A Benet sectional semifinals.
Jones doubled twice and walked in addition to homering, and Benet (24-11) needed every bit of it. The Raiders (13-21) trailed 6-3 heading to the seventh inning, but Mike Paprota's two-out 2-run homer narrowed the gap to 6-5. Redwings reliever Zach Strons needed just one pitch, however, to get the final out.
The Redwings face Wednesday night's winner between Montini and Nazareth at 10 a.m. Saturday. In the sectional final for the second time in three years, a Benet win would put the program in the state's Elite Eight for the first time since 1989.
"It feels good to fulfill this goal and hopefully make history by going even further," Jones said. "We just want to keep doing what we're doing. This team always finds a way to win."
A back-and-forth game went Benet's way to stay when, trailing 3-2, the Redwings scored a pair of runs on Jack Schneider's sacrifice fly and a wild pitch that brought home the go-ahead run. The 4-3 lead grew to 6-3 in the sixth on Jones' homer and Mike Dunn's run-scoring single.
After nursing leads of 2-0 and 3-2, Glenbard South (13-21) fell just short of claiming a third lead.
"The last couple weeks I think we really figured out how to be a baseball team," said Glenbard South coach Marco Eufrasio. "It was just unfortunate that today we ran into a very good Benet ballclub. We just kind of ran out of time and outs to battle back."
The Raiders took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning on a Billy Powers RBI single and John McMahon's sacrifice fly. Jones' RBI double and a run-scoring wild pitch tied the game for Benet in the bottom of the second.
Paprota singled home the Raiders' third run in the third inning, but four Benet relievers combined to keep Glenbard South scoreless for the next three innings.
"We were a little tense at the beginning, but it's good to get this one out of the way," said Benet coach Scott Lawler. "We really think we can beat anyone in the state, but our biggest enemy is ourselves. We just need to take care of ourselves and take it one game at a time."
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