Baseball: St. Charles East's Asquini wins 400th game

You can now call St. Charles East baseball coach Len Asquini - "Mr. 400."

Asquini, currently in his 16th season at the helm, recorded his 400th victory in come-from-behind fashion Monday afternoon as the Saints rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh to pull out a 2-1 triumph over Glenbard North in St. Charles.

Senior Thomas Schroeder's 1-out, bases-loaded single to deep left on a 1-0 pitch drove in Ben Testo with the winning run as the Saints (6-1-1, 1-0) opened their inaugural DuKane Conference season with a victory.

"I was looking for a ball up in the zone," said Schroeder. "I saw the outfielders come in and thought I could poke it out there and they're not going to get it.

"I told Testo, 'I'm going to try and put it out there as far as I can and if they catch it, tag and score.'"

Schroeder was thankful for the opportunity.

"I was having a bad day - I was 0 for 3 - so I was blessed with the fourth at-bat and the chance to win the game for my team," said Schroeder, who realized the importance of Asquini's 400th victory.

"It's very special. He knows it's a big deal. Not too many other coaches reach that. For me and the team to be able to give it to him means a lot. It's just a fantastic day."

Asquini, who deflected any talk of the coaching milestone afterward, was just pleased to get the win.

"This was a really nice comeback for us and two things made that happen - Nick Manthei on the mound and our defense," said the coach, who guided the Saints to the state title in 1999. "Without that, we don't have an opportunity there at the end to push those two runs in and get the win."

Trailing 1-0 after 6 innings, the Saints began their rally on Nick Schumann's leadoff single and stolen base before Drew Parrine's sacrifice bunt moved Schumann to third.

After Testo's RBI single tied the game at 1-1, an error and walk set the stage for Schroeder's heroics.

"The guys at the bottom of the order - they're the ones that put me in that position," said Schroeder. "If they get three outs, we're not in that position."

Senior pitcher Manthei (1-1) got the win for the Saints, firing a 4-hit complete game with 1 strikeout and 2 walks.

"I was attacking guys early and trying to throw them off with off-speed (pitches)," said Manthei. "Our defense did a great job today."

Colin Fleisher's RBI single in the second gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead that stood until the seventh thanks in part to 6 scoreless innings from starting pitcher Michael Betancourt (3 hits allowed, 4 Ks, 2 BB).

"Michael has done a great job for us," said Panthers coach Rich Smelko. "He gave us six strong innings. It's unfortunate we couldn't bring him out there for that last inning with his pitch count being elevated a little bit (94 pitches)."

Asquini, who has coached the Saints to 9 regional titles and 3 sectional crowns, recalled his first victory back in 1996.

"It was at Barrington," said the coach. "We beat the legend - Kirby Smith (won 522 games from 1977-1998).

"It was a long time ago, I'll say that, and there has been a lot of baseball in between."