Baseball: Shallmoser, Reilly lead Downers Grove North past Plainfield North
The skies were obscured by smoke from Canadian wildfires, but somewhere Ted Williams would be smiling if he could have seen Downers Grove North senior Brady Shallmoser hit on Thursday.
Shallmoser had another brilliant day at the plate and also flashed some fancy glovework at first base. He went 4 for 4 with three runs scored and two RBIs to lead the top-seeded Trojans to an 8-0 victory over fourth-seeded Plainfield North at the Class 4A Lockport Sectional semifinals.
Downers Grove North (30-7) advances to play 10th-seeded Waubonsie Valley (22-12) in the sectional final at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Warriors advanced with a 4-1 win over second seed Lockport.
“Brady’s been a middle-of-the-order hitter for the past few years,” Downers North coach Kyle Briscoe said. “This is our third 30-win year in a row and he’s been a part of all those.
“He’s been through all the battles, so no moment is too big for him. He’s a professional hitter. He comes up there with a good approach, not trying to do too much with it.”
Shallmoser, who is committed to Wabash Valley Junior College, leads the Trojans in every offensive category. He raised his batting average to .448 with a double and three singles and now has five home runs and 34 RBIs.
This latest performance did not shock Downers North starting pitcher Jimmy Reilly.
“Every game I pitch, I need Brady in the lineup,” Reilly said. “He’s always 3 for 4 every game I pitch, so I’m not surprised when I see this kid coming out hot.”
The Trojans started hot with right fielder J.D. Cumbee led off the bottom of the first with a single off Plainfield North pitcher Will Burke. It was the first of three hits for Cumbee, who went 3 for 4 with three runs.
Shallmoser followed by slashing a double over the right fielder’s head to drive in Cumbee, and later scored on an error.
“I was seeing everything really well out of his hand, and I just put the bat on the ball,” Shallmoser said. “I hit a lot of barrels and got it through.”
The early 2-0 run cushion was all Reilly (6-1) needed. The senior righthander threw six shutout innings, allowing the Tigers (22-13) only three hits while walking one and striking out two. Ryan Konopiots pitched the seventh inning, giving up one hit and striking out the side.
“When you scrap out runs early, it makes the whole game easier,” Reilly said. “It’s a lot less pressure.”
Reilly had great command, throwing 59 of his 94 pitches for strikes. He has not allowed a run in two postseason starts.
“I really rely on my curveball,” Reilly said. “It’s a big pitch of mine.
“I use a two-seamer to lefties. It always, runs, it’s hard to hit, so that’s a big pitch, and then I put them away with the fastball. I work backwards, so I start with a little curveball first pitch and then I come with the fastball.”
Shallmoser hit nearly everything thrown to him. He and Cumbee both singled and scored in the third, when Edgar Santos and Antonio Russotiesi hit sacrifice flies to increase the Trojans’ lead to 4-0.
Shallmoser added an RBI single in the fourth and singled and scored in the sixth. He also had three unassisted putouts in the first three innings.
“It was huge,” Shallmoser said of scoring early. “These past two playoff games we’ve only scored three runs, so to get two in the first and then have (Reilly) shut everything down was amazing. And then we kept scoring and didn’t stop.”
Shallmoser hasn’t stopped hitting all season. What’s behind the consistent excellence?
“I feel like it’s just my approach,” Shallmoser said. “Like I know what I’m doing and I commit to that. It works for me and I stay with that, and I get the result that I want.”
As do the Trojans, who plan to throw ace Colin Doyle (7-1) on Saturday and could use either Reilly or Konopiots (7-1) in a possible supersectional on Monday.
“We got a taste of it last year in the supersectional,” Shallmoser said. “I just want to go back there, so that’s all the motivation I need to just win on Saturday and keep the push to state going.”