JCA turns away Grayslake Central
Joliet Catholic's ability to turn two turned away Grayslake Central in a Class 3A state semifinal at Joliet's Silver Cross Field on Friday.
The Hilltoppers jumped to a 3-0 lead through 2 innings against Rams ace Aaron Snyder and used four inning-ending double plays to stifle the Grayslake Central offense in a 4-1 victory.
"At the end of the day, you're going to have a hard time beating these guys if you only score 1 run," Grayslake Central coach Troy Whalen said. "We clearly had chances, but when you hit into 4 double plays, you're going to be in some trouble. We just hit some balls right at guys. That's baseball."
The Rams (25-16) will play for a third-place trophy against LaSalle-Peru (32-4) Saturday at 9 a.m. Joliet Catholic (31-5) will play Chatham Glenwood (32-5) for the 3A title at noon.
Snyder (10-3) was touched for 2 runs in the top of the first inning. The Southern-Illinois bound right-hander walked JCA leadoff man Dave Cladis before Nick Ratajczak doubled down the right-field line. With runners at second and third, No. 3 hitter Andrew Cecci staked the Hilltoppers to the early lead with a squeeze bunt that scored Cladis. A balk by Snyder allowed Ratajczak to trot home for a 2-0 lead.
Joliet Catholic increased its lead to 3-0 in the second inning when No. 8 hitter Steve Cservenyak, a left-hander who leads his team in home runs with 12, lined Snyder's 1-0 offering over the right-field wall with one out.
"Coming in I wasn't too nervous," Snyder said. "I felt good. They put the bat on the ball, but I've never been so wild in my life. That didn't help at all."
However, Snyder and the Rams held their ground after a shaky start to the third inning. Joliet threatened to break the game open when Cladis led off with a single and Snyder hit the next two batters to load the bases. That prompted a visit to the mound by the head coach.
"We just talked about it and I said, 'Hey, this is the last game you're going to play in a Grayslake uniform. How do you want to be remembered?'" Whalen said. "He bowed his neck and did what we expect him to do."
Snyder struck out the next two hitters and induced an infield pop to keep the Rams within striking distance. Snyder lasted 5-plus inning, allowing 3 earned runs on 5 hits. He walked one, struck out three and nicked three hitters with pitches.
Jackson White led off Grayslake Central's half of the third inning with a single, but he was later erased on a 6-4-3 double play from Cladis to quick-release second baseman Ratajczak.
The Rams broke though for a run in the fifth inning against JCA right-hander Kendall Paluch (11-2). Andrew Hosford led off with a walk and catcher Sean Seiler singled. Kevin O'Rourke's sacrifice bunt advanced both runners, and Hosford scored on White's sharp single to left field, which trimmed the deficit to 3-1.
"I knew he was going to throw me another curveball, so I just wanted to make contact," White said. "If you hit the ball, something will happen. Just hit the pitch."
No. 9 hitter Kevin DeRue grounded to shortstop on the next pitch to start another 6-4-3 double play by the Hilltoppers, turned nicely by Ratajczak after Cladis bobbled the ball momentarily.
"There was no panic at all," Ratajczak said. "I saw him bobble it, but I always have to be quick."
The Rams managed 5 hits and 3 walks against Paluch, who went the distance.
"We were in it the whole game, but we were just one rally short," White said. "We had a lot of fun this year. We were 14-13 at one point and we just decided to play loose and have fun. We wanted to win for sure and we're going to go out there and try to win (today)."