Carmel falls victim to Downers South rally
This was a turnabout Downers Grove South could get behind.
The Mustangs rallied for a 6-5 win over Carmel on Monday at Benedictine University to advance into the winners' bracket of Elite Eight pool play of the IHSBCA Phil Lawler Summer Classic.
Pat Korienek's walk-off ground single through the right side sent Kyle Engel and Jacob Wolf flying home with the tying and winning runs.
"On a basehit on the ground we're going, pretty much," said Downers South coach Darren Orel.
Corsairs pitcher Jimmy Spagna had struck out his eighth batter for one out in the bottom of the seventh, but Engel lined a rope off Spagna's right ankle.
The senior righty appeared fit despite throwing 106 pitches, but acting Corsairs coach Chris Dovichi - head coach Chuck Gandolfi had knee replacement surgery Monday - inserted closer Nick Battalini.
The Mustangs (26-3) responded with a walk by Wolf and a single by Dan Walsh to load the bases ahead of Korienek.
"I saw the side-armer warming up in the pen. It's a little easier to see (the ball)," said Korienek, 2-for-3 with 2 RBI and a run scored in support of winning pitcher Jake Rone (6-0).
"(Spagna) threw pretty hard, he was having a good game. I was kind of relieved to see a new pitcher in there."
Battalini is a big reason the Corsairs are in the Elite Eight with a 26-5 record.
"He's been lights-out," Dovichi said.
"Nick Battalini is our go-to closer," Spagna added. "He's always done it for us this year. When we get into that situation we kind of go to the closer role, and Nick came in. He's closed a lot of big games this year for us."
Chris DiMarco's two-out, 2-run single in the third and Spagna's 2-run bouncer through short in the fourth - Corsairs baserunner Timmy Hendricks screened the Mustangs infielder as the ball arrived - helped Carmel go up 5-1.
The Mustangs drew within 5-4 in the bottom of the fourth when Matt Wivinis tripled to the fence in left-center to scored Walsh and Korienek, then Wivinis scored on a wild pitch.
In pool play today, the Mustangs will play St. Rita at 12:30 p.m. at North Central College. Carmel meets Warren at 10 a.m. at North Central.
"Tomorrow's a new day," Dovichi said. "We'll just go out there, hit the ball again, make the plays and have some good pitching."