Baseball: Benet wins 9-inning thriller over Burlington Central; St. Francis cruises in its semifinal

All Merrick Sullivan knew was that he wanted to start something.

As the leadoff man for Benet in the top of the ninth inning of a 0-0 game against Burlington Central, he knew he had to start the inning off on the right foot.

And on a 1-0 count, he did just that. Just not in the way that he thought.

“I knew off the bat that it was hit hard and going over the leftfielder’s head,” Sullivan said. “I didn’t think it was going out. But soon as I looked up, I saw his back and heard everyone start screaming, and I knew good things had happened.”

Good things had happened indeed.

Sullivan’s go-ahead shot, along with two additional insurance runs, proved to be enough to help the No. 2 Redwings take down the top-seeded Rockets 3-0 in the extra-inning thriller.

“All year, we’ve really played in some close games against some really good teams with good pitchers all season long, so we knew we weren’t going to flinch,” Redwings coach Jorge Acosta said. “We were going to keep battling to the final out one way or another. But seeing the ball go over the fence was one of those where I think we were finally able to exhale.”

The Redwings (23-12) will face off against St. Francis in the sectional finals at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Spartans defeated Dixon 14-0 in five innings in their sectional semifinals.

Through the first eight innings of the game, it was a full-on pitchers’ duel between Redwings senior Jake Rifenburg and Rockets senior Chase Powrozek, with neither team giving up an inch. Through those innings, both pitchers had allowed just three hits while also striking out nine batters.

“I could only control what I could control,” said Rifenburg, a Northwestern commit. “I knew that the guy we were facing was a good arm and that it was going to be a pitcher’s duel from the get-go. So my job was just making sure I kept stacking more zeros on the board until we eventually broke through.”

After getting the lead, Rifenburg would toss just one more pitch to get an out in the ninth, before senior Jonathon Rossi closed the door with two strikeouts.

“He’s got to be one of the top pitchers in the state and he’s been doing it for us for the past couple of years,” Acosta said of Rifenburg. “He’s been good all year. You put him in tight spots and he keeps battling and executing his pitches to minimize innings. We knew we were going to get a good effort out of him.”

Despite the loss, Powrozek left it all out on the mound for the Rockets (20-17). The Wisconsin-Parkside commit finished the game allowing six hits and three runs (two earned) while striking out nine in 8+ innings of work.

“He’s thrown the ball great for us all year, and that was no exception,” Rockets coach Kyle Nelson said. “He was great from start to finish. They got just one barrel on him. But man, for most of the game, he just controlled the zone and did whatever he wanted. So super proud of the way he competed.”

The Rockets had their best scoring opportunities in the first and seventh innings, those being the only times they got runners in scoring position before a Rifenburg strikeout ended the threat.

But despite the tough ending to the season, Nelson said he was proud of the growth the team has had over the season, especially with the youth that was put on display.

“I think if you told people at the beginning of the year that we’d have seven sophomores playing up in huge roles and we’d win 20 games and a regional title, I don’t think people would have believed that,” Nelson said. “But the leadership of the seniors were incredible this year. They had to help these young guys out a lot, especially early in the year, and really set the example.

“They got us to this sectional so that we could see this quality competition, so that when these younger guys are playing next year, they’ve seen it. So eventually when we get this done and if we put a trophy on the wall, this group of seniors will be a big reason why.”

St. Francis 14, Dixon 0: Colt Armbrust went into Thursday’s Class 3A sectional semifinal knowing he needed to know strikes.

What the St. Francis senior didn’t know was that he would already hold a three-run lead by the time he took to the mound for the first time against No. 5 Dixon.

So when he saw that, it gave him even more confidence.

“It just really helped with my confidence and being able to go out there and throw strikes,” Armbrust said. “Just getting those quick outs so we could keep the game moving.”

And as the game moved and the Spartans’ score kept getting higher, so did the pitcher’s confidence.

Armbrust finished the game tossing a one-hit shutout while striking out 10 as the top-seeded Spartans went on to take down the Dukes 14-0 in five innings to advance to a Class 3A sectional final.

“We’ve faced teams like Dixon before and we’ve come out flat,” Spartans coach Tom Ciombor said. “So it was nice to see the top of the order set the tone and jump out right away. And you know, Colt is Colt, and he just dealt for us.”

The Spartans (26-9) will face Benet in the sectional title game Saturday. The Redwings defeated Burlington Central 3-0 in a nine-inning thriller. It’ll be the Spartans’ first sectional final since 2021, when they beat Ridgewood for the title.

While Armbrust was dealing on the mound, the offense was giving him plenty of breathing room. Leading the scoring department was senior Joey Gainer, who tallied three RBIs off a sacrifice fly in the first and a two-run double in the second.

“Our coach has always put a big emphasis on team at-bats, and that’s what I’m always thinking in the box,” said Gainer, a Missouri Southern commit. “Our offense has really clicked this year, and we have a lot of hard-working guys in the dugout. We worked like crazy and got those swings in in the offseason, and now it’s just us going out there and having fun.”

Gainer was far from the only Spartan to have fun on offense. Senior Nolan Galla had three RBIs in the game, seniors Brady Carroll and Zack Maduzia each scored three times and sophomore James McGrath got on in all four plate appearances with two hits and two walks.

It was a rough ending for Dixon (14-16), who had won two straight for a regional title after ending the regular season with 11 straight losses. Junior Jake Whelan recorded the only hit for the Dukes in the first inning.

But even with the tough bow out, Dukes coach Jason Burgess said it was a solid learning experience for his young team.

“For our guys to get here, that was step one, but once we got here I knew we were going to face some really talented programs,” Burgess said. “This team was not built for that. We competed our butts off, but they’re not that caliber yet.

“This is a big learning curve for these guys. We worked hard to get to this point, and I’m proud of them for that. Now we’ve got to overcome that hump, and they’ve got to start believing that they can compete with these upper echelon teams once they get there. But sometimes losing a game in that way teaches us something, and that’s going to be fuel for us next year.”