Consistency helps Warren stop Zion-Benton
Warren’s baseball team has had its share of arm problems and other injuries and ailments this season.
“We’ve had a different lineup a lot due to those injuries and a whole bunch of different things,” Warren coach Clint Smothers said. “Finally, we’ve got a consistent lineup right now.”
Junior Adam Glogovsky was one of those players who was sidelined. He came back just in time to hit his first home run of the season Thursday and help lead fourth-seeded Warren past Zion-Benton 11-1 in five innings in a semifinal of the Class 4A regional at Libertyville.
“I missed almost three-quarters of the season,” said Glogovsky, who went 2-for-3. “It felt good to finally hit one this season.”
Winning pitcher Jimmy Nickell pitched 5 innings, gave up 1 run on 4 hits, struck out four and walked one.
“I just tried to throw strikes and get batters out,” said Nickell, who improved his record to 2-1. “Our defense played outstanding.”
Smothers felt good about Nickell’s performance.
“He’s climbed up our ladder all season,” Smothers said. “He’s been consistently throwing three pitches (fastball, curveball, changeup). His last time out, he threw against Loyola, which is a great hitting team, and he threw unbelievable. So we made the decision that we were going to roll with him. He worked hard and deserved it, and he threw a great game.”
Warren (20-12) advances to Saturday’s 2 p.m. regional final against the winner of today’s 4 p.m. game between Libertyville and Carmel.
Warren took advantage of wildness and an error to take a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first against Zion-Benton (6-20).
After scoring a run in the second, the Blue Devils added three more in the third. Alex Letto doubled, Anthony Garza singled, Glogovsky singled in Letto, and Nickell knocked in Garza.
In the top of the fourth, Zion-Benton’s Cole Urban singled, but the Blue Devils’ defense came through. Third baseman Cal Haley fielded a groundball and threw a perfect strike to second baseman Ryan McKeon, who threw to first baseman Mike Herrmann to complete a double play.
In the top of the fifth, Zion-Benton avoided the shutout as Christian Martinez (2-for-2) homered to left.
“The first pitch was a curveball, and the second pitch was something I could just wait for, sit back and hit,” said Martinez, who hit his second home run of the season.
In the bottom of the fifth, Glogovsky got a run back by slamming a pitch onto Route 176. The Blue Devils added two unearned runs to finish the game, which took only an hour and 20 minutes.
“(Warren) is a good-hitting team,” Zee-Bees coach Chris Harmeling said. “We made some mistakes on the basepaths and our defense had hurt us. If we played defense, it’s a different game.”