Golembo gives Stevenson a leg up
After suffering an injured left hamstring in Stevenson’s first baseball practice, Patriots senior center fielder Max Golembo tested it in the season opener earlier this month.
While attempting to steal third base, he aggravated it when he pulled it.
But he became one of several heroes Wednesday afternoon when he went the other way — while batting as a pinch hitter against host Palatine.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning and his team trailing 4-0, the left-handed hitting Golembo, still not 100 percent healthy, punched a 2-run double down the third-base line to start a 6-run outburst in a thrilling 6-5 victory.
“I didn’t get all of it,” Golembo said of senior starter Eric Scheuermann’s 1-0 pitch to the outside half of the plate.
But it was enough to stir the visitors, who trailed 3-0 after one inning and 4-0 after five frames. Pats senior Scott Robin, who had entered the game as a pinch hitter in third inning, followed Golembo’s big hit with a 2-run double down to right field to tie it at 4-4. Senior shortstop Adam Walton then put Stevenson up 5-4 with a double to left.
Walton stole third base and came home on an errant throw to give Stevenson (2-1) a 6-4 advantage. It turned out to be a significant run.
Palatine’s Scheuermann belted a lead-off homer in the bottom of the seventh inning.
“Bottom line, it’s always good to come back and win,” said Stevenson coach Paul Mazzuca. “I’m proud of the guys for fighting the way they did. But we need to work on a lot of things. We need better at-bats, and spotting a team four runs is not a good recipe for winning baseball.”
Scheuermann (2-1) played like a winner at the plate and on the mound for most of the sunny, windy day. He allowed only 3 hits before the seventh inning and ended up with 8 strikeouts and 3 walks. The Pirates’ lead-off hitter also doubled, walked and singled before his late solo shot.
“He is legit,” Mazzuca said.
Scheuermann’s double to open the bottom of the first inning preceded junior Anthony Fortunato’s run-scoring double. Senior first baseman Kurt Becker made it 2-0 on an RBI groundout, and senior right fielder Nick Roy doubled home the Pirates’ third run.
Palatine’s lead grew to 4-0 when senior second baseman Scott Schneberger (2-for-4) knocked in Scheuermann with a single to left field.
“We did some good things,” Palatine coach Paul Belo said after his club slipped to 2-4. “But you have to be able to finish after getting the kind of lead we got; that’s the bottom line. You also have to score more runs when you have the opportunities to do so.
“We did not do those things today.”
Patriots junior starting pitcher Matt Allen (1-0) didn’t fold after a tough first inning, in which he hit a batter and allowed a trio of doubles. He then got out of a no-out, first-and-third jam in the second inning by picking off consecutive base runners at first base and fanning a batter for the third out.
“We’re still searching for a No. 1 (pitcher),” Mazzuca said. “But I liked Matt Allen’s attitude on the mound today.”
He admired Golembo’s clutch at-bat.
“What Max did at the plate didn’t surprise me,” Mazzuca said. “As a junior last year he had a lot of big at-bats for us. Today he looked really comfortable at the plate, mentally tough. That’s what I want to see from more of our batters.”
Stevenson junior Jordan Sheinkop (1 ER, 1 K) pitched the seventh inning for the save.