Schaumburg squeezes out a win at York
The elements at York on Thursday afternoon weren’t exactly conducive to a pitchers duel.
But there were Dukes hurler Louis Alcaraz and his counterpart, Schaumburg’s Max Paolicchi, both throwing shutouts through almost 5 innings in the face of a gusty 30-mph wind blowing straight out to left field.
Then the floodgates opened — especially for the Saxons.
Visiting Schaumburg got only had 6 hits, but 5 of them came in the final two frames as the 10th-seeded Saxons defeated York 4-3 in a Class 4A regional semifinal host by the Dukes in Elmhurst.
Schaumburg (22-13) moves on to play St. Charles North at 10 a.m. Saturday in the regional final.
“We had the jitters early,” said Schaumburg third baseman Matt Brancato, one of the hitting heroes with a double and a long 2-run homer. “But after the first pitch was thrown we were ready.
“Their guy (Alcaraz) was a little quicker than he looked in the bullpen, but after a couple of times through the lineup, we were able to get to him.”
York junior River Pitlock had 2 RBI for the Dukes.
“You have to give Schaumburg all the credit in the world,” said York coach Dave Kalal. “They got the hits and made the pitches when they needed them, and although we had multiple chances, we didn’t.”
“I had a feeling they (the Saxons) were going to play tough today with this being coach (Paul) Groot’s last year. It’s his swan song, so you knew his guys were going to fight, scratch, claw, and do whatever they needed to do to get a win.”
The game was tied at 3-3 going into the top of the seventh when back-to-back singles by Schaumburg’s Jeremy Hall and Joe Petritis put runners on first and third with one out.
Then a perfect suicide squeeze bunt by senior left fielder Kedric Daly plated pinch runner Alec Wagner with the winning run.
“I got the signal that it was going to be a squeeze,” said Wagner, “and then Kedric gave me a sign that he knew it too. If he got it down, we took the lead — and if he didn’t, I was dead.”
But Daly was able to put down a perfect bunt right down the first base line.
“It was a fastball up in the zone,” said Daly. “Perfect for bunting.”
Schaumburg senior Pat Bellinger got the win in relief and made the defensive play of the game by snaring a soft liner in the bottom of the seventh and turning it into a game-ending double play.
“This is a big win for us,” said Daly. “It keeps the momentum going.”
York knocked out 12 hits, including doubles from Seth Dvorak and Anthony Santos, as the Dukes finished with a 22-14 record.
“I’m really proud of these kids,” said Kalal. “They won conference for the first time since 1993 with another 20-win season. We just could not get the big hit today.”