Warren turns the tables on Carmel
Ironically, what almost cost the Warren baseball team a sectional championship berth is essentially what led to one.
The Blue Devils were kicking themselves for two sixth-inning errors that allowed Carmel to take control of Thursday's sectional semifinal at Barrington.
But Warren turned the tables in the bottom half of the inning and made the Corsairs pay for their mistakes.
Carmel made back-to-back errors that put two Warren batters on base. Then, Matt Dowd, who recently returned to the lineup after sitting with an injury, came up with perhaps the biggest hit of his life.
A double to right field brought in a run that tied the game and then Warren scored 3 more runs to essentially seal a 5-2 victory.
"I was screaming when I was running down the baseline. I was like, 'Let's go,' " Dowd said of his RBI-double, which tied the game at 2-2 with one out in the bottom of the sixth. "We were down and out after our errors, but all year we've been talking about P.M.A., positive mental attitude, and we kept ourselves in it.
"We thought we were going to be haunted by those errors, but then (Carmel) made some errors and I was able to get something to happen. I was down 0-2 and I thought (Carmel starting pitcher Jonathan Huisel) was actually going to get me. But I choked up and just put the ball in play. It was crazy."
The Blue Devils improve to 29-9 and extend what has already been a record-breaking season. They set a school record when they won their 25th game, and now they've advanced further in the state tournament than any Warren team in years.
On Saturday, the Blue Devils, seeded second in the Barrington sectional, will take on No. 1 Stevenson in the championship game, which is scheduled for an 11 a.m. start.
"I've been at Warren a long time and I can't ever remember (a trip to the sectional championship game for the Blue Devils)," Warren coach Clint Smothers said. "We set our goals and this has been a great season for us. We wanted to win 20 games, then we wanted to get the school record for wins. We've talked a lot about where we want to go (in the tournament)."
The Blue Devils could go far if starter Zack Schneider continues to pitch the way he did against Carmel.
He went the distance and allowed just 5 hits and 3 walks. And one of Carmel's runs scored directly off an error.
Schneider improves his record on the mound to 11-2 on the season.
"(Carmel) is a really good hitting team and, actually, five or six of those guys are my really good friends," Schneider said. "I play with them over the summer. I know how they bat. I was kind of worried about throwing to them because I know they can hit.
"I just tried to throw low and then it's about tough (defense)."
The Blue Devils had that formula working to perfection early on. Schneider gave up only 1 hit over the first four innings. Meanwhile, Warren maintained a 1-0 lead, thanks to a third-inning home run by sophomore Pat Kenney.
But then Carmel second baseman Eric Stevenson put his team on the board when he rifled a shot to third base in the top of the sixth. The throw to first was off and he not only reached safely but continued to third. In the meantime, Mike Pudlow, who had been walked earlier, scored.
Kyle Bessa then drove in Stevenson with a single in the very next at-bat. That gave Carmel a 2-1 lead. But it would be short-lived because of its own errors in the bottom half of the inning.
The Blue Devils wound up going ahead in the sixth when Pat Kenney was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
"The errors certainly are uncharacteristic of us this season," said Carmel coach Joe May, whose team closes the season with a 27-9 record. "But the last couple of games, they've bitten us and they certainly cost us here."