Barrington Broncos down Stevenson 4-0 after rain delay
With a lightning delay already in effect and a driving rain showing no signs of a letup late Saturday afternoon, officials in the baseball press box at Barrington tossed around the hypotheticals.
What if the weather got worse?
What if the Class 4A sectional championship game between the host Broncos and Stevenson couldn't get played?
IHSA rules typically don't allow for Sunday competition, and the supersectional in Rockford that would feature the Barrington sectional winner was looming, scheduled for Monday.
One reporter suggested that, according to Section VIII of the terms and conditions of the state series, the IHSA could automatically declare the higher seed in the sectional championship game the winner in order to prevent the tournament schedule from falling off pace.
Betcha Barrington, the lower seed, is happy Mother Nature eventually decided to cooperate.
After about 45 minutes, the skies finally began to clear and the lightning detection system that originally sounded just before the second at-bat of the game gave the all-clear.
From there, it was Barrington that put together the perfect storm.
The ninth-seeded Broncos used a combination of stingy pitching and timely hitting to hang a 4-0 upset on Stevenson, seeded No. 2 in the sectional.
Barrington (21-14) advanced to its first supersectional game since 2005, the year the Broncos took third in state.
The Broncos will face New Trier, which defeated Loyola 12-3 for the Glenbrook South sectional championship. The supersectional will be played at 7 p.m. Monday at Road Ranger Stadium in Rockford. That game will be preceded by the Batavia vs. Cary-Grove contest at 4:30 p.m.
Stevenson finished 29-7.
"We didn't even think this game was going to be played today. It was soaking wet," said a relieved Sean Buchholz, who pitched a complete-game 5-hitter for the Broncos. "We're really glad we got it in."
Buchholz wasn't going to let the opportunity go to waste.
He rolled up 6 strikeouts and gave up nothing more than a single. On the two occasions he allowed Stevenson to load the bases, including in the bottom of the seventh inning for a bit of drama, Buchholz didn't cave.
"They had bases loaded but it didn't upset me at all," said Buchholz, a junior who's been on the varsity since his freshman year. "My composure was set and ready to go. I knew my teammates were behind me to back me up."
The Broncos also backed up Buchholz (6-4) with just enough offense.
Left fielder Derek Foderaro led the way, going 2-for-2 with an RBI. He also scored 2 runs, including 1 in the second inning when Barrington shot out to a 2-0 lead.
"It's just unbelievable," Foderaro said. "We played good defense and we really came out swinging. To be able to come out and play on Monday will be heaven."
Stevenson is suffering at the other end of the spectrum after leaving 10 men on base. The Patriots also didn't get quite the outing they've grown accustomed to from No. 2 pitcher Brad Sorkin (6-2), who was a bit sporadic before being replaced in the fifth inning. He gave up 5 hits and the first 3 runs.
"I was able to locate my fastball and my curveball was OK, but my changeup was not on today," said the Illinois State-bound Sorkin. "We just couldn't get any runs on the board. And, as a pitcher, you try to do too much when your hitting isn't there."
The Patriots got 2 singles from first baseman Joe McWeeney, but no one else finished with multiple hits.
"Every time we had an opportunity, we didn't get that big two-out hit that we had been getting and the magic ran out," Stevenson coach Paul Mazzuca said. "Their kid (Buchholz) made some big pitches with men on and two outs. And we had only one inning where we got the leadoff guy on. We were playing catch-up all day long."