Lutze, Aurora Christian oust Westminster Christian
Aurora Christian right-hander R.D. Lutze wasn't sure how much he had left in the tank after throwing over 100 pitches through six innings, but he was determined to finish what he started.
After his teammates put up four huge insurance runs in the top of the seventh, Lutze reached back to strike out the final two batters in the host Eagles' 7-2 win over Westminster Christian in Saturday's Class 2A regional final at Waubonsee Community College.
The 6-foot-2, 220 pound junior fanned 16 Warriors, including nine in a row after a single to lead off the game, while allowing just three hits and one walk.
"That's probably the highlight of the game when we got those four runs in," Lutze said. "It's always nice working with a cushion. All you have to do is pitch."
"R.D. is our guy and he wanted to go, so once we got that cushion, I wasn't going to take the ball from him," said Eagles coach Andy Zorger.
It was a tightly-contested game throughout with Westminster Christian (17-19-1) grabbing a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with some help from the Eagles' defense.
Tyler Mamrot singled, moved to second on a passed ball and advanced to third when Frankie Angiulo reached on a wild pitch after a swinging strikeout.
Courtesy pinch runner Mason Runkel promptly stole second and Mamrot scored when the throw skipped into center field.
The Warriors missed a golden opportunity to extend the lead when Lutze struck out two straight with Runkel on third.
"I needed that second run," said Warriors coach Steve Gallaher. "I was figuring this would be a 2-1, 3-2 game."
Aurora Christian (17-9) answered with two runs in the third as Drew Wagner delivered a clutch one-out single past a drawn-in infield to plate Eric Hernandez and Tanner Dissell.
"With guys in scoring position I was just trying to execute and hit the ball to the right side," Wagner said.
"I would have been fine getting the out and going 1-1, but I know some of the guys were very concerned about being able to score any runs off RD, so they opted to play in," Gallaher said.
Gerald Marrero extended the Eagles lead to 3-1 in the fifth, knocking in Dissell with a sharply-hit double down the right field line.
Luke Weston relieved Angiulo and averted further damage, then tossed a scoreless sixth to keep the game within striking distance.
Mamrot singled to open the Warriors sixth, followed by Ian Merlak's fielder's choice and Angiulo's 4-pitch walk. After a successful double steal, Weston's RBI groundout narrowed the gap to 3-2, but Lutze got a strike out to end the threat.
The Warriors committed two of their five errors in Aurora's 4-run seventh. Lutze and Wagner drove in single runs and Jacob Daley broke the game wide open with a 2-run single.
"We were right back in it, but those errors killed us. That's been our Achilles' heel all year long," Gallaher said.
Aurora Christian will take on Forreston in Wednesday's Byron sectional semifinal. The Cardinals defeated Stillman Valley 3-0 in the Oregon regional championship Saturday.
"It has to be a team effort. We're going to need everyone contributing like we did today," Wagner said.
While the Eagles advanced, it was a bittersweet end for the Warriors and their eight seniors, including starters Peter Hahn, Jarrett Mueller, Adam Greene, Weston, Mamrot and Angiulo.
"It's tough, there's eight guys. That's the part that hasn't hit me yet," Gallaher said. "Those guys earned some key conference awards that they'll be happy to receive at our end of the season party sometime next week, but I think they would have rather kept playing later into June."