Baseball: Colangelo, Wheaton North oust South Elgin
A downpour that left the baseball field at Hoffman Estates unplayable after an hour delay shorted South Elgin its final at-bats in Thursday's Class 4A regional semifinal, but it likely didn't matter considering how Wheaton North right hander Zach Colangelo avoided trouble throughout a 4-1, six-inning victory.
Recently named DuPage Valley Conference Player of the Year, Colangelo was at his elusive best late.
After the senior allowed a leadoff single to his DuPage Training Academy travel teammate Joey Roberson to lead off the bottom of the sixth, the Falcons committed an infield error on pinch hitter Adam Walker's groundball, which brought the tying run to the plate with no outs.
That's when Colangelo dialed up the intensity by dialing down his pitch speeds.
The North Park recruit supplemented his 84-mph fastball with more frequent off-speed deliveries to retire the next two Storm hitters swinging at strikes. He then induced a soft groundball to second base to wiggle out of the jam unscathed.
"As the game went on I began to mix in more change-ups," said Colangelo, who allowed 6 hits and a walk and struck out 4 to improve to 5-4. "I just tried to keep them guessing."
No. 9 Wheaton North (19-15) advances to the Hoffman Estates regional final on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Falcons, seeking their first regional title since 2013, will face No. 1 St. Charles North (28-6), the outright champion of the Upstate Eight Conference's River Division.
"They are a very good team and they deserve every bit of their No. 1 ranking," Wheaton North coach Dan Schoessling said of the North Stars. "We have to play the way we're capable of playing."
No. 8 South Elgin (19-11) broke to the lead when sophomore Nate Gomez pulled a Colangelo fastball to left field for a solo home run to open the second inning. It was the first home run of the season for the .389 hitter, the third of the season for South Elgin.
The Falcons tied the game 1-1 in the third inning by taking advantage of consecutive Storm errors for an unearned run.
They charged ahead in the fourth inning with 3 runs on 3 hits. Pat Leahy delivered the go-ahead blow, a double down the left-field line that scored Ryan Muehfelt, who ignited the inning with a bad-hop single and steal of second base.
Andrew Nelson followed with a run-scoring single to extend Wheaton North's lead to 3-1. The Falcons added another run when Gomez entered the game in relief and issued a bases-loaded walk to Colangelo before striking out the next two hitters.
Offensively, the Storm left 7 men on base, 6 in scoring position.
"We definitely had our chances," South Elgin coach Jim Kating said. "Obviously, (trailing by) 3 runs with the wind blowing out, we felt like we had a chance to come back.
"I'm really happy with this senior group. They've left a legacy here at South Elgin. It's hard to go over and look in their eyes. This is our last game and we didn't get to finish it."