Baseball: Lisle does the little things right to defeat Westmont
The big hit wasn't happening, so it was time for Lisle to think small.
A pair of seventh-inning bunts led to a pair of runs for the Lions. Combined with A.J. Casmer's 3-hitter, Lisle edged host Westmont 3-1 in Monday's Interstate Eight North baseball game.
Casmer and Westmont starter Alex Marotta were locked in a 1-1 duel from the third inning to the top of the seventh. The Lions (15-10, 9-3) started a one-out rally with a walk and infield single, then broke the tie with an error on a bunt.
Sam Russo added an insurance run for Lisle with his squeeze bunt that brought home Jay McGrath.
Casmer surrendered a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh but then recorded his seventh strikeout to end the game.
"We had a lot of intensity in this one," Casmer said. "I feel great about our team right now. We're really finding a way to get it done, I give a lot of credit to our guys."
All 4 runs in the game were unearned, including when Westmont (12-14, 3-11) scored in the bottom of the first off Casmer. Lisle evened the score 1-1 in the second on Zack Heidenry's RBI single, a run made possible when Damien Guerrero reached on one of five errors by the Sentinels.
"That's been our problem this year, we've been up and down with our defense," said Westmont coach D.J. Cocks. "The pitchers were dealing. You've got to hand it to both of them. Neither one of them deserved to lose that one."
Marotta pitched well enough to win, allowing only 4 hits while striking out five.
The two-game series concludes Tuesday in Lisle as both teams prepare for the start of Class 2A regionals next week. Third-seeded Westmont faces No. 5 IC Catholic Prep in the semifinals, while No. 4 Lisle takes on No. 7 Chicago Academy.
"This definitely had a playoff feel to it," said Lisle coach Pete Meyer. "It was time to see if we could execute there in the seventh inning, and our guys did a nice job."
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