Baseball: Willowbrook's Pelsor does what he's designated to do
Willowbrook senior Sam Pelsor received simple instructions from coach Vic Wisner.
Hit the ball.
And that he did.
Pelsor's opposite-field RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning drove in Jack Hines with the winning run in the Warriors' 5-4 walkoff victory over Addison Trail in Thursday's Class 4A Willowbrook regional baseball semifinals in Villa Park.
With runners on first and second and nobody out in a tie game, the situation might have called for a bunt. But Wisner wasn't going to ask his designated hitter to lay one down, especially after Pelsor delivered a 2-run double just two innings earlier.
Pelsor helped Willowbrook (18-14) rally from a 4-0 deficit in a 4-run fifth inning, then capped the comeback with another clutch hit.
"(Wisner) came up to me and said, 'Hit the ball,'" Pelsor said. "And I told Jack that if he's on, 'I'm hitting you in no matter what.' That's what happened. The baseball gods came down and brought us a win."
The Warriors advance to their sixth straight regional title game to face Wheaton North at 2 p.m. Saturday.
"I was thinking about making him bunt and then I just said to go hit it," Wisner said with a laugh. "That's what he does for us. He's our designated hitter, not our designated bunter. We battled through it. They responded to the adversity."
Addison Trail (19-13) and starting pitcher Trevor Fulmer jumped to a 1-0 lead in the second inning on Nick Daudelin's solo home run. The Blazers added 3 unearned runs in the fourth off Willowbrook complete-game winner Dax Meyer behind Angelo Pahopos' 2-run triple and A.J. Carlson's RBI single.
Dan Gusel singled in the first run for the Warriors in the fifth inning. Willowbrook tied it with three two-out runs. Scott Tumilty's run-scoring single made it 4-4.
"You know they're not going to go down quietly," said Addison Trail coach Mike Kennedy. "It was one tough inning, and it is what it is. But 19 wins for this group, 12-6 in conference. It's one of the best years we've ever had. They set a new expectation for this program."
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