Baseball: Elk Grove thumps top-seeded Willowbrook

Of the 32 regional finals being played Saturday in the Class 4A state baseball tournament, the contest that Willowbrook hosted had one of the more unique matchups, in which a pair of divisional champions were dueling against one another.

The host school came in as a 24-game winner having captured its first West Suburban Gold crown since 2002. It had put together an 18-game win streak en route to securing the top seed in the Glenbard West sectional.

The Warriors' opponent, ninth-seeded Elk Grove, had captured its fourth Mid-Suburban East title in the last six years and was looking to extend the career of its head coach, Terry Beyna, who will retire upon the completion of the season.

Thanks in large part to a couple of big innings at the plate, the Grenadiers' season as well as Beyna's tenure will continue into next week as Elk Grove knocked off the Warriors 14-3 in five innings to earn their sixth regional plaque in school history.

Elk Grovet earned itself a Wednesday date with the sectional host Hilltoppers (19-11), who bested Glenbard North 7-1 at St. Charles East Saturday.

In picking up its first regional title since 2016, Elk Grove (19-12) was able to work its way out of a bases-loaded jam with one out in the bottom of the first when starting pitcher Ryne Singsank got Warrior first baseman Jeremy Conforti to pop up for the second out. The Southern Illinois recruit then got left fielder Scott Tumulty to hit one right back to the mound to quash the threat.

Then stage one of the two-part offensive explosion by the visitors began when center fielder Zach Schwartz connected on a Joey Guthrie pitch that the wind carried over the fence to get the Grens on the scoreboard 1-0.

"I was just waiting to get my pitch and I just my best swing on it," Schwartz said.

By the time he next stepped up to the plate the Grens had batted around in the inning and his second hit, a double, became the ninth hit of 10 they would get in the inning as nine Elk Grove baserunners crossed the plate.

"It was good to be able to start it off for the team," Schwartz said. "From there it was base hit after base hit, the runs piled up and we were just too hot to stop."

The Grens would bat around again in the third, this time sending 10 men to the plate scoring 5 runs on 5 hits including back-to-back RBI triples by shortstop Nick Hoffman and second baseman Josh Periaswamy.

Beyna, who will be at the helm Wednesday in Glen Ellyn for his 576th game, credited the early start in gaining confidence for his club.

"These guys, they're coming out and hanging on tight to keep advancing," Beyna said. "We just stress the importance they won't regret giving this their all."

That effort carried over to the mound where Singsank (8-2) went 4⅓ innings allowing only 3 hits.

While the season-ending loss denied Willowbrook (24/7) a regional title three-peat, Warriors coach Vic Wisner did not allow it to diminish what his team had accomplished over the past couple of seasons.

"This doesn't reflect who they are," Wisner said. "They've done so many positive things here."