Baseball: Hintz makes mad dash to give St. Viator thrilling win

There is no stop sign at St. Viator.

Casey Hintz scored all the way from first on a single to the left-center gap by Zan Von Schlegell with two outs in the bottom of the seventh as the Lions upended Notre Dame 2-1 Monday in Arlington Heights.

"I am going no mater what," said Hintz, who had two hits on the day. "Even if he stops me I am going. I know it takes multiple good throws to get me out. So I am going to put more pressure on them, so I am going."

Hintz singled sharply to left with two outs. The University of Arizona-bound Hintz, who loves to run, took off on the very first pitch to Von Schlegell.

Instead of taking the pitch to allow Hintz to steal, Von Schlegell, who had two long fly outs in his previous two at-bats, changed his approach.

"It was definitely my pitch," Von Schlegell said. "I saw him going. He gave me a pitch I liked and I was able to work from there. I made an adjustment at the plate and we got the win."

Von Schlegell delivered a solid line drive to left center that was cut off quickly. But by the time the Notre Dame center fielder got to the ball, Hintz was nearing third base.

St. Viator head coach Mike Manno never game a thought to stopping the speedy Hintz at third.

"As soon as the ball was hit I knew I was sending him," Manno said. "I knew Casey would get to third. The way they were aligned in the outfield this might be a tough play. We are aggressive and Casey is one of our fastest guys. I'll roll the dice with him anytime."

Hintz and Manno caught Notre Dame off guard for a brief second. And that's all they needed as a sliding Hintz beat the relay throw home for the victory.

Both teams scored in the first inning.

Notre Dame (6-6, 2-4) tallied in the top half of the inning thanks to Michael Khouri's RBI double, scoring Luke Burgos, who had singled.

St. Viator tied it in its half of the inning. Hintz singled, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. He then came home on Von Schlegell's hard grounder to first.

From there it was a battle between St. Viator starter Jake Van Booven and Notre Dame starter Jackson Bruno.

Both kept the batters at bay for most of the game. And when they were challenged, both had their defenses to bail them out.

St. Viator loaded the bases in the fourth. Bruno then induced a comebacker for a 1-2-3 double play to end the threat.

In the sixth, Notre Dame got singles from Luke Burgos and Carlito Collins. But a grounder to third baseman Ian Farrell ended the inning with a double play.

Van Booven gave way to Wally Augustyn after a one-out walk in the seventh. After an out and a walk, Farrell, who had a terrific game at the hot corner, ended the inning with a diving catch on a line drive,

"You can't ask for better baseball than this," Notre Dame coach Dean Cademartori said. "Jackson Bruno was phenomenal for us. To come out and pitch like this as a junior, the future is really bright for him."

It was the second consecutive conference win by one run for the Lions (18-1, 6-1). On Saturday St. Viator was able to pull out an 8-7 win over Benet thanks to a two-run homer by Tony Pluta in the eighth.

"I told our guys the other day when we lost to Carmel that they better expect these kind of games in our conference," Manno said.