Tough loss won’t keep C-G down

Cary-Grove's Alex Hembrey celebrates Friday after scoring on a single by teammate Matt Nelsen in the first inning of their IHSA Class 4A State Tournament semifinal against New Trier at Silver Cross Field in Joliet. The Trojans lost, 3-2, and will play O'Fallon in the third-place game at 4 p.m. today. (Justin Edmonds – jedmonds@nwherald.com)

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JOLIET – It is possible that Cary-Grove’s baseball team got robbed.

It’s also possible that New Trier was the victim of a few unjust calls during one inning or another of the IHSA Class 4A State Tournament semifinal game between the Trojans and the Trevians on Friday night at Silver Cross Field in Joliet.

Those possibilities are the ones that get brought up later, as was the case Friday night, when the Trevians won, 3-2, and the Trojans were forced to stop focusing on playing for a state title and focus on playing for third place at 4 p.m. today against O’Fallon.

But C-G’s players, despite taking the loss and having reason to feel a bit more slighted than the Trevians because of that fact, mentioned during the postgame news conference what the Trojans felt was a poor call, and let it go.

There is no crying in baseball, as they say.

And this team is not one to hang its head. C-G knew it played one heck of a game Friday night under the lights, coming out swinging as a warning to New Trier.

C-G scored first. The Trojans strung together three consecutive hits to make their first inning look as though it could not have been drawn up better.

And losing, especially after playing so well, likely was excruciating, especially with a questionable call.

But there still is work to be done, regardless of whether Chris Waylock was safe in the bottom of the third inning when he tried to score on Matt Nelsen’s deep two-out double to right center. The home plate umpire called Waylock out, although Waylock and C-G coach Don Sutherland were confident Waylock’s hand crossed the plate before the tag.

“The tag was there before he was,” New Trier catcher Lowell Hall argued after the game.

“I put my hand in there and I thought for sure I was safe,” Waylock said.

But, as the Trojans all pointed out during their postgame press conference, it’s time to move on.

It’s always easier to play for a state championship than for third place.

But playing for third is the card the Trojans have been dealt and it’s the one they are going to play. This team made no excuses all season. When the Trojans committed errors, they played on. When opponents were hitting against their pitchers, they made adjustments. When their bats weren’t hot, they found other ways to score.

So Friday night, amid the Trevians’ celebration and their own disappointment, the Trojans picked themselves up again with the intention of just continuing to play baseball.

They might be down, but the Trojans certainly are not out.

“We’ll come out [today] and play as if we were playing for a state championship,” Waylock said.

At the beginning of Friday’s game, and then again in the seventh inning, C-G looked like a team that should play for a state title.

New Trier took a two-run lead, 3-1, in the top of the seventh and pitcher Bob Cook (12-2), who seemed to get stingier as the game progressed, got Stuart Gaulke to fly out to center and struck out Mark Thomson, leaving one out standing between New Trier and the state championship game.

But Eric Chandler singled to right field. Luke Mottashed walked. And Waylock, perhaps the biggest proponent of keeping spirits high after the loss, singled to center to drive in Chandler.

Nelsen, who was 3-for-3 entering the seventh, grounded to third for the final out. But it didn’t overshadow the performance he had overall.

Had Waylock been called safe at home in the third instead of being called out, the Trojans could have gone into extra innings against the Trevians. Maybe they would have won.

If there hadn’t been an uncharacteristic error in the fourth that led to the Trevians’ first run of the game, perhaps the Trojans would be playing for a state championship tonight.

But this team is too smart to focus on the coulda, woulda, shoulda, even when the loss comes on the biggest stage in the program’s history.

By the time the C-G players answered media questions Friday night, they already were mentally preparing to play today’s game. They already had, in many ways, moved on. They were relishing all the things they’d done right – a seven-inning performance from pitcher Corey Bruns (9-4), who allowed nine hits and three walks while striking out three. Three hits each from Waylock and Nelsen – each with an RBI.

Friday night is done. But the Trojans are happy they will play on.

“Every team in Class 4A wants to be in our shoes right now,” Waylock said. “We made it this far and we lost, but that’s more than most teams can say and it’s a position they’d all want to be in.”

The C-G players were some of the last people left in the stadium Friday. Nearly an hour after their game against New Trier, a small group still was gathered in the outfield, playing catch, stretching and chatting with one another.

A loss in a game so big always hurts. But smart teams rebound and come out even stronger.

That’s exactly what C-G will do at 4 p.m. today.

• Maureen Lynch is a sportswriter for the Northwest Herald. Write to her at mlynch@nwherald.com.