Marian Central pays dearly for miscues

Marian Central's Dave Luczak sits in the dugout near the end of Friday's 6-1loss to DeKalb in the IHSA Class 3A Baseball State Tournament semifinal at Silver Cross Field in Joliet. (Travis Haughton - thaughton@nwherald.com)

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JOLIET – The euphoric feeling Marian Central experienced by advancing to the IHSA Class 3A Baseball State Tournament gave way to disappointment once it got there.

After a strange play early in the game that allowed two runs to score, little went the Hurricanes’ way. They struck out eight times, twice stranded runners who reached third with no outs and committed five errors.

Conversely, DeKalb sparkled, despite having to make serious lineup adjustments in the first inning. The Barbs did almost everything right and defeated Marian, 6-1, in their semifinal Friday at Silver Cross Field.

DeKalb (27-10) will face Chatham Glenwood (31-4) at noon today in the championship game. Marian (27-10) plays Joliet Catholic (22-15) at 9 a.m. for third place.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t come close to playing the typical game for us,” Marian coach Gregg Wikierak said. “This is my fourth time [at state], and we seem to be snakebit. We just can’t score any runs.”

In three previous Class A state quarterfinal appearances, the Hurricanes could muster only two total runs. They thought they had that many in the first inning when leadoff man Steve Zubryzcki walked and Scott Franzegrote singled, moving Zubryzcki to third. Eli McGuire’s fly ball to short left field was run down by shortstop Brian Sisler, who collided hard with left fielder Jake Gordon.

Although Sisler held onto the ball, both players were dazed and Franzegrote came all the way around to score from first. Both Sisler and Gordon were taken off the field on a stretcher and treated at a local hospital. After a 20-minute delay, the Barbs appealed to first base and the umpire ruled Franzegrote had legally tagged up. They then appealed to second and Franzegrote was called out.

“When I was rounding second, I peeked to see where the ball was [and missed the base],” said Franzegrote, who was 4 for 4. “It was just all the adrenaline going and trying to score.”

The run was wiped off the board and the rest of the game pretty much belonged to DeKalb. Jake Lemay went from catcher to pitcher and threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out eight and walking two. Without the two starters, DeKalb coach Justin Keck liked the way the defense looked with Lemay pitching and other players moved around.

“We bonded together as a team and family after that,” Keck said. “We weren’t going to use that as an excuse. They played fantastic.”

Sophomores Trenton Sopko and Tyler Gosnell, neither of whom had a varsity at-bat before Friday, contributed right away. Sopko reached on an infield hit and scored in the first inning, Gosnell had an RBI single in the first.

Marian helped the Barbs with three first-inning errors. Only three of DeKalb’s runs were earned.

“They put the ball in play, that’s the name of the game,” Wikierak said. “We didn’t put it in play enough. We didn’t put ourselves in a good position.”

The Hurricanes missed on prime scoring chances in the second and third. Third baseman Karl Steiger drilled a triple to left-center to lead off the second, but was stranded on two strikeouts and a pop-up.

Zubryzcki walked and Franzegrote again singled him to third in the third, but McGuire’s fly to right field was too shallow. Dave Parr struck out and Andrew Stone flew out to end that inning.

Parr (12-3) struggled in the fourth with three walks, and a hit batter led to DeKalb’s last run and Chris Wagner relieved. Wagner struck out four and allowed one hit in 2 1/3 innings.

“It’s nice to get here, that’s an accomplishment in itself,” said Steiger, who had two throwing errors. “I feel like I let down my team. I didn’t help in any way on the field. I feel like it’s my fault. As a team we can do better. As a baseball player, you have to have a short memory sometimes. I just want to forget about today and win tomorrow.”