St. Rita edges Huntley in state semifinal

Huntley's Matt Morin (right) consoles Chris Klein after Friday's 7-6 loss to St. Rita in the IHSA Class 4A Baseball State Tournament semifinal at Silver Cross Field in Joliet. (Travis Haughton - thaughton@nwherald.com)

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JOLIET – Huntley did not come to the IHSA Class 4A Baseball State Tournament with the stars or fanfare of the other three semifinals participants, but the Red Raiders showed they belonged on the field with anyone.

It took everything Chicago St. Rita had to get past Huntley on Friday night at Joliet’s Silver Cross Field. Finally, with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, shortstop Zach Soria lined a shot down the right-field line to send home the winning run and lift the Mustangs to a 7-6 victory.

St. Rita, the 2009 Class 4A runner-up and a team with several NCAA Division I players, will play Naperville Central (37-4) in today’s 6 p.m. championship game. Huntley (29-10) faces Stevenson (34-4) in the third-place game at 3 p.m. today.

“It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, we’re never out of it,” Huntley catcher Phil Pupillo said. “I still think we could have had that game.”

St. Rita (32-9) fell behind, 4-0, in the first inning when hard-throwing junior lefthander Joe Filomeno allowed three hits, walked two and hit two other batters. Raiders coach Andy Jakubowski only wishes they could have delivered one more hit.

“If we get another run or two, I think [Filomeno] is gone,” Jakubowski said, “and we’re into their bullpen. I’m not sure it’s the same game if we get one more.”

St. Rita coach Mike Zunica verified what Jakubowski thought, saying one more hit and Filomeno would have received the hook. Instead, he settled down and routinely reached the high 80s mph, occasionally cracking 90, on the speed gun.

“We felt if we chipped away, we could come back, and we did,” Zunica said.

The Mustangs tied the score with three runs in the fourth, then grabbed a 6-4 lead in the fifth, but Huntley wasn’t done. The Raiders pushed two more across in the sixth after Filomeno hit Zach Staab and Matt Szytz drew a walk. Andre Sopena singled, Carlos Alvarez’s ground ball scored one run and Chris Klein beat out an infield hit to score another run.

“It was a great ballgame, both teams competed,” Jakubowski said. “Our guys played with a lot of heart and character. The kids left their heart and souls out there on the field, which is all you can ask for.”

Klein came in to pitch in the sixth inning and retired the Mustangs’ Nos. 2-4 hitters, two on strikeouts. Huntley had runners on first and second in the top of the seventh, but reliever Mark Payton struck out Szytz to end the inning.

Klein almost worked out of trouble in the seventh with the bases loaded when he struck out Austin Bilotto for the second out. Soria ripped a 2-1 pitch that landed a few feet inside the right-field line to end the game.

“I hit my spot on that one, but [Soria] hit it where he should have,” Klein said. “We showed everybody we weren’t really the underdogs in the tournament.”

Many of the state’s baseball fans were looking forward to a matchup of St. Rita and Naperville Central, two of the state’s top-rated teams all season. Central first baseman-pitcher Shane Conlan transferred from St. Rita to Central this year and will face his old teammates. Huntley nearly played the spoiler role in preventing that matchup.

“Not too many people thought we’d be here,” Sopena said. “I don’t think this is a disappointment, it’s a great accomplishment to be here and experience this.”