Walk-off double ends Wolves’ rally

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ST. CHARLES – After nearly reaching the state tournament this spring, the St. Charles East baseball team finally reached the next level.

The Saints edged Prairie Ridge, 6-5, Thursday in the Illinois High School Summer Baseball Coaches Association Phil Lawler Summer Classic regional championship game.

The Saints advance to the elite eight competition that begins Monday at North Central College in Naperville.

East fell to Wheaton North 2-0, in an IHSA sectional championship game at the beginning of June. Since then, the Saints (31-3) have been on a mission to reach the state level.

“We’ve been counting down the games since Monday [when regional play began],” East shortstop Luke Rojas said. “It’s just a great feeling. We were so close in the spring. Now it’s just great knowing we can get there.”

The Wolves erased a 5-2 deficit in the sixth inning on a Bobby Myers sacrifice fly and a Connor Perry single to right that scored two runs.

“I was really happy with us offensively,” Prairie Ridge coach Glen Pecoraro said. “I thought we had great approaches at the plate. We hit a lot of balls hard. I don’t think our hitters were intimidated at all. And I tell you, that comeback we had, down 5-2, we could’ve put our heads in the sand and said ‘game over.’ What a great job swinging the bat.”

Rojas delivered the walk-off winner against the Wolves (23-22) with one out in the bottom of the seventh. His double into the right-field corner scored Jordan Hayes from first base.

“I got a fastball on the outer half… so I just sat back and drove it to right field,” Rojas explained. “I saw it tailing, so I was hoping it would get down in the corner so we could score from first.”

Hayes reached base by getting hit by a pitch. He was
the third East player hit by a pitch in the game. Six Saints reached base that way the day before in a semifinal victory against Batavia.

“I love it,” East coach Dave Haskins said. “It’s been a year, but we’ve come a long way, trust me. We wouldn’t wear a pitch if our life depended on it, but now it seems like we are cemented in there and we wear pitches if the opportunity’s there.”

Prairie Ridge starter Tyler Tennant, a lefty, matched East starter Wes Benjamin pitch for pitch during the first four innings. Benjamin allowed four earned runs on nine hits for the game.

In the fifth, however, the Wolves made three consecutive errors on double-play balls, helping East score three runs to break a 2-2 tie.

“If we take care of the ball and don’t commit five errors, we win the game,” Pecoraro said. “I told [Tennant], I said I was greedy if I asked for more from him. He was outstanding.”

Jordan Getzelman drove in two runs for Prairie Ridge with a second-inning single.

Haskins, who used to coach at Prairie Ridge, had nothing but praise for his former team.

“They’ve got a great program,” he said. “Coach Pecoraro does a great job. We knew when we were up 5-2, I told [my players], ‘The game’s not over. They’re going to come with their bats,’ and they did a great job.”