Richards rally stuns Reavis

Updated: July 21, 2011 12:47PM

Trailing 7-1 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning against Reavis, Richards coach Brian Wujcik wasn’t thinking comeback.

“Absolutely not,” Wujcik said. “I was thinking about my postgame speech.”

The Bulldogs have mounted some memorable comebacks during Wujcik’s 19 years as coach: rallying from an 11-1 deficit to beat Mount Carmel 13-11 and storming back from 14-2 down to stun Homewood-Flossmoor 16-14 are two of the biggest.

But Tuesday’s seven-run, seventh-inning rally and eventual 8-7 win over Reavis carried far more significance than those two aforementioned games.

First, Tuesday’s win secured at least a share of the South Suburban Red title, the Bulldogs’ second straight and sixth overall under Wujcik.

It also was Richards’ 20th victory of the season, the 12th time Wujcik has guided the program to that many wins.

“There was definitely more riding on this game,” Wujcik said. “But we didn’t deserve to win this game.”

Probably not. The Bulldogs committed five errors on defense and for six innings looked lost on offense.

Reavis pitcher Rob Rabakozi allowed just three hits and struck out six through six innings.

After allowing a single to Chris Elliott to start the seventh, the right-hander recorded two quick outs.

The final out, however, never would materialize. Rabakozi hit two batters with pitches to keep hope alive for Richards (20-10, 14-5).

Lou Castro delivered a key blow, ripping a bases-loaded double that brought the Bulldogs to within 7-5. A single by Jordan Julian scored another run to make it 7-6.

Reavis (14-14, 11-7) then committed two straight errors that allowed the tying run to score and put the winning run at third base.

And when Rabakozi uncorked a wild pitch, Ricky Palacios scampered home with the winning run.

“Baseball is funny that way,” Reavis coach Don Erickson said. “They hit two bleeders to third base in the right spot and get a big hit with the bases loaded. We made some mistakes in the last inning and threw the ball around.”

David Beltran, Garrett Rhodes (2-for-2) and Hector Cirilo (2-for-2) — the seven, eight and nine hitters in the Rams batting order — were dynamite, scoring six runs. Rabakozi (2-for-4) helped his own cause with a run-scoring triple. Shortstop Matt Javorski made a fabulous play in the hole.

It all went for naught.

“You can’t play defense like we did and expect to win,” Wujcik said. “It was great that they guys kept on fighting.”

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