Saints eye more playoff success

Updated: June 1, 2011 12:24AM

When opponents visit St. Charles East’s baseball field, they get an immediate reminder of the strong tradition the Saints have on the diamond.

Posted on the side of the press box just beyond the main entrance to the facility is a list of St. Charles East’s accomplishments. There’s a space for the program’s multiple conference titles and its success in the state’s summer tournament. There’s also room set aside for program’s impressive history in the IHSA playoffs, which includes three trips to the State Finals and one state championship.

The 2011 Saints have already guaranteed their place on the list by winning a share of the Upstate Eight Conference River Division title and claiming the program’s 14th regional crown last week.

The next goal is to add a fourth sectional title the wall, and that quest begins Thursday when St. Charles East (27-10) squares off against Glenbard West (18-18) in the semifinals of the St. Charles North Class 4A Sectional.

“We talk with the seniors about putting things up on the press box,” St. Charles East coach Dave Haskins said. “This year’s group has two things to put up, and now we’re going to go for a sectional championship. This is a solid team, there’s great senior leadership and somebody always steps up.”

The Saints began the postseason as the No. 2 seed in the St. Charles North Sectional, and they appear to be on a collision course with No. 1 Lyons (32-4).

For that much-anticipated matchup to materialize in Saturday’s sectional final, first the highly-touted Lions must get past No. 5 Glenbard North (23-11) in semifinal play today. Then St. Charles East will have to deal with the 14th-seeded Hilltoppers, who upset No. 3 St. Charles North and No. 6 York in the past week on the way to their first regional title since 2005.

The current group of Saints players are no strangers to playoff pressure. St. Charles East is fresh off its second straight regional title, and last year the team lost 2-0 against Wheaton North in a sectional championship game.

“It’s one step at a time,” Saints senior ace Wes Benjamin said. “We’ve got to win Thursday’s game first, but hopefully we’ll go a little farther than last year.”

“We’re probably playing some of our best baseball right now. Everyone is sharp, we all come to play and hopefully we can keep that mentality for the couple games to come.”

Benjamin, a Kansas-bound lefty, is a big reason for St. Charles East’s success. He boasts a 10-1 record, and he ended the regular season with a 1.79 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 54 innings pitched.

Senior first baseman Tony Rallo is also enjoying a monster season. At the start of the playoffs the Judson recruit had already set the program’s home run and RBI records with 13 round trippers and 57 runs driven in to go along with a .488 average.

While Benjamin and Rallo have had all-state caliber seasons, the Saints have received major contributions from a number of other players. Senior shortstop Luke Rojas, senior pitcher Dan Ditusa, junior third baseman Jordan Hayes and sophomore left fielder Joe Hoscheit are among the big group that can be counted on to step up at any time.

“This is a fun group,” said Haskins, who is in his second season at St. Charles East and previously won a state title while coaching at Prairie Ridge. “They’re very coachable, they are very mature young men and they are a lot of fun to coach. It’s a privilege with these guys.”

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