Walther knocks out Westminster

Updated: May 26, 2011 10:54PM

Walther Lutheran’s fortunes against Westminster Christian changed dramatically Thursday once it found a way to put the ball in play.

All 15 outs recorded by Warriors pitching aces Kevin Elder and Ryan Perez through the first five innings of the Lisle Class 2A Benedictine Sectional semifinal came via strikeout, but their team’s air of invincibility melted away when the Broncos started making contact down the stretch.

Westminster committed three errors and a passed ball in the final three innings, and those miscues all proved critical as Walther Lutheran rallied for a dramatic 6-4 victory in eight innings at Benedictine University.

The outcome ends Westminster’s bid to follow last year’s Class 1A state championship with another title at the 2A level. The Broncos advance to play Aurora Christian on Saturday in the sectional championship game.

“Just because they had a guy throwing in the 90s, we were saying we could still beat them,” Walther Lutheran junior Chris Stevens said. “We just found a way to win.”

Severe storms Wednesday night forced the game to be suspended after one inning, so the teams picked up Thursday in the top of the second with Westminster leading 3-1. That’s where the score remained until the top of the sixth as Perez and Broncos pitcher Dan Lodolce cruised through the middle innings.

Perez, an ambidextrous junior standout, struck out 12 of the first 14 batters he faced, including eight in a row leading into the sixth. That streak ended when Lodolce led off the sixth with a walk.

Stevens then followed by reaching on an error by Elder at third base as the Broncos suddenly had runners at second and third with no outs. The sequence prompted Westminster to replace Perez on the mound with Elder, a hard-throwing junior righty who started the contest and pitched one inning the night before.

Clean-up hitter Josh Galvan stepped in first against Elder and hit a grounder to Perez at second. Perez fielded the ball cleanly, but his throw home bounced past catcher Frank Oliver all the way to the backstop as Lodace and Stevens both scored to tie the game at 3. Galvan ended up at second on the play, and he came home when Shaq Cockrell followed with an RBI single to put the Broncos ahead 4-3.

“We killed ourselves on defense,” Elder said. “We gave them their chance to get in the game.”

The Warriors went down in order in their half of the sixth, and they had nobody on with two outs in the seventh when Andrew Mason connected for a single. He then moved up to second on a wild pitch and came home when Perez battled back from an 0-2 count and sent an RBI single to shallow left to tie the score at 4.

Westminster went on to leave the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, and that inability to cash in proved costly. Stevens led off the eighth for Walther Lutheran with a double off the top of the fence in right. An error by Tyler Greene at third base and an intentional walk to Cockrell loaded the bases with no outs.

Stevens came home with a the go-ahead run when an Elder slider got away from Oliver for a passed ball. Jon Lomnicki then sent an RBI single to right to drive in Galvan to put the Broncos ahead 6-4.

Lodolce (6-1) was the winning pitcher after gutting out seven innings on the mound. He struck out five, allowed five hits and also showed off some defense by snaring three hard-hit balls up the middle as the Broncos avenged a 7-6 loss to the Warriors in April.

“They beat us like this (in a close game) last time, so we just wanted to get some revenge on them,” Lodolce said. “It’s my senior year and I wanted this.”

Elder (8-3) took the loss for Westminster. He struck out seven and gave up four runs, only two of which were earned, in four innings.

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