Riverside-Brookfield holds off Chargers

Updated: June 2, 2011 9:57PM

The middle of the St. Joseph lineup has been the heart of the team in more ways than one all season long. But the three, four and five hitters went a combined 0-for-10 with three strikeouts and a lone RBI as the Chargers fell to Riverside-Brookfield 5-4 in their Class 3A Nazareth Sectional semifinal matchup Thursday in LaGrange Park.

The No. 2-seeded Chargers (20-14) chipped away after the No. 3 Bulldogs (25-12) built a 5-1 lead, but couldn’t produce key hits when opportunities would arise. Combined with the fact that Nos. 3, 4 and 5 were retired in order in the third, fifth and seventh innings resulted in the end to what turned out to be a successful season overall for St. Joseph.

“The biggest thing was we got down early and battled back, but we didn’t have any timely hitting from the middle of the order,” St. Joseph head coach Jay Meath said. “Those are the guys we counted on all year. You can put them in a position to succeed but if they don’t come through, then they don’t come through. That’s part of the game of baseball.”

The Chargers had outscored their opponents 28-0 in winning its own regional while St. Joseph pitchers did not allow a hit in the two state tournament games. Riverside-Brookfield ended that streak in the first inning when its second hitter, shortstop Vito Derango, cracked a home run over the left field fence off losing pitcher Tyler Polich.

St. Joseph outhit R-B nine to six, but let a couple of chances with runners in scoring position slip through their fingers.

Trailing 2-1 in the last of the second, the Chargers had the bases loaded with one out after three straight singles failed to produce a run. But the next hitter struck out swinging and Trayvon Johnson crushed the next pitch he saw but lined it to right field to end the inning. St. Joseph also left runners in scoring position in the fourth and sixth innings.

The Bulldogs added three runs in the top of the fourth to go ahead 5-1, but the Chargers came right back in the bottom of the frame.

Second baseman Eric LeCoure doubled down the left-field line to start the inning and with one out, catcher Danny Barron lined a single to left that advanced LeCoure to third. Designated-hitter Jose Rodriguez flied to center to drive in LeCoure and shortstop Steven Scatassa (two hits, run) followed with an RBI single to bring home Barron (two hits, run).

Scatassa knocked in right fielder Edgar Donato (2-for-3, run) with a hit in the sixth, but it would be the last runner to cross the plate for St. Joseph as R-B reliever David Tortorici would retire the side without damage in the seventh for the save.

Bulldogs starter J.T. Evans pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed nine hits, four earned runs, walked two and struck out four. Polich went four innings, giving up five earned runs on six hits while walking three and striking out two. Scatassa pitched the final three innings for the Chargers and retired all nine hitters he faced.

“Tyler [Polich] did fine, but a couple of walks hurt him — that was key,” said Meath, who noted two of his three bases on balls came around to score. “But you have to be ready for the sectionals. We might have had it easier in the regionals, but when you get a good seed then you play who you play. I thought we were ready for sectionals but sometimes untimely hitting will grab you. We fought our way back into this game and gave ourselves a chance to win in the sixth and seventh, but we just didn’t have enough at the end.

“One of our goals this season was to win the conference as we entered the Chicago Catholic League White and we finished a game back (11-7), so that’s pretty successful for our first year in a tough league,” he added. “We played some good baseball. There were some lulls in there as well, but that can be expected, especially with the weather this spring … it was tough for everyone. But we hung in there and down the stretch we started to play some pretty good ball. It just didn’t happen here today.”

The Bulldogs scored three runs on just two hits in the fourth. Andy Suzuki opened with a walk before David Skowronski followed with a single to right field. After a walk to Sean Brennan loaded the bases, Dylan Beketic drove in Suzuki with a sacrifice fly to center. Charlie Morrissey singled home Skowronski and Derango hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Brennan.

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