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Waterloo’s fast start dooms Nazareth
Updated: June 11, 2011 8:22PM
Waterloo never gave Nazareth an opportunity to rebound from its disappointing Class 3A semifinal loss.
Playing in the Class 3A third-place game Saturday morning, Waterloo piled on five runs in the first inning and never looked back in defeating the Roadrunners 6-1 at Silver Cross Field in Joliet.
Nazareth (34-7), which won the IHSBCA summer state championship in July, finished fourth in state in its first state finals appearance. The state trophy is the first in any sport for the LaGrange Park school.
“It’s a credit to the kids and their work ethic,” said Nazareth coach Lee Milano. “The kids lived up to the expectations. To get here is quite an accomplishment.”
After losing to Oak Forest 3-1 in the semifinals, chiefly because of one calamitous inning in which it committed three errors, the Roadrunners suffered through another rough inning against Waterloo (33-4).
Only this time it was in the first inning. Waterloo opened the bottom of the first with five consecutive hits against junior left-hander Dominic Purpura (10-2). Mix in an error, and Nazareth was down 5-0 before the Roadrunners knew it.
Waterloo’s left-handed hitting first baseman Garrett Schlecht, who was a ninth-round draft pick by the Chicago Cubs, had a run-scoring single amid the Bulldogs’ five straight hits. Schlecht finished 2-for-3 with an intentional walk and a run scored.
“Basically we had two bad innings all weekend,” said Milano. “It was kind of uncharacteristic of us all season.”
Only four times during Nazareth’s unprecedented run did the Roadrunners’ high-yielding offense produce two runs or less, and it scored double-digit runs 13 times. In two games during the state finals, Nazareth produced only seven hits and two runs.
Nazareth finally got on the board in the sixth inning when Pat Kelly led off with a double and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
Despite the two losses, four-year starting shortstop Michael Barajas said this season will be one he or his teammates won’t soon forget.
“This team in general is pretty special,” said Barajas. “The team had a lot of chemistry. This run downstate is special, something we won’t forget.”
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