Boys Baseball: Marmion Rallies Late, Knocks Off Chicago Christian In Extras

With his Cadets trailing by two runs with two outs in the seventh inning of Tuesday’s game against Chicago Christian, Marmion coach Dave Rakow had his post-game speech already prepared.

“I was going to tell the guys that when you make five errors and run yourselves out of innings, you’ll never, ever win,” said Rakow.

But then the Cadets staged a two-out, two-run rally to force extra innings, where Mike Pipp’s RBI single in the eighth inning gave Marmion a 5-4 victory over the visiting Knights.

“Anytime you get a win, you take it. But it wasn’t a pretty game today,” said Rakow. “If we can eliminate the errors, then we can eliminate the necessity of these late game dramatics.”

The Cadets were trailing 4-2 when Connor Riley reached first base on an error to start the seventh inning. The next two batters made outs, but Mitch Sterne hit a first-pitch fastball up the middle for a single that drove in Riley. The next batter, A.J. Friedman, hit a single to right field to bring home Sterne and tie the game 4-4.

The game went into extras after Alex Troop grounded out to second base with runners at second and third.

In the eighth, Andy Young scored the game-winning run on Pipp’s walk-off single to left field.

“We’re not a team that’s going to give up in any situation,” said Pipp. “Our team really came through today. We didn’t play our best game, but we found a way to win, and that says a lot about us.”

Chicago Christian (10-4, 0-2) took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Brodie Meyer’s single plated Jeremy Norway.

The Knights extended their lead to 3-0 in the fourth inning thanks to some miscues by Marmion. With two outs, Mike Harms scored on an infield error by the Cadets. Later in the inning, Sean Omeara crossed home plate on the back-end of a double steal.

The Cadets cut the deficit to one with a two-run fourth inning. Young walked with the bases loaded to bring home Nick Nasharr and Troop scored on a wild pitch by Knights pitcher Mike Kamp.

Norway, who reached base three times, added an RBI single in the sixth inning that gave the Knights a 4-2 lead.

After starting the season 1-4, Marmion (5-4, 2-0) has now won four straight games. Rakow said the Cadets haven’t changed much, things are just finally starting to break in the team’s favor.

“I don’t think we were playing bad baseball. The record didn’t really reflect it, but I think we’ve been relatively consistent in terms of our play,” said Rakow. “It’s just that some games when you’re close you don’t win, and some you do.”

I wrote this story for the Chicago Sun-Times, Aurora Beacon and yourseason.com. It appears here.

Jeske, Despot Come Up Big As Glenbard South Wins On Senior Night

Matt Jeske led the Raiders with 24 points on senior night.

Glenbard South 67 Marmion Academy 61

Behind the senior duo of Matt Jeske and Dusko Despot, Glenbard South was able to secure victory on its senior night. Twelve seniors were honored before the Raiders’ 67-61 win over Marmion Academy in Glen Ellyn Friday night.

Jeske led the Raiders with 24 points, while Despot had 16 points and five rebounds.

“Winning on senior night was really important,” said Jeske. “After losing a couple of games on the road, we really needed to pick things up, especially with playoffs coming around the corner. It was a good performance, but hopefully we can peak at the right time and play well in the playoffs.”

The 6’5 Jeske made the most of his size advantage, attacking the paint all night.

“I was just thankful that my teammates found me inside, I got a lot of good post feeds,” said Jeske. “I just tried to keep on working, because I thought I had a mismatch inside. Once I started scoring, I just started feeling it. It was just one of those nights.”

The teams went back and forth in the first quarter, swapping leads six times. The scored was tied 17-17 after the first, but the Raiders went on an 8-0 run over the first two minutes of the second quarter to take a 25-17 lead. Glenbard South (12-11) held on to the lead for the rest of the game.

Marmion (13-12) went into halftime down 38-33, but the Cadets got within two points of the Raiders quickly in the third quarter. Jeff Garofalo converted an old-fashioned three-point play on the first possession of the second half, making the score 38-36.

However, the Raiders responded, going on another 8-0 run to extend their lead. Glenbard South led by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter.

While Glenbard South head coach Wade Hardtke was happy to win on senior night, he was more pleased that his team was able to notch a win against a quality opponent.

“Senior night is always a big night for the kids, but right now this is a big win for us because that’s a great ball club we played,” said Hardtke. “Marmion is scrappy and they shoot the ball well, and that’s what makes tonight’s win a good win for us.”

Garofalo led the Cadets with 14 points, while Pete Stefanski added 13 points.

I wrote this story for the Chicago Sun-Times and yourseason.com