Sports
York Baseball Team's Great Summer Run Ends in Regional Final
York lost to St. Joseph 4-3 Thursday, one victory from the eight-team state finals.
The York baseball team experienced a familiar and frustrating ending to another season Thursday.
After losing in the Class 4A regional finals each of the past two high-school seasons, the Dukes’ tremendous summer run ended with a 4-3 loss to St. Joseph in the Fenwick Regional final of the Illinois High School Coaches Association’s Phil Lawler Classic state tournament.
“One of these days we’re going to win one of these stupid regionals, whether it’s in the spring or the summer. But the main thing is we keep getting here and that’s the important part of it,” York coach Dave Kalal said.
“It’s a great experience for our kids. Today, the baseball gods weren’t smiling on us. All week we were getting those timely hits and making those key pitches and getting the key plays made. Today it just didn’t happen for us.”
What a playoff run it was. York (13-18) came one victory from its first trip to the eight-team summer state tournament in at least recent memory as the regional’s No. 13 seed.
Even after No. 3-seed St. Joseph (19-4) scored three runs with two outs in the bottom of the sixth to break a 1-1 tie, the Dukes didn’t waver. York scored twice in the top of the seventh before a strikeout ended the game with runners on second and first base.
“The fight that our kids had in them, the hustle and just playing the game, that’s all we preach,” Kalal said. “This last week has been awesome. It’s been fun. The kids have really bonded this week. Team chemistry is so important in high school (baseball).
“As always, I’ve got high expectations for the spring. After our pitching performances in these last five (playoff) games, it shows me once again that we’ll be able to compete with some of the best teams in the state next spring, and that’s our goal year in and year out.”
The Dukes won their previous three playoff games with seven-inning, complete-game performances by pitchers Greg Castello (2-1 over top-seeded Nazareth Wednesday), River Pitlock (7-0 over Oak Park-River Forest Tuesday) and Chris Nesbitt (8-4 over Addison Trail Monday).
Junior-to-be Louis Alcaraz gave the latest strong pitching effort Thursday before being replaced with two outs in the sixth by junior ace Pitlock, who threw a two-hitter Tuesday.
Alcaraz struck out the last hitter he faced for the second out, but Pitlock entered with the bases loaded. However, Pitlock hit No. 7 hitter Andrew Doss on a 1-and-2 count to force in the go-ahead run. Luke Daughenbaugh followed with a two-run single up the middle.
The Chargers’ inning began with Eric LeCoure reaching second base after an outfield error on a fly ball. Stephen Scatassa then walked and both runners moved into scoring position on an infield ground out. Designated hitter Mike Pagliuco was intentionally walked to load the bases.
Kalal said Pitlock even was ready to pitch Wednesday if Castello needed relief. Pitlock, who threw fewer than 80 pitches Tuesday, and Castello both told Kalal they were ready if needed Thursday.
“You don’t hear that too much from high-school kids nowadays. When you hear that, you know their heart’s in the right place and they’re committed to the program,” Kalal said.
“We feel River’s our best and in a tie ballgame we just felt River could shut them down. A couple of bad pitches here or there, a misread, misjudged fly ball to start the inning, just some funny things happened.”
The Dukes still nearly overcame it. Mike Trumbull opened the seventh with a single on an appeal to the other umpire after the ball initially was ruled caught in left field. The ball was ruled trapped on the appeal.
Following a strikeout, catcher Kyle Burr walked. Courtesy runner Alex Schumacher entered, and starting pitcher Ryan Fejt was replaced by ace Scatassa, who had been playing shortstop. Scatassa walked the first batter he faced, No. 9 hitter Kevin Toomey, on four pitches to load the bases.
Leadoff hitter Pitlock then hit an infield grounder that was booted at shortstop, cutting the deficit to 4-2, and Jake Rzeszutko followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Schumacher. Scatassa struck out No. 3 hitter Peter Doughty for the final out after he fouled off three pitches with two strikes.
York took a 1-0 lead in the third as Josh LoCicero led off with a single, advanced to second on an infield out and scored on Pitlock’s two-out single.
The Chargers tied the game in the bottom half of the third as No. 9 hitter Jacoree Sutton doubled and Edgar Donato followed with an RBI triple off the outfield fence. Donato also tried to score on the play but was thrown out at the plate.
Five York players had one hit against Fejt (2 strikeouts, 2 walks) with Pitlock reaching base two other times on infield errors.
The Chargers finished with seven hits against Alcaraz (4 strikeouts, 2 walks, hit batter) and Pitlock. York left fielder Josh Paparone made a diving catch to end the first inning with a runner on second, and a double play snuffed out a two-out single in the second.
Besides the recent outstanding pitching, Kalal said he was encouraged by many players who could be key new varsity contributors next spring. Sophomore-to-be designated hitter Anthony Santos batted cleanup and hit around a team-best .600 this summer and led in RBIs. Junior Paparone established himself in the outfield and No. 5 spot in the order. Second baseman Toomey received even more action as Rzeszutko was still recovering last month from a separated shoulder in the high-school season.
With so many other baseball and sports commitments, regionals marked the first time during the summer where the Dukes consistently had their best lineup.
“Because so many kids go so many directions in the summer, we play a lot of kids,” Kalal said. “You see a lot of your younger kids and what they can and cannot do. And they grew up a lot.”
York’s returning varsity pitchers combined for about 70 innings and 30 appearances in 2011, a significantly higher total than the 28 innings they had returning going into this past season.
Another key returnee will be Kalal. Throughout the spring season, his position as a physical education teacher and coach at York was in jeopardy, but in late June he officially was retained for his third year at the high school. Kalal also has been the Dukes’ head varsity baseball coach those past two years.
“It was very humbling this spring, everything that happened with the support from the community and kids on the team and kids that graduated last year so it was nice to see,” Kalal said. “I’m happy to be back.”
For Class 3A St. Joseph, winning summer regionals is the biggest accomplishment for its program. The Chargers defeated 2011 Class 4A state champion and No. 2-seed Lyons Township 3-2 Wednesday after edging De La Salle 7-6 Tuesday with a dramatic three-run seventh.
In 2010, it was the Chargers’ turn to lose in the summer regional final, 10-0 to Nazareth, which went on to win the state tournament and took fourth in 3A this past spring.
“Again, it’ll be our senior leadership, our pitching and defense that’s going to have to carry us and I think we proved this week we can do that next spring,” Kalal said.
