In the 3A Supersectional round at Geneseo, the number two seed Benet Academy baseball takes on number one, Washington, with a trip to the State Semifinals on the line. The Redwings won their first sectional title since 2017 with a 7-0 victory against St. Francis on Saturday. The Panthers earned their spot after a 4-1 victory over Morris. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
The Panthers strike first
In the top of the first inning, Micah McCoy bats for the Panthers with Jonathon Rossi pitching for the Redwings. McCoy provides an early spark by hitting a homer out past left field to get the Panthers on the board with a 1-0 lead.
Keeping the damage to a minimum, Benet’s Ethan Mendez gets the final out of the inning to retire Washington’s Carter Prina.
The Benet bats respond in the opening inning
In the bottom of the first, with walks from Nathan Cerocke and Merrick Sullivan in the bottom of the first, Josh Gugora is up next for the Redwings. Gugora doubles on a fly ball out towards left. Cerocke and Wildes race around the bases to score. Benet leads 2-1.
Benet adds another run to the scoreboard when Quinn Rooney doubles to score Gugora.
The Redwings keep the scoring going as Mendez singles on a ground ball towards Panthers shortstop Gavin Lawrence. Quinn Rooney scores on an error by the Panther first baseman to extend the Redwing lead 4-1 after the first inning.
The Redwings add key insurance runs
Moving to the bottom of the third. Rooney singles on a line drive towards Panthers second baseman Camden Augustine, who comes up just short of getting the out.
Moments later, Mendez singles on a fly ball towards center field. Rooney advances to second base as Benet hopes to blow the game open.
Needing a spark, Panthers pitcher Carter Prina gets Benet’s Luke Stachowiak to ground out with the help of first baseman Cash Wisher. But the runners advance to second and third.
Up next is Nikolas Schaefer, who skies a sacrifice fly towards right field. Rooney is able to reach home plate as Benet leads 5-1.
Samuel Peters looks to put another Panthers hitter on base. Peters sends a fly ball out towards right field but is denied by right fielder Luke Wildes, who makes the play.
The Benet outfielders continue to help Rossi on the mound as Josh Gugora gets the final out of the fourth on Gavin Lawrence’s fly ball. The Redwings lead 5-1.
Looking to go on a run to get back into the game, McCoy does just that as he delivers a one-out single on a line drive towards short.
But Rossi puts an end to the rally, getting Carter Prina to ground into a double play as Merrick Sullivan gets McCoy out at second and Cerocke gets Prina out at first to close the inning as the score remains 5-1.
Washington looks for a late comeback
Benet adds another run in the sixth as Lucas Kohlmeyer takes the mound to close things out for the Redwings in the top of the seventh. He gets Lawrence to pop out to start the frame.
Roedell keeps the Panthers’ hopes alive after reaching first base on a ground ball because of a Benet error.
In need of base runners, McCoy singles on a line drive towards right field. McCoy advances to second on another Redwing error while Roedell advances to third.
After a pop out and a walk to Haydon Hawksworth loads the bases for the Panthers with two outs, Tyler Humphrey looks to capitalize. Humphrey gets hit by the pitch, allowing Roedell to score. Washington trails 6-2 with the tying run coming to the plate
Next up for the Panthers is Anson Zaiser. He hits a ground ball and reaches on the third Benet error of the inning. McCoy touches home plate for the second time today as the Benet lead is 6-3 with the tying run on first.
Benet Academy is heading to the state semis for the first time ever
Putting an end to the late Washington run, Redwing pitcher Lucas Kohlmeyer gets the final out after Samuel Peters grounds out to Nathan Cerocke at second with a throw to Quinn Rooney covering first to send Benet Academy baseball to the state semifinals for the first time in school history!
The Redwings survive the late Washington push with a 6-3 and Benet baseball will take on Cary Grove in Joliet on Friday.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!