Glenbard South baseball gets its revenge on Benet Academy in the regional semifinal

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Frankie Valli’s two-run triple in extras gives Glenbard South baseball a regional semifinal victory over Benet Academy. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.

Riding a 4-game win-streak, the Benet Academy Redwings head to Lemont high school to begin their postseason campaign against the Glenbard South Raiders.  Just 10 days ago, Benet defeated Glenbard South baseball 18-3.

Both teams struggling to drive in runs

We’ll begin in the 4th inning, Jake Rifenburg is on the mound for Benet. He’s facing Zachary Westa of Glenbard South and he sends him away swinging.

Glenbard South has George Thomos on the mound. He pitches to Ryan Cibulka with a runner on 2nd. Cibulka lays down a bunt in an effort to reach 1st, but Thomos reacts quickly and throws him out to end the 4th inning. It’s scoreless after 4.

After Frankie Valli reached base in the 6th, Rifenburg has Avery Webster at the plate. However, Rifenburg throws a pitchout and Valli is caught stealing. Rifenburg finishes the 6th inning while only surrendering 2 hits.

Now in the bottom of the seventh inning, Thomos is pitching to Nathan Tassos and Ryan Cibulka takes off for second base. He slides in safely and Benet has a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the 7th.

Later in the inning, Jake Perrino is at the plate with runners on 1st and 2nd. He lines one to second base for an out. Then the Raiders catch Cibulka straying too far from the base and convert the double play. We head to extra innings.

Frankie Valli finally breaks the scoring seal in extra innings

Moving on to the top of the 8th, Frankie Valli is at the plate and he belts one over Brandon Cerocke’s head in right field. As he corrals it, two Raiders come around to score from 1st and 2nd while Valli cruises into 3rd base. His 2-run triple breaks the scoring drought in the eighth inning.

Luke Bremner comes in to pitch for the Redwings and he has Nathan Webster at the plate. Webster hits a chopper to 3rd, Mark Iozzo snags it at third, and throws him out to end the inning. Iozzo is fired up, but the Raiders are just three outs away from victory.

Christian Pogorzelski is in to close the game for Glenbard South. Luke Bafia hits one deep to left, but Zachary Westa is there for the catch and the Raiders defeat the Redwings 2-0 in the regional semifinals. Glenbard South advances to the regional final for the first time in four years.

For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!