Benet Academy and St. Laurence meet up in the IHSA 3A Baseball State Championship! One program will take home its first title. The Vikings have earned three state trophies since 2017 but have yet to secure the ultimate prize. Benet is making its deepest postseason run since a state quarterfinal trip in 1989 and is coming off an 11-6 win over Cary-Grove in the semis. St. Laurence also won by that scoreline in their semifinal win over Triad. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
St. Laurence and Benet Academy both score two runs to open the IHSA Baseball 3A State Championship
Benet sends out Wichita State commit Geno Zagorac, who enters with a 2.49 ERA and 64 strikeouts. St. Laurence puts John Strezchowski on the bump, who’s posted a 3.30 ERA with 59 K’s.
Connor Marino would open the game with a leadoff single, and Daniel Coyle follows by grounding one to right. Marino scores to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead with one out in the first.
With two outs, Adrian Perez steps in and ropes one to left. Nikolas Schaefer slides for the grab but just misses it, and the ump calls it fair. Evan Panther scores from second, and St. Laurence jumps in front 2-0 after the top of the first inning.
In the bottom half, Merrick Sullivan gets the Redwings going with their first hit of the day.
Josh Gugora steps in and smacks a hard liner to left—it drops in, and Sullivan scores to cut it to 2-1.
Quinn Rooney follows and produces a productive out, grounding to first and bringing home Luke Wildes. That ties things up at 2-2 after one inning.
St. Laurence loads the bases, where Adrian Perez and Orlando Vazquez help put the Vikings ahead by five
Zagorac works into the second and gets help from his defense. Orlando Vazquez hits a hard grounder, but Cerocke slides over, scoops it up, and fires to first for the out.
We move to the third, and the Vikings have two on with no outs. Adrian Perez lays down a perfect bunt to reach safely, loading the bases with no play from Benet.
Ben Geary steps up and grounds into a fielder’s choice that brings in Coyle for a 3-2 lead.
Then Villanueva lifts one to right. Wildes makes the catch, but the throw home is off, and St. Laurence adds another run.
Next batter, and it’s Vazquez again. He drops a bloop single into shallow right to score Geary. Three straight batters bring in three runs, and the Vikings now lead 5-2.
Zagorac locks back in and freezes Marino, who swings late for strike three to end the third inning.
Quinn Rooney launches for a Benet Academy homer before Josh Gugora ties it up at 5-5
Still 5-2, and the Redwings need a spark. Rooney provides it—he drives one deep to right center, back, back, back and it’s gone! A solo shot brings Benet within two at 5-3 in the fourth.
Later in the inning, Schaefer smokes a ball over the left fielder’s head for a double.
He would swipe third base, and then moments later, he scores on a wild pitch to trim the deficit to just one.
In the top of the fifth, Geary skies one into foul ground. Wildes hustles over in right field and makes a sliding catch to help keep Benet in it.
Bottom of the fifth, and Coyle is now on the mound. After Sullivan is hit by a pitch, Gugora sends a slow roller down the third base line—it just hugs the chalk and stays fair! Sullivan scores, and the Redwings tie it up, 5-5.
Daniel Coyle locks in on the mound and the Vikings record three big outs in the sixth inning of the IHSA Baseball 3A State Championship
Top six, and Zagorac catches a Viking leaning—he throws over and picks him off at first!
But later that inning, Coyle delivers again. He smacks one to deep left and off the wall for an RBI double, scoring Mickey Lotus. That puts the Vikings back on top, 6-5.
Bottom six now, and Luke Stachowiak grounds one toward third. Perez leaps and tags the runner on a bang-bang play at second—let’s take another look from the other angle, as it’s the first out of the sixth.
Coyle stays sharp and gets Schaefer looking with the K for the second out of the inning.
Benet’s Dom Tomala is now up. He sends one deep to center that gets past the diving outfielder! Tomala races for third but gets thrown out on a perfect relay—Lotus nails him at the bag to end the inning.
St. Laurence adds insurance runs and holds off Benet to win first-ever State Championship
Top of the seventh, and the Vikings get two key insurance runs. Villanueva slices a single to the right to score Geary. Then Danny Donovan lifts a sac fly to push it to 8-5, which is our final.
Benet goes down quietly in the seventh with a groundout, and St. Laurence celebrates its first-ever state championship! The Redwings fall on the final day, but finish off a historic and record-setting season.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
