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frankfortstation.com sports
the frankfort station | June 1, 2017 | 51
baseball
From Page 54
East's Danny Zimmerman whips a pitch in the regional
final. Julie McMann/22nd Century Media
“It’s a really tough situation,
but he’s tough as
nails,” Nowicki said. “He
DHs for us, which is a
tough thing mentally to do.
He’s come in in some big
ball games for us and shut
the door. There’s no guy we
trusted more in that situation
to get strikes and get
outs for us. He did an outstanding
job.”
“You have to tip your hat
to [Bennit],” East coach Paul
Babcock said. “I also tip our
hats to our guys because I
loved the approach we had
[at the plate].”
Central had advanced
to the regional championship
game by pulling out
a 1-0 victory against 15thseeded
Joliet Central. Tyler
Schuerg had an RBI
double, center fielder Matt
Duske threw out a runner
at the plate and Josh Currier
earned the win on the
mound.
East, the eighth seed and
SouthWest Suburban Blue
co-champions, had opened
the postseason with a 13-3
victory against 10th-seeded
T.F. South.
In a rematch of an April
21 non-conference game
that East won 12-1 at Central,
the Knights jumped out
early. Schuerg had an RBI
single and RBI fielder’s
choice, and Aaron Andersen
had an RBI single to
give Central a 3-0 lead after
three innings.
Everett sliced an RBI single
down the left-field line
to pull East within 3-1 in
the fourth inning and chase
Central starter Andrew Hancock.
Reliever Nate Davis
inherited runners on first and
second, walked the bases
loaded but got out of the inning
without allowing a run.
In the sixth inning, Sean
Robinson stroked a two-run
double down the left-field
line to tie the game 3-3.
Jacob Blount reclaimed
the lead for Central in the
bottom of the sixth inning
with an RBI double off Zimmerman.
“He was going to try to
overpower us with the fastball,
so we just had to be
ready for it,” Blount said.
“Make contact with it. He
supplied the power. Just trying
to put the ball on the right
side, get that runner home.”
Blount scored from third
on a batted ball off of
third base to pad the lead
to 5-3.
“I’m so proud of us because
we never gave in,”
Babcock said. “We battled.
Nobody gave in. That’s a
key in life. Baseball teaches
so many life lessons, and
you have to carry yourself
with class and pride. We’re
not going to hang our heads
because we did everything
we possibly could and
came up a little short.”
soccer
From Page 52
ond half, but still had a
tough time generating good
chances. Their best look
came with 10 minutes left
in regulation when Kelsey
McInturff put a header on
goal.
Toomey leaped to deflect
the shot off the crossbar and
out.
In the end, it was a frustrating
end to a great season
for the Griffins, who went
undefeated in the South-
West Suburban Red.
“Soccer is a cruel sport,”
East coach Mike Murphy
said. “We had an outstanding
year. It’s unfortunate
it ended here, but you’ve
got to give West credit.
They wanted to try to get
it to PKs. They put 10
people behind the ball and
it was hard to score. We
had more opportunities to
score and more possession,
but they executed their
game plan.”
11 seniors played their
last game for East, including
eight starters.
“This group of seniors
was special,” Murphy said.
“There are going to be some
voids. These seniors did a
great job getting both East
and North together. The
girls from East welcomed
me and our coaching staff
and I’m thankful to them
for that.
“These girls just loved
each other. I think they’re
going to have some lifelong
friends. I told them
soccer is soccer, but there
are other more important
things in life and we built
some great friendships
this year.”