Mistakes and Missed Opportunities Cost Marian, But Summer Baseball Season Was Quite a Ride

It wasn’t like Marian Catholic didn’t have its chances.

Sure, Pat Schmidt’s single in the top of the fourth was the Spartans’ only hit through the first six innings Wednesday night. But at Benedictine University in Lisle.

The problem was, the Spartans got sloppy on the bases, even though they had been warned by their coaches to expect many different pickoff plays. The first reminder came in the top of the first inning, after Pat Swanson walked and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. When Prairie Ridge starting pitcher Mike Reitcheck whirled toward second to try to pick Swanson off, one of the Marian Catholic coaches reminded his players that the Wolves were known for such pickoff plays.

“We saw them do this before,” he said. “They’re going to do it all night, so you better be ready for it.”

Unfortunately for the Spartans, they weren’t.

In the top of the third inning, Swanson walked to load the bases with only one out, but Reitcheck picked him off first base. The Prairie Ridge pitcher then got Brad Bohler to ground out to end the threat.

In the top of the fifth inning, leadoff man Rob Cifelli walked with a man on and only one out and was promptly picked off of first base.

In the top of the sixth inning, Schmidt and pinch hitters Kyle Fitzgerald and Jake Lorenz opened the inning with consecutive walks to load the bases, but reliever Matt LeBeau picked Schmidt off of third base for the first out. Left-hander Tyler Tennant relieved LeBeau and got Jake McCable to ground out and Eric Callagan to pop out to shortstop to keep the Spartans scoreless.

In addition to having three men picked off, Marian Catholic also had a runner caught stealing, in the second inning.

“You make that many mental mistakes and you don’t deserve to win the ballgame,” Marian Catholic coach Phil Wail said. “When it comes down to the final four teams, everyone is good and it usually comes down to who makes the most mistakes.”

As if their woes on the basepaths weren’t bad enough, the Spartans also failed to capitalize on their countless scoring chances. While Marian batters had 11 walks, eight of them came in the final three innings—but the only run the Spartans would score came on a solo homer from Swanson in the seventh.

“They walked us 11 times and we don’t score one run off a walk,” Wail said. “Brutal.”

Marian Catholic (17-11) stranded 11 base runners in the game, including seven during the final three innings.

“We (issued) 11 walks, so how in the heck did we win this ballgame?,” Prairie Ridge coach Glen Pecoraro said. “It’s unbelievable. We had no business winning this ballgame other than for our picks, and I thought Tyler Tennant saved the game for us.”

Tennant got two key outs in the top of the sixth to maintain Prairie Ridge’s 2-0 lead. Thy Wolves added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning, which was helpful since the Spartans finally came through with a couple of solid hits in the top of the seventh.

After Swanson’s solo homer broke up the shutout, the Spartans put the tying runners on base via a Brad Bohlen double and Pat Schmidt walk. Facing the go-ahead run at the plate, Tennant kept his composure, getting Fitzgerald to hit a soft fly ball that the left fielder snagged with a game-ending diving catch.

“We’ve been in these pressure situations before and our experience helps us through,” Tennant said. “I think our coaches do a good job of calming us down and I just tried to relax and be patient.”

Arizona State recruit Brett Lilek was the tough-luck loser for Marian Catholic. He scattered six hits, but two were clutch two-out RBI singles. He walked only one and struck out eight, but he committed two balks—one that allowed a run to score and the other that moved a runner up to second base. That runner would later score on a base hit to right field.

“Obviously, he kept us in it,” Wail said. “We should have won the ballgame easily, but we didn’t pick him up.”