As any baseball savant would tell you, a rally is sacred. And when you get one going with two outs, the significance resonates even more.
Stymied for almost six innings Saturday by Naperville North senior Kurt Krejci, Benet finally got an opportunity to heed coach Scott Lawler’s message of patience.
The host Redwings capitalized on Krejci leaving the game in the sixth and pieced together a four-run inning bit by bit in recording a 5-3 nonconference victory in Lisle.
Staked to a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the sixth, the right-handed Krejci retired the first two batters he faced before giving up a double to Jon Kruppe and being lifted for lefty Rob Leonard.
The game seemed to be in the Huskies’ grasp with the entrance of Leonard, who won eight games in 2012. But the Redwings (3-2) pounced — their next four hitters reaching base safely to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 5-3 lead.
“(Krejci) had us off-balance all game,” said Cole Channell, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI, including the winning two-run double in the sixth off Leonard. “Then, two outs (in the sixth), Kruppe had that big double to start us off and we got a little momentum going with some runners on.
“I was just trying to get up there, put a good swing on the ball.”
Anthony Rendina and Jon Kruppe also had two hits apiece for the Redwings.
A two-out RBI single in the fourth from Sam Siebers gave the Huskies (1-2) their first lead at 2-1 and they would increase that to 3-1 with back-to-back hits from Mike Laurenzo and Alex Garon to start the sixth.
Naperville North coach Carl Hunckler was pleased with what he got from Krejci, who went 5 2/3 innings and scattered five hits while giving up two runs and striking out eight.
“(Krejci) pitched a great game,” Hunckler said. “I mean, we couldn’t of asked (for) any more of him. He did everything that we expected from a senior.
“We thought, again, that we were in a great situation to bring Rob in to face the lefty. It just didn’t work out for us. It’s a funny thing about high school baseball.”
For the Redwings, it was about staying patient at the plate while trying to make the most out of the outing Pat Peterson gave them.
Peterson struck out 10, including the side in both the second and third while giving up one earned run and just three hits sin going 4 1/3 innings for Benet.
“(Peterson) did a great job and, you know, later in the season, he’d probably go a couple more innings,” Lawler said. “But we’re just trying to get a bunch of guys in there. Mike Powers, who came in the middle, is going to be a big part of our staff this year and (Chris) Whelan is, too.”
