[Preview of this week’s Inside—Booster article.]
By Jack Lydon
“One for the ages.”
That’s what I wrote in a preview early in the week about Saturday’s 4A regional final between Chicago Catholic League rivals DePaul Prep and Loyola Academy. And well, it actually turned out that way.
The DePaul Prep Rams defeated the Loyola Academy Ramblers 1-0 at Kerry Wood Cubs Park in extra innings. Rams’ senior first baseman Nolan Hecht doubled off the right field fence to score Quinn Roberts with one out in the top of the ninth. The only run all day.
The biggest hit of his life?
“Ya, that was really cool,” Hecht said. “It was a four-seam fastball. I got that pitch in the last at bat. I knew I was getting it again [for the first pitch]. I just jumped on it.”
It was a great day for Rams pitching. Senior left-hander Liam Daly was spectacular starting the game for the Rams; five innings, one hit, no runs. Rams’ junior right-hander Finn Nash finished the game and got the win after four innings of two hit baseball.
“I didn’t even know we were in extras. It was kind of crazy actually. I didn’t even know I was in that moment,” Nash said about his appearance.
This Rams victory seems unlikely from the start. It was against the odds. They had beaten Loyola twice already this year: a 5-4 company win on May 11and a 12-9 slugfest the following day. It’s really hard to beat a team three times in a row.
Not only that but the Rams had chances early in the game and failed to capitalize. First and second with nobody out in the both the top of the second and the top of the third. Runners again in the top of the fifth and six. The Rams looked snakebit.
DePaul Prep skipper Sam Colon knew he had to dig deep to get his team ready for this one.
“This is why you got up at 5:00 to practice in December. You did it for today,” Colon told his team before the game.
Sam also put in a lot of time arguing with the umpires during early innings after some head scratching calls.
“You gotta show intensity. I had to show my guys I was willing to fight for them. I am willing to go to bat for them too. I am a high energy guy and I want to be able to provide that for my team,” Colon said.
It was that kind of intensity that Quinn Roberts, Nolan Hecht and Finn Nash carried into the ninth. It was that intensity that the Ramblers lacked.
The Rams’ gritty victory actually happened right in front of their next opponent. The extra inning affair meant the Lane Tech players and coaches watched the final three innings and saw firsthand the intensity and focus of the immediate neighbors.
The Champions opened fast against the Shamrocks scoring five runs in the first. The Shamrocks drew even in the top of the fourth, but the Champions proved their metal adding three more runs in the fourth and fifth.
Lane Tech’s Cruz Warren earned the victory after going four innings, with four hits, one run and striking out six. The Champions will DePaul Prep at Kerry Wood in Wednesday’s sectional semi-final game, at Kerry Wood Cubs Field, a fitting battleground between the two schools.
