By MIKE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
In the Pacelli High baseball team's quest to win the final WISAA baseball title, coach Wayne Sankey said he wasn't worried about his team scoring runs.
But the Cardinals, who entered the game batting .368 and averaging 9.1 runs a game, ran into Burlington Catholic Central pitcher Ryan Gehring. Gehring allowed only two hits and struck out 10 in five innings of work as the Hilltoppers dropped the Cardinals 11-2 in the quarterfinals of the WISAA state baseball tournament, at Bukolt Park.
"You have to give them credit. Their pitcher was tough. He worked the strike zone well," Pacelli assistant coach Kermit Wallin said.
The Cardinals got on the scoreboard first thanks to leadoff hitter Adam Brazzale. The senior led off the game with a double to right-centerfield, moved to third on Brad Heeg's sacrifice bunt and then scored on a wild pitch.
Burlington answered in the top of the second to tie the game at 1-1 and then scored twice in the third to take a 3-1 advantage.
The Hilltoppers cushioned the lead with three more runs in the fifth, all unearned. Pacelli pitcher Josh Owens nearly got out of a one-out bases loaded jam, striking out Gerry Przybylski. But Ben Ketterhagen followed with a two-run single up the middle and Gehring hit a bloop-single to score another run.
"The cheap hits stung us a bit," Wallin said, after Burlington had a handful of bloop singles. "They're a good team. They hit the ball where we weren't."
Burlington added a pair of runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh while Pacelli scored once in the sixth. Heeg opened the inning with a walk and moved to third on Owens' single. He then scored when Burlington catcher Jeremy Wilson's throw to second on a double-steal attempt sailed into centerfield.
The Cardinals finished the season at 15-6. "Our team stuck together. They grew into a team, and as you can see, they're now a family," Wallin said as players consoled each other after the loss.