St. Charles East holds on late in nine-inning thriller against Wheaton Warrenville South

WHEATON — Dylan McCabe knew that he had to stretch as far as he could at first base.

With St. Charles East holding a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, Wheaton-Warrenville South was threatening to draw the game on a bit longer with runners on first and second with just one out.

So when the sophomore found himself on the receiving end of a potential game-ending double play throw from second base, he wanted to secure the ball in any way. Even if it meant doing the splits to do so.

“I just needed to go get it in any way,” McCabe said, “Especially with a chance to win it.”

McCabe’s stretch secured the double play, and the Saints held on to take a 6-5 victory in the ninth inning over the Tigers to secure the three-game series.

“Our mission over the past seven days or so has been to keep fighting and respond to adversity,” Saints coach Derek Sutor said. “At this point in the season, it’s all about building that momentum for the playoffs. Having our guys step up and have that fight, that’s a huge step towards regionals.”

McCabe drove in the go-ahead run for the Saints (14-17, 10-11 DuKane) in the top of the ninth inning. With the bases loaded and just one out, the sophomore hit a line drive into the outfield for a sacrifice fly that scored Ryan McGrew.

“I just wanted to jump on a pitch early and not let it get deep in the count,” McCabe said. “I’m just finally finding my rhythm at the plate, even after struggling early on. And being able to consistently put a barrel to the ball feels great.”

And no one appreciated his late-inning heroics more than senior pitcher Matt Steinberg. After allowing runs in each of his first two innings, the Manhattan commit kept the Tigers off the board in each of the final three innings to secure the win on the mound. He finished allowing just four hits and one earned run while also inducing two double plays, including the one to end the game.

“When you feel pressure like that, it’s all about being able to stay calm and collected,” Steinberg said. “And with the team energy staying up and no one hanging their head, I was just able to go out there and let the defense work until we won.”

The Saints set an early tone to the game from the first inning, with each of their first four hitters recording base knocks and their first five coming around to score for an early 5-0 advantage.

“It always starts with the top of the order,” Sutor said. “Joey Arend is the guy I’ve told all season long that if he goes, we go. He hit that first hit against the top of the wall, and it just set the tone for quality at-bats in that inning.”

But the Tigers (14-18, 11-10) never shied away. After finishing the second and third innings with runners in scoring position, WW South managed to put up five consecutive runs in the next three innings to crawl their way back and tie the game.

Sophomore Clark Jensen led the comeback efforts with three hits and an RBI. Junior Yiannis Bozonelos drove in a pair of runs while senior Aiden Quartz tied the game in the sixth inning after scoring on a wild pitch.

“We had a couple of opportunities where we were a swing away from winning that game,” Tigers coach John Schermann said. “But I give our guys a ton of credit for fighting, especially in this crappy weather. We hung in there and could of cashed it in there, but happy for that fight.”

The Tigers were also helped in their comeback efforts by some solid innings out of the bullpen. Blake Snyder allowed just four hits and struck out four over four scoreless innings and Luke Mantell allowed just one earned runs over three innings.

“Mantell has just been that guy for us out of the bullpen all year and he’s just come in and thrown strikes for us late in games,” Schermann said. “Blake is someone we haven’t had to use a whole lot this year, but we wanted to rest some arms late in the season and he just came in and was outstanding.”