Baseball: Jude Warwick’s homer lifts Downers Grove North over Waubonsie for first sectional title in 20 years

PLAINFIELD – Downers Grove North senior and Michigan State commit Jude Warwick had a certain feeling when he stepped into the box during the bottom of the seventh inning May 31 when the Trojans faced Waubonsie Valley in the Class 4A Plainfield North Sectional final.

“I knew that we were going to win in that inning no matter what,” Warwick said after the game.

With both teams eyeing their first sectional championships in almost two decades, the score was tied entering the bottom of the seventh inning when Warwick approached the plate with one out and no runners on base.

Facing Waubonsie Valley right-hander Ryan Morton, Warwick blasted a one-ball, one-strike pitch to deep left-center field and over the outfield fence.

The walk-off homer clinched Downers Grove North’s 3-2 win over the Warriors as well as the team’s 30th win of the season.

It was the program’s first sectional championship since 2004.

“I had seen a lot of pitches from [Morton] earlier in the game,” Warwick said. “His fastball ran a little bit, so I was looking for something inside or down the middle. He started me off with a curveball in the dirt and I knew once that happened, he’d have to rely on his fastball. He put the ball where I wanted it and I put a good swing on it. It’s an unbelievable feeling because none of the players on our team were born the last time we won a sectional. It means a lot to me.”

Downers Grove North (30-8) fell 7-1 to two-time defending state champion Edwardsville in the Illinois Wesleyan Supersectional on Monday in Bloomington. The Trojans were held to two hits in the game. Warwick doubled off the fence on the game’s second pitch, stole third and scored on Jimmy Janicki’s ground out to first. Brady Schallmoser’s bloop single to center to open the seventh inning accounted for the Trojans’ other hit.

The Trojans overcame five defensive errors in the game against Waubonsie Valley (25-10). The Warriors capitalized on Downers Grove North’s mistakes early, tallying runs in both the first and second innings.

The Warriors took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. A walk and two hit batters loaded the bases before an error on a pickoff attempt by Downers Grove North starting pitcher Braylon Tomlinson allowed Waubonsie Valley’s Ryan Gustaitis to score.

“We had our opportunities,” Warriors coach Bryan Acevedo said. “We had guys in scoring position all day and we just didn’t come up with that big hit. That’s the way the game goes sometimes and I thought they did a good job of throwing different pitchers and keeping us off the bases. … We have to tip our caps to them, but we have a heck of a baseball team as well.”

The Trojans evened the score on an RBI groundout from third baseman Jack Romsey in the bottom of the first. Waubonsie Valley used some small ball in the top of the second inning, bunting a runner to second base and scoring after Gustaitis reached on an error by Trojans second baseman Carlos Sanchez. The Warriors received a solid outing from starting pitcher Morton, who fired 6 1/3 innings and surrendered only five hits.

“We’ve had a really good year,” Acevedo said. “We started the season 5-7, but we went 20-3 over our last 23 games. We have a lot to be proud of and we won our first regional title since 2014. … We played really well today and we took advantage of the few opportunities we had. I thought we had more opportunities than they did, but they cashed in more than we did.”

Waubonsie Valley held a 2-1 lead over the Trojans until the bottom of the fifth when Downers Grove North tied the game with an RBI double from first baseman Schallmoser, who roped the ball down the right-field line to score Janicki.

After a scoreless sixth inning and scoreless top of the seventh, Downers Grove North completed the comeback with the walk-off homer from Warwick, who went 2 for 4.

“They have a great team over there, but we came out on top in the end,” Warwick said. “We came in with a lot of nerves and I thought that’s why we were pretty shaky in the field. We’ve never been here before and we didn’t really know what to expect, but once we settled down, we made plays and we came up big when we needed to. We just need to relax as a team because we have all of the talent in the world. If we keep working together, we’ll get another team win.”