May 11, 2013 - Energized by a clutch relief effort from sophomore
Paul Kukulka (Lake Villa, IL/Lakes Community), the Concordia Cougars defeated Benedictine University 8-6 in this morning's action in the Northern Athletics Conference tournament. The Cougars' win gained them passage to the championship round where they need to win just one game while their opponent would have to defeat them twice.
The Cougars took advantage of some wildness from Eagles' starter Kevin Crowley to take the lead in the second inning.
Derek Binninger (Pleasant Prairie, WI/Tremper) drew a leadoff walk. A wild pitch sent Binninger to second, and
Robert Weis (Oak Creek, WI/H.S.) was hit on the very next pitch. Huber worked a full count before taking ball four to load the bases. Catcher
Tony Barreto (Cicero, IL/Nazareth Academy) then hit Crowley's first pitch to rightfield for a sacrifice fly and the first run of the game.
The struggles continued for Crowley as
Dan LoDolce (Northlake, IL/Walther Lutheran) drew the third walk of the inning.
Steve Zubrzycki (McHenry, IL/Marian Central Catholic) then worked a full count before ripping the payoff pitch between third and short for Concordia's first hit of the game. Weis came home, and the other runners all moved up a base.
Joe Moran (Chicago, IL/Notre Dame) then drove in Huber with the third run when his grounder to second could not be turned for a double play.
Concordia went on the attack again in the third.
Thomas Gier (Fox Lake, IL/Grant Community) walked to lead it off. Binninger then shot the first pitch past the diving shortstop and legged it into a double, Gier taking third. After Weis grounded out with the runners holding, the two teams had to wait out a 20-minute burst of rain over Kapco Park before Huber could bat. When play resumed, Huber hit the first pitch off the glove of the second baseman who was drawn in with the rest of the infielders. Gier scored to give the Cougars a 4-0 lead.
In the fifth, it was Cougar starter
Bobby Beelen (Wheeling, IL/H.S.) that had trouble locating the strike zone. He walked the first three Eagles' batters to start the inning. Nick Karakosta's infield single got the Eagles on the board. Kevin Hendricks then grounded to Binninger at first; the force out came at second base as the second run scored. John Cervantes then battled Beelen through a 10-pitch at-bat before singling softly to rightfield and cutting the lead to 4-3. A fourth walk in the frame brought
Adam Smith to the mound where he summoned for Kukulka. The sophomore righthander got ahead 0-1 on Mike Luschen before getting a momentum-shifting 6-4-3 double play to end the inning and keep the Cougars clinging to the lead.
Equally important, the Cougars answered the Eagles' rally with two runs of their own. A Binninger single and Huber walk brought Barreto to the plate with two out. Barreto fell behind 0-2 in the count but won the at-bat with a smash up the middle that sneaked past Karakosta at shortstop. Binninger scored on the hit, and a wild throw from centerfield allowed Huber to come all the way around for an extra run and a 6-3 lead.
The Cougars drove Crowley from the game with two more runs in the sixth. Zubrzycki led off with a single, and
Shawn Miller (Pleasant Prairie, WI/Tremper) was hit by a pitch with one out. Gier then lofted a single over the third baseman's head in front of the leftfielder as Zubrzycki raced home with a run. Mike Taccona relieved Crowley on the hill, only for Binninger to greet him with a smash between third and short for his third hit of the game. Miller scored for an 8-3 lead after six.
Benedictine got closer in the seventh as a throwing error allowed two runs to cross the plate. However, Kukulka came through under pressure yet again as he retired pinch-hitter Tom Higgins on a grounder to second and Steve Cocat on a foul pop-up to first base.
Kukulka struck out two batters in a 1-2-3 eighth before taking the mound for the ninth. He retired the leadoff batter but Cervantes reached on an infield single. A force play at second produced the second out, but pinch-hitter Tim Gindville kept Benedictine's hopes alive by doubling to right-center and driving home the run to make it 8-6. With Higgins representing the tying run, Smith summoned for closer
Steve Cox (Villa Park, IL/Willowbrook). Cox battled Higgins to a 2-2 count before retiring the catcher on a high pop to shortstop to notch save number 12 and, more importantly, punching the Cougars' ticket to the championship round.
The Cougars will enter the championship round with a new season-high 13-game winning streak. They will face either Benedictine or Wisconsin Lutheran College.
