May 16, 2014 - Following Thursday's loss to Adrian College in the second round of the NCAA III Midwest Regional, the Concordia Cougars realized the tough challenge that awaited them on Friday. The Cougars needed to win two games just to advance to the championship round where they would have to win two more - all in all, four games within about a 27-hour span. Concordia-Chicago pulled off the first win with a 5-1 victory over St. Norbert College but then fell a second time to Adrian, this time by a 3-2 score. The loss ended the 2014 campaign for the Cougars with a second consecutive 39-7 season record.
Ryan Thorsen (Lake Villa, IL/Grant Community) made the start against St. Norbert, and the final outing of the senior's career was a masterful one. Thorsen allowed just one run in 7 1/3 innings on eight hits. He had the Green Knights beating the ball into the ground, getting 10 infield outs including a key double play in the fourth inning which throttled a potential St. Norbert rally. The Cougars got to SNC starter Matt Freeman with two runs in the bottom of the second. Thomas Gier (Fox Lake, IL/Grant Community) shot a double down the leftfield line and moved to third on a ground ball to the right side of the infield. Dan Eichholzer (Elwood, IL/Joliet Township) then roped Freeman's first pitch to center. The centerfielder tried to catch the liner, but the ball appeared to knuckle and he was unable to make the catch. Eichholzer then stole second and scored when Rich Santarelli (Homer Glen, IL/Chicago Christian) lined a single to right-center. A leadoff walk to Colin Bethran (Schaumburg, IL/H.S.) in the fourth turned into the Cougars' third run. Bethran stole second and continued on to third when the catcher's throw sailed into centerfield. Dan Lo Dolce (Northlake, MI/Walther Lutheran) then looped a base hit into centerfield to score Bethran for the 3-0 lead. Singles by Bethran, Santarelli and Steve Zubrzycki (McHenry, IL/Marian Central Catholic) in the sixth produced a fourth run. Then, after the Green Knights scored their lone tally in the seventh, the Cougars responded with a two-out rally. Kyle Huber (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) and Eichholzer singled. Concordia-Chicago then caught a break when Bethran's fly ball was mishandled in centerfield, allowing Huber to score for a 5-1 lead. St. Norbert put their leadoff man on base in the eighth with an infield single. Thorsen then retired the next batter on a fly to centerfield. Head coach Adam Smith then strode to the mound summoning reliever Kevin Pawell (Kenosha, WI/Bradford) as Thorsen received a round of hugs and handshakes before walking to the dugout to heartfelt applause from the Cougar faithful. Pawell recorded the final two outs of the eighth. He recorded two more outs in the ninth but, with two men aboard, Smith went to the bullpen once more for closer Steve Cox (Villa Park, IL/Willowbrook). Cox retired the SNC cleanup hitter on a fly to leftfielder, chalking up save number nine and 22 for his career while Thorsen improved to 5-2 on the season. The Cougars had 45 minutes to get ready for their second meeting with Adrian. C.J. Selner (Milwaukee, WI/Milwaukee Lutheran) defeated the Bulldogs 3-2 in last year's regional at Augustana College, and Smith gave the lefty the opportunity to repeat the feat. Selner was strong through the first six innings, scattering six hits while changing speeds effectively against the Adrian hitters. Concordia-Chicago took the lead in the second but were unlucky not to get more than one run. Singles by Gier, Huber and Bethran produced a 1-0 lead with one out. Santarelli then followed with a sharp ground ball ticketed for rightfield. But the Bulldogs' second baseman made a nice play to glove the ball and then start an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play to keep it a one-run game.
A leadoff double in the seventh gave CUC a shot at an insurance run, but the Cougars were unable to cash in. The Bulldogs finally broke through in the bottom of the inning. Leadoff hitter Tommy Eng fell behind 0-2 but laid off two very close pitches before singling to centerfield. The Cougars then had the runner caught off base but he managed to beat the throw to second base. Eng advanced on a sacrifice and scored on a single by Corleone Desimone. A grounder to third produced the second out with Desimone moving to second base. Ryan Dorow then came up with the big hit of the game, a single to left that scored the go-ahead run. There was a brief controversy about whether the runner had touched third base on his way to the plate, but the run stood up and Adrian had a 2-1 lead. Sam Fischer followed with a base hit to drive in the insurance run.
The third run for Adrian was crucial because Concordia came up with a run in the eighth. Zubrzycki doubled down the leftfield line and scored on Carlos Olavarria's (Rosemont, IL/East Leyden) hit to center. The outfielder briefly bobbled the ball, and Olavarria hustled into second base. However, he was stranded there as Jordan Frayer completed a strong eight-inning mound effort by getting a fly to right for the third out. Pawell set down the Bulldogs in the bottom of the inning, giving the Cougars one final chance. But Greg Sombati earned the save by retiring the Cougars on a grounder to first, a fly to center and a fly to right to put an ending to another memorable season.
