If the atmosphere of the beckoning postseason is anything like what Benet experienced on Wednesday while hosting Joliet Catholic, it figures to be right at home.
With emotions running high at times for both teams, specifically the ones of Joliet Catholic senior right-hander Nick Dalesandro, Benet played right with one of the better teams in the state for seven innings.
The performance from the Purdue-bound Dalesandro, both on the mound and in center field, coupled with a six-run eighth inning helped Joliet Catholic record its 12th straight victory after grabbing a 7-1 ESCC victory over Benet.
“He is who is he is because of what he is doing on the field,” Benet assistant coach Jorge Acosta said of Dalesandro. “Maybe some of the other stuff, with him kind of chirping a little bit, you can probably do without. He’ll learn that as he gets older. But (Dalesandro) is a great player. You expect great players to make good plays.”
After allowing the Redwings (17-16, 7-11) to get their first two runners on to start the sixth and then watching a wild pitch move them up a base to second and third, Dalesandro bore down.
He proceeded to keep the game tied 1-1 by leaving the two runners in scoring position by striking out the side, finishing off his 11-strikeout effort on the mound with a flourish.
One inning later, with the game still tied, while removed from the mound after throwing six innings, Dalesandro showed off his right arm again.
In starting a double play by catching a shallow fly ball off the bat of Danny Sobolewski, he fired towards home and nailed Connor Hickey as Hickey attempted to score the game-winning run.
“You think about everything, but at the same time—I thought we did a pretty good job of putting the ball in play with (Dalesandro),” said Acosta, who took over for Scott Lawler prior to the bottom of the sixth after Lawler was ejected while trying to stick up for his team amidst the extra-curricular activity going on. “It is not like we were striking out up and down the lineup or we were not being competitive with our at-bats. I thought we were having really competitive at-bats from the get-go.”
Jon Kruppe matched Dalesandro for seven-plus innings for Benet while letting his defense work for him as he allowed the Hilltoppers just one run for the first seven innings.
Staked to a 1-0 lead in the third after Cole Channell knocked in a run with a bloop single to right, Kruppe kept the Hilltoppers off-balance for much of the game.
But a throwing error with two outs in the top of the sixth off a ball hit by Dalesandro allowed Joliet Catholic to tie the game at 1-1.
Kruppe (2-4) left in the top of the eighth after giving up a two-run single to Dalesandro that gave the Hilltoppers a 4-1 lead at the time and was charged with five runs on eight hits.
“Jon did an unbelievable job,” Acosta said. “He did. He really (did). That’s what we expect out of him at this point, where he’s kept us in games and he did more than enough for us to have an opportunity to win that game. We couldn’t ask anything more from what he did.”
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