If there was anyone who could best appreciate what Joey Christensen did for Benet on Wednesday, it was Blake Nicolls.
Christensen channeled his inner Nicolls on his way to sending 10th-seeded Benet to a 5-1 victory over sixth-seeded Metea Valley in the Hinsdale South Regional of the Phil Lawler Summer Classic.
The Redwings’ senior left-hander kept the Mustangs (15-14) off balance throughout his six innings.
Much in the same way Nicolls did for Metea Valley on Tuesday against Naperville Central, Christensen commanded the zone for Benet (15-7) on his way to striking out eight while scattering just two hits.
“He was keeping the ball low against us and inside,” Nicolls said of Christensen. “We were just having trouble hitting it to the opposite field. His off-speed was working pretty well, too. Keeping that low.”
Aside from back-to-back hits from Nicolls and Anthony Greco in the bottom of the fourth, Metea Valley struggled offensively to get much traction.
In the fourth, Nicolls reached on a one-out double that nearly saw two Redwing outfielders bump into each other and Greco knocked him in with a single that cut the Mustangs’ deficit to 2-1.
Christensen was cognizant of Greco’s presence in the Metea Valley lineup, evidenced by his two-run homer against the Redhawks’ Charlie Walzer on Tuesday.
“I heard about Greco hitting that home run and that definitely impacted how I was going to throw to him,” said Christensen, who threw 103 pitches. “I was throwing everything low and away and off-speed. It definitely affected me.”
After his six innings, Christensen gave way to Pat Barron, who struck out two during a perfect top of the seventh to send the Redwings to a Thursday date at noon with eighth-seeded Wheaton North.
The Redwings’ offense finally got to Metea Valley starter Jacob Guerrieri in the top of the fourth with the game still scoreless.
Guerrieri walked Danny Sobolewski with one out in the inning to set the stage for Alec McEachern to hit a two-run homer to break the game’s seal and give Benet a 2-0 lead.
“I was just looking for a fastball and a good pitch to hit,” McEachern said. “That’s it.”
An inning later, three straight two-out singles in the top of the fifth from Sobolewski, Alex Tassos and McEachern got a rally going for the Redwings.
McEachern’s two-run bloop single to right increased Benet’s advantage to 4-1 and it was never seriously challenged after that.
With the bases loaded, a sixth-inning sacrifice fly to center from Josh Tumpane finished off the scoring for Benet.
Over the course of the Redwings’ last 14 innings of play, Christensen and Mike Dunn have combined to go 12 innings while allowing just one run combined.
Dunn went six innings for Benet in its 5-0 shutout of 15th-seeded Romeoville on Tuesday and Christensen followed Dunn to the mound with a gem of his own.
“Our guys, we’re trying to tell them to let them hit it and they’re doing a good job of competing that way,” Benet coach Scott Lawler said. “So I’m really proud of them.”
With the Redwings appearing in a summer state regional title game for the second time in three years, Lawler said he has a plethora of pitching options to consider against Wheaton North.
The significance of a victory on Thursday wasn’t lost on Phil Lawler’s oldest son as he tries to bring Benet to the Phil Lawler Summer Classic next week.
“It would be a thrill if we can, but it’s nice to even just be at this point right now,” Scott Lawler said.
