Anyone part of Benet’s baseball program will tell you the spring hasn’t quite gone the way they all expected it to.
After claiming the program’s first regional title since 2008 before making the program’s first trip to the Elite Eight of the summer state tournament, expectations were high for 2016.
And Scott Lawler still believes his charges can do some damage in the postseason despite the fact his team sits at 12-17 after a 7-2 loss Monday to Joliet Catholic.
“I’m really excited for the playoffs with this team,” Lawler said. “I’m really excited. I think I’ve had teams that I think were really, really good for the long haul of the season but when you get us into the playoffs, a pitcher or two could beat us. With a few injuries here and there, I think our team is very, very suited for the playoffs, for high school baseball. I’m excited about it.”
Mark Moran and Bobby Ernsting each tried their hand at holding down the Hilltoppers for the Redwings (12-17, 7-10), but a pair of innings proved troublesome.
A four-run uprising from Joliet Catholic (16-13, 11-6) off Moran in the fourth was highlighted by a two-run double from Greg Ziegler with two outs, giving it a 4-0 lead.
Three innings later, after Ernsting had retired the first seven batters he saw in relief of Moran, the Hilltoppers got run-scoring doubles from Vanderbilt-bound Drake Fellows and Jack Naal.
The three-run seventh for Joliet Catholic was answered only by a Ernsting RBI groundout in the bottom of the inning as the Redwings stranded several runners all day.
“We knew that we were going to try to split the game and maybe even have a couple of other guys pitch,” Lawler said. “And they just both had one inning that just got away from them. And they probably went one inning too long for them because Mark hasn’t thrown that many innings yet for us, in a game, and neither has Bobby.”
Hosting a regional for the second straight year, the presence of senior third baseman Alex Tassos in the lineup gives Benet reason for optimism going into the postseason next week.
After hitting just .212 last spring, Tassos has used his .405 average from the summer to springboard himself to leading the team with a robust average of .422 to go with 18 RBI.
“It just pretty much having a different mindset,” Tassos said of his success, which included getting moved up from the ninth spot to the three-hole in the lineup. “Going up there every time thinking I’m going to get a hit and I’m just trying to do the best for my team.
“Definitely seeing a lot more breaking balls and early in the counts, too. I’m not seeing a lot of fastballs early. As long as I get ahead in the count, I usually get a fastball to hit. I just got to hit it.”
Teams like Joliet Catholic, Nazareth and Marian Catholic make for a tough ESCC slate during the regular season.
But given the program was finally able to get over the regional title hump a year ago, another run in Class 3A isn’t out of the question.
“I definitely think we have another run in us,” Tassos said. “When we play clean baseball, we usually end up doing well and I think we can definitely make a run.”
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