Baseball: Streator hangs on for 3A regional win over Dunlap

GENESEO – It’s said that the hardest out in a baseball game to get is the last one.

That was the case for the Streator baseball team during Wednesday’s semifinal of the Class 3A Geneseo Regional against Dunlap.

The Bulldogs held a four-run lead heading to the top of the seventh, but the Eagles scored three times and had runners on second and third with two outs.

However, reliever Christian Benning was able to come on to record the final out to secure a 6-5 triumph and send Streator to Saturday’s 11 a.m. championship game against Galesburg.

The Silver Streaks upset Geneseo 7-2 in the day’s first semifinal.

“The key for me was keeping us in the game however I had to do it.”

—  Adam Williamson, Streator pitcher

Adam Williamson earned the pitching win, going 6 2/3 innings before reaching the 115-pitch count and allowing eight hits, four runs, with two walks and eight strikeouts. Lando Muntz came on to face three batters in the final inning but gave up a pair of singles and a walk. Benning earned the high-pressure save.

“We made things interesting, for sure,” Streator coach Beau Albert said. “Landon normally throws a lot of strikes, but he just couldn’t get that last out. Then we extended with a throw home that should have gone to second, but we survived today and live to play Saturday. All that said, I thought we played a pretty solid all-around game.

“Adam did a great job on the mound and at the plate tonight, and Brady [Grabowski] and Christian really hit the heck out of the ball in a couple of their at-bats.”

Streator (20-11-1), which reached the 20-win mark for the first time since 2010, scored twice in the first inning. Benning drove in Williamson, who had singled, and Grabowski, who had doubled, with a line-drive single to right-center.

Dunlap (16-15-1) tied the game in the third, but Streator regained the advantage in its half as Williamson doubled and then scored a base hit by Grabowski.

Williamson and Grabowski both finished 3 for 3.

“My fastball wasn’t as on as I would have liked it to be, and my curveball was on and off,” Williamson said. “I was getting behind way too many hitters, and that’s never a good combination. But the bright side was that I was really confident that I could throw [my changeup] for a strike in any situation I was in. The key for me was keeping us in the game however I had to do it.

“I’m seeing the ball well at the plate. I feel like the season has been a little up and down for me with the bat, but the last week or so I’ve been hitting the ball hard. I guess this is the right time of the season to be doing that.”

The Bulldogs made it 5-2 in the fifth as Parker Phillis and Williamson posted consecutive singles before Grabowski drove in his second RBI of the game with a sharp single to left. Williamson scored later in the frame on an error.

“I started the season hitting the ball well and fell into a little bit of a slump in the middle but have really seen the ball well the last few weeks,” Grabowski said. “Adam has hit the ball well the entire season, so to see him hitting well in front of me has just pushed me to try and match that.”

Streator added a run in the sixth as Logan Aukland walked and courtesy runner Jake Hagie came around to touch home after a single plus error on the leftfielder.

In the Dunlap seventh, Williamson allowed a walk and hit a batter, then struck out the next two hitters before reaching the pitch count and giving way for Muntz and Benning.