Baseball: L-P plays ‘all-around game’ in regional win

OGLESBY – In its postseason opener, the La Salle-Peru baseball team executed in all phases of the game.

The No. 8-seeded Cavaliers shut down Kankakee’s offense with strong pitching and solid defense, scored two runs early and errupted for seven runs in the fifth to cap a 10-0, five-inning victory over the No. 9-seeded Kays in a Class 3A Morris Regional quarterfinal at Dickinson Field.

“I think we played well,” L-P junior Brendan Boudreau said. “We hit the ball well. We played good defense. We pitched well. I think we played an all-around game today.”

Boudreau sat down the Kays in order in the top of the first inning, then the Cavs immediately gave him a lead.

After a strikeout to start the bottom of the first, Seth Adams hit a pop fly that fell between fielders in shallow center field, and Adams hustled in for a double.

“I think we played well. We hit the ball well. We played good defense. We pitched well. I think we played an all-around game today.”

—  Brendan Boudreau, La Salle-Peru junior

After a flyout, Billy Mini walked before Boudreau delivered an RBI single to center.

With Nathan Van Duzer at bat, Boudreau took off from first base. Kankakee pitcher Clay Gadbois stepped off and looked at Boudreau. Mini took off for home and Gadbois’ throw sailed over the catcher’s head, allowing Mini to score for a 2-0 lead.

“It’s good. It gets everyone fired up,” Boudreau said about the early lead. “If we score early we’re more active throughout the game.”

The Cavs tacked on a run in the third inning when Boudreau’s groundout scored Mason Lynch, who led off the inning with a walk.

Boudreau kept the Kays’ offense at bay, throwing a three-hit shutout with four strikeouts and a walk.

“He mixed it up,” L-P coach Matt Glupczynski said. “He got ahead. He was able to throw his curveball for strikes. He was able to throw his fastball for strikes. That’s really tough for hitters to be able to hit. It keeps them off balance.”

The Cavs put the game away in the fifth inning as they scored seven runs on three hits, three walks and a hit batter.

Boudreau ripped a two-run single down the first-base line into right field, and Jacob Gross hit a pinch-hit two-run single.

Adams came up with the bases loaded and ended the game as he hit a flyball the right fielder couldn’t get to, which bounced and skipped into deep right field, clearing the bases.

“Offensively, against a really good pitcher, we grinded out at-bats,” Glupczynski said. “In the fourth inning, we had his pitch count up to 70. We talked about that coming in, when you’re in playoff baseball and you’re go see everybody’s No. 1 or No. 2 (pitcher), you really have to grind out at-bats. If you’re going to make outs, you have to make productive outs. You cannot go up there and in three pitches you’re sitting down.

“We did a great job jumping on him right away with two runs, putting pressure on him. Then we just kept tacking and were able to put it away late. I’m very pleased.”

The Cavs (12-17) advance to play top-seeded Morris (25-4) at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in Morris.

Morris beat L-P twice in Interstate 8 Conference play – 17-7 at Morris and 3-0 at L-P.

“They’re a well-coached team,” Glupczynski said. “They’re a great team. I’m excited to see us compete.

“We’re going to have to do a lot of the things we did today. Whoever we put on the mound is going to have to pound the zone. We have to field the ball. When it comes to offense, we have to scrap out at-bats. We have to get guys on, and when we have guys on we have to be able to get a hit or do the small things such as move the guy over to third then get a ground ball. We have to put pressure on them for us to have a chance.”