Zach Readdy rallies McHenry to ‘super’ victory

GENEVA – Super reliever, super steady Zach Readdy has been in and out of the McHenry lineup this baseball season.

Monday night, he almost took a pitch out of a minor league ballpark.

Readdy delivered a pair of two-out, two-run hits, Kaden Wasniewski finished with two exciting innings in his first mound appearance in more than six weeks and McHenry rallied to beat South Elgin 8-6 in the Class 4A Kane County Cougars Supersectional at Northwestern Medicine Field.

“It was awesome,” Readdy said after the Warriors erased an early 4-0 deficit to hike their school-record win total to 35. “Nothing like it.”

McHenry (35-4-1) has another chance to experience postseason thrills when it plays plays Brother Rice (35-3) in a state semifinal at 7 p.m. Friday at Slammers Stadium in Joliet. McHenry finished fourth in Class 4A in 2022, its first and only appearance at state.

The game marked the final one for South Elgin’s Jim Kating, who’s been the only head coach for the Storm since the program’s initial season in 2007. The Storm finished third in Class 4A in 2014, its only appearance at state.

“We played well, we battled to the end, and I’m very proud of my kids for how they came out,” said Kating, whose team was the No. 4 seed in its sectional. “We had nothing to lose. We weren’t supposed to be anywhere close to where [McHenry] is at. That’s what I enjoyed, the mental toughness and wanting to win, wanting to play.”

South Elgin (25-11) jumped out to an early lead, scoring four runs in the bottom of the second inning. No. 9 hitter Nathan Kmiec delivered a two-out, two-run single for the game’s first runs, and a throwing error allowed two more runs to score.

McHenry got three runs back in the third with Readdy’s two-run triple the big blow. He pulled a fastball deep to right field and the ball bounced off the wall.

He does not have a home run this season.

“It was in on my hands,” said Readdy, a St. Xavier commit. “I got a little jammed, but I just muscled it out there. It almost went.”

Readdy delivered again in the sixth, lining a go-ahead, two-run double with two out into left-center field to snap a 5-5 tie.

“I was sitting curveball and I just reacted to it,” said Readdy, who hit another fastball. “I was on it, and I put it the other way. It was outside and I went with it.”

Readdy, who earned a three-out save in Saturday’s sectional final against Barrington, started the game at designated hitter before moving to third base when Wasniewski came in to pitch.

The sophomore Wasniewski earned the save for Scotty Cole, who pitched 3⅓ innings in relief of starter Bryson Elbrecht. Wasniewski walked one but struck out the side in a scoreless sixth with McHenry leading 7-5.

In the seventh, he allowed a leadoff double to Jake Sparacino (1 for 4) and then an RBI single to Jacob Robertson (2 for 4, double). But Wasniewski got a groundout and back-to-back flyouts to center fielder Carver Cohn to end it.

“It’s so fun to watch him pitch,” Readdy said. “Everything he has is gross. He throws hard. Can’t ask for anything more.”

Wasniewski last pitched in a game April 24. The Warriors then shut down the hard-throwing righty because his shoulder was bothering him.

In warmups Monday, he hit 95 mph on the stadium radar gun. He started his second game in a row at third base after being relegated to designated-hitter duties only the past month.

“It feels really good, really fresh,” Wasniewski said of his arm. “I pretty much knew that once I got in, my arm would feel great.”

Cohn played his role as leadoff man to perfection. He went 2 for 2 with a double, walked three times and scored three runs. The switch-hitter singled batting right-handed and doubled batting left-handed.

Donovan Christman singled to get McHenry within 4-3 in the third. Kyle Maness tied the score at 4-4 with a fourth inning sacrifice fly. Jeffry Schwab’s RBI walk tied the score at 5-5 in the fifth before Readdy ripped his go-ahead double.

Readdy finished 2 for 3 with a walk. The left-handed hitter’s double came off lefty Colin Tuftedal.

“He was really clutch,” said Wasniewski, who was on base three times with a hit by pitch, walk and single. “He’s not been in the lineup [consistently] all year, but he really came through for us today.”