Cary-Grove’s effort falls short in IHSA Class 3A third-place game

JOLIET – A 6:15 a.m. wakeup call, after Cary-Grove’s state-title dreams ended Friday, was not something that made Brock Iverson spring from his bed, eager to take on the world, or at least another baseball opponent.

“It was definitely tough, because we weren’t expecting to lose [Friday],” Iverson, the Trojans’ senior first baseman, said Saturday. “It was hard waking up this morning and trying to get ready to go and get your mind ready to go for a game today.”

The Trojans attacked Saturday morning like they have all season. But Iverson’s 320-foot fly ball sliced just foul, his scorched ground ball resulted in a game-ending double play, and Charlie Taczy’s gutty effort on the mound wasn’t enough to prevent C-G from losing to Troy Triad 3-1 in the Class 3A third-place game at Duly Health and Care Field.

The Trojans (25-14) went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight men on base. Coupled with its semifinal loss to Benet Academy, C-G went 0-2 at state, just as it did in its only other state appearance in 2009.

“I’m not satisfied with the result of the game, but I’m satisfied with the season as a whole,” said Taczy, the Trojans’ UIC-bound ace. “We made it here, and that was a goal we put down at the beginning of the season.”

Taczy took the ball five days after throwing 97 pitches in a complete-game effort in the supersectional against St. Patrick. He also pitched all seven innings (88 pitches) in the Trojans’ regional semifinal against Prairie Ridge.

That meant his start against Triad was his third in 11 days.

“He had a full week [of rest between starts] all year long, so we condensed him a little bit,” C-G coach Kyle Williams said.

Taczy (9-3) went the distance against Triad (35-7), allowing five hits and five walks, while striking out seven. He gave up an insurance run in the sixth, hitting ninth-place hitter Braxton Yates in the back with the bases loaded on a 3-2 pitch, before striking out the next batter.

“I was tired, but adrenaline really kicked in toward the end there,” Taczy said after throwing 118 pitches.

“I was talking to my pitching coach [LJ Waco] after [Taczy] lost that last guy in that battle and ended up hitting him in the back, and he was at 113 [pitches] or whatever,” Williams said. “I said, ‘You think I got to go get him?’ And he says, ‘You better be ready to fight him.’ I said, ‘I don’t want to fight Charlie on the mound right now, so I’m going to let him finish it his way.’ ”

Triad touched for Taczy for three singles in the second inning, grabbing a 1-0 lead on Sawyer Brunson’s two-out hit. C-G answered when Ricky Barnes’ RBI fielder’s choice scored Jacob Duvall in the third.

But the Knights regained their lead for good in their half of the third on a booming RBI triple by Landon Loomis (2 for 2).

Keenan Krysh drew a one-out walk in the C-G seventh, but Iverson’s smash was speared by first baseman Keegan Seipp, who stepped on the bag and then threw to second to get Krysh, ending the game.

“The last ball that Brock hit was smoked, like always,” Williams.

Iverson earlier hit a ball that looked like at least a double, but it landed foul near the 327-foot mark down the right-field line. He finished 3 for 4 and was 5 for 8 in the two games at state.

Barnes, who was 3 for 3 with a triple Friday, added another single.

“It was honestly a great experience to come out here and be able to play another week,” the Illinois College-bound Barnes said. “There are a lot of teams at home right now. It’s just really unfortunate that we came out here today and put up only one run for Charlie. We hit some balls hard. They just didn’t go our way.”

Williams started eight of his 13 seniors, including Francis Panko and Peyton Seaburg, each of whom was 1 for 2.

“I think we just have a will to win, and we all want to win,” Taczy said. “One thing I talked about with some of the coaches is the chemistry we have on this team. All of us have been playing since 8 years old, some 12, maybe high school. We all know each other really well, and we all love each other.”

The Trojans lost six of nine games during a stretch in early April. They split their final four games of the regular season, and then the postseason happened.

“If you always go in open-minded and just give your best effort every day, even in practice, this is the outcome you’ll get,” Iverson said. “And we received that.”