To say he did it all would be an overstatement.

But to say that Michael Silvius went above and beyond in doing his job both offensively and defensively would be a perfect description of the Crystal Lake South junior’s performance Wednesday afternoon.

Silvius pitched six innings of two-hit shutout baseball and added a solo home run as the Gators defeated Deerfield 6-0 in a Class 3A Grayslake Central Sectional semifinal in Grayslake.

The win moves South (27-9) into the championship against sectional host Grayslake Central, a 4-3 winner over Crystal Lake Central, at 11 a.m. Saturday.

The Gators gave their pitcher a 3-0, first-inning lead with which to work, and Silvius did not disappoint. The two Warriors’ hits were both bloop singles – one in the second inning, the other in the sixth – and he struck out six while walking only two.

“Definitely having that lead helped, knowing I had the guys behind me defensively and knowing we could score more runs,” Silvius said. “It gave me the confidence to just go out there and pitch. I used my changeup very well and that pitch got a lot of swings and misses. Then, I lived on the outside corner with the fastball.”

The only serious Deerfield threat came in the sixth when an error and bloop single put runners on second and third with two outs. But Silvius got Chase Golding to pop out to the catcher and end the threat.

“Michael showed a lot of maturity out there in that situation,” South coach Brian Bogda said. “As a quarterback on the football team, it’s his job to keep calm and help pick up for teammates when they make a mistake. He did that (in the sixth). It’s nice to see him compete and pitch that well on the big stage in the sectional. It’s something he’s done a lot for us this year.”

South’s three runs in the first came on run-scoring singles from Jackson Lee, Nick Stowasser and Silvius. Wes Bogda added an RBI double in the third and Nolan Dabrowski’s double down the left-field line plated another. Michael Rathjen added two hits in three trips to the plate. The final run was Silvius’ solo shot to left in the sixth.

“I knew I hit it pretty good and I knew the wind was blowing out a bit, but it was nice to see it clear (the fence),” Silvius added.

The victory was a measure of payback for the Gators, who lost to Deerfield in the sectional semifinals two years ago on the same field.

“We had nine kids back from that team two years ago, and (Deerfield) also had a bunch back, and I even think we had the same umpiring crew,” Bogda said. “The game had a lot of similarities, and it was nice to take care of a game we didn’t take care of two years ago.”

Deerfield finished with a 15-23 record, but that mark includes a rigorous nonconference schedule and an equally difficult Central Suburban South campaign.

“Their guy threw a real good game. He kept us off balance and made big pitches in big situations,” Deerfield coach Mark Januszewski said. “We played one of the toughest schedules around. I think we played 12 regional champions during the season and we won two games in our regional against teams that had beaten us earlier. Give South credit. They played a great game. Today just wasn’t our day.”