STERLING – After grinding out wins and battling through close games all season long, the Newman baseball team made sure there wasn’t too much drama in Friday’s Class 1A sectional championship game against Aquin.
After starter Kyle Wolfe worked a five-pitch top of the first inning, the Comets scored four runs in the bottom of the frame to take control early in what turned out to be a 7-4 victory.
It’s the first sectional title in program history. Newman will face Newark at 4 p.m. Monday at Rivets Stadium in the Rockford Supersectional; Newark defeated Grant Park 9-3 in their sectional final.
“It’s never been done,” Newman coach Kenny Koerner said. “It’s something this year that we tried to not look ahead. I knew I had a good group, a team that didn’t give up. Throughout the year, we’ve played so many games where we just battled the whole way and came back and won games, played a lot of close games, the conference is really good, so I knew we were tested. It’s just a tough group, and very well-deserving of this success.”
The Wolfe brothers were big factors in that success Friday afternoon. Kyle went the distance on the mound, allowing four runs (three earned) and seven hits, striking out one and walking two. His defense was up to the task behind him, overcoming three errors with a double play and enough plays to strand Aquin runners on base in five different innings, including the bases loaded with the go-ahead run at the plate in the top of the seventh.
“In the scouting report, we knew that they liked to hit the fastball, just like we do, and didn’t hit off-speed pitches particularly well,” Kyle Wolfe said. “So I made sure to change it up and keep them off-balance. Balls were in play, weak contact, and the defense stayed behind us and made good plays.”
“That’s one of the coolest things ever,” Blake Wolfe added. “I get to play behind my brother in a sectional championship game; not many people get to say they’ve done that. He pitched a gem of a game … this is just so cool.”
Blake Wolfe provided the offensive boost. After the Comets (17-8) failed to score in a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the bottom of the third, they were in the same situation in the fourth. Grant Koerner walked to lead off, then Kory Mullen singled up the middle. Kyle Wolfe hit a ground ball in the hole that Aquin shortstop Ty Stykel somehow tracked down, but his throw to third was too late to force out Koerner to load the bases.
Jake Ackman hit a sinking line drive that was caught in left, then Ethan Van Landuit’s fly ball to right wasn’t deep enough to score Koerner. But Blake Wolfe picked everybody up, smashing a 1-2 pitch into the gap in left-center field that cleared the bases and left him standing at second with Newman ahead 7-2.
“I was really just trying to stay within myself,” Blake Wolfe said. “Coach Kenny has preached all year long to use the big part of the field, and that’s gap to gap, so I wanted to see the ball get deep at the plate and drive the ball in the gap somewhere.”
“That was a huge hit; you could feel the momentum shifting with Aquin coming back, and it was just a huge hit by Blake, and what a senior leader does,” Koerner said.
Indeed, it did seem as if the Bulldogs (15-5) had gained some momentum. After Newman’s four-run first, Aquin got a leadoff double from Brennan Carlson and RBI groundout from Aiden Wolfe in the second, then Andrew Bowman reached on an error and scored on another error in the fourth to make it 4-2 – and that was right after they were able to strand the bases loaded in the bottom of the third.
But Blake Wolfe’s three-run double shifted it back to Newman’s side.
“The lead going up to five runs at that point, it was humongous,” Kyle Wolfe said. “It gave me confidence to go into the last three innings and just throw the ball where I needed to. We knew with our defense that we could get outs.
“I love going out on the mound with a good lead like that. It allows me to relax and do what I can do, and just make pitches.”
Even a two-run home run by Clay Luedeking in the top of the sixth couldn’t faze Kyle Wolfe on the mound. He threw 62 of his 93 pitches for strikes, and induced several easy pop-ups and lazy fly balls to keep the stress level low for the Comets.
“Kyle’s a strike-thrower. He pounds the zone, uses his defense, so getting that lead early did ease everybody in, took the nerves off and gave everybody a lot of confidence with Kyle on the mound,” Koerner said.
Newman built its lead with a crazy first inning. Kyle Wolfe led off with a single, Ackman walked, and Van Landuit also singled to load the bases with nobody out. Kyle Wolfe scored on a wild pitch, then another Newman run came home on a balk during Blake Wolfe’s at-bat. Another balk call forced in another run during Brendan Tunink’s at-bat, after Nolan Britt walked. Tunink then lifted a sac fly to right to drive in Britt for a 4-0 lead.
When the dust settled, the Comets had scored four runs on two hits, two balks, a wild pitch and a sac fly, chasing Aquin starter Cade Geiken after just five batters.
“We dug ourselves a little bit of a hole there,” Aquin coach Todd Kramer said, “but the kids have been playing hard all year, they don’t give up, they just keep battling. We played well all year, and I think we played the best ball of the season when we needed to, during the playoffs. "
In the seventh, Stykel led off with a single, but a pop out to short and a fielder’s choice by Bowman left one o with two outs. But Carlson singled for his third hit of the game, and suddenly Luedeking was the tying run at the plate. When he reached on a hit by pitch, the tying run was now on first.
“We got back into it a little bit, and the seventh inning, it was a new game,” Kramer said. “We had two outs and Brennan gets a big hit and we bring the tying run up, and Clay hit the home run before, so you never know, it’s never over until that last out. These guys just never give up.”
But Christian Becke’s line drive was hit right at Newman center fielder Mullen, and the celebration was on for the Comets.
“This is so cool,” Blake Wolfe said. We’ve worked so hard for this all year long, grinded out at-bats, grinded out games, and we’re just so proud to be here and still playing for a trip to state.”
“It’s amazing, and we couldn’t ask for anything more from this huge group of guys who work so hard and are so good,” Kyle Wolfe said. “And we’re going to go win some more.”