Class 3A baseball: Morris falls to Crystal Lake Central in semifinal

JOLIET – For a majority of the season, Morris was the team stringing together hits and piling on runs against its opponents.

Friday morning in the Class 3A state semifinals at Duly Health & Care Field, Crystal Lake Central turned the tables on Morris, handing them a 5-2 defeat and snapping its 19-game winning streak.

After the loss, Morris will play in the third-place game at 10 a.m. Saturday against Highland, which lost 6-3 to Lemont in the other semifinal.

Crystal Lake Central (21-14) executed nearly flawlessly in every phase of the game. The Tigers got key hits with runners on base, moved runners up by hitting to the right side, played sparkling defense and got strong pitching from both Rhett Ozment and Tommy Korn.

Neither team scored in the first two innings, although Morris (29-4) had two runners on base in both frames.

Crystal Lake Central got all the runs it needed in the top of the third. With one out, Carter Kelley singled before Jaden Obaldo was hit by a pitch. A bunt single by James Dreher loaded the bases before Sean Kempf singled to left to bring home Kelley and Obaldo for a 2-0 lead.

After a wild pitch moved runners to second and third, another single to left, this one by Connor Gibour, scored Dreher and courtesy runner Nolan Hollander to put the Tigers ahead 4-0, with Gibour reaching second on the throw home.

An out later, Andrew Welder singled up the middle, but Morris second baseman A.J. Zweeres made a sliding backhanded stop and got to his feet in time to throw out Gibour trying to score.

“That stretch in the third inning that they had reminded me of us,” Morris coach Todd Kein said. “They got kind of contagious hitting and everyone was getting good swings. And, they were doing it against a very good pitcher. No one had beaten Brett Bounds [who entered the game with an 8-0 record and 1.15 ERA] all year.

“You just have to tip your cap to Crystal Lake Central.”

Morris got a run back in the bottom of the third when Cody DelFavero (2 for 4, 2B, HR) launched a solo homer to right.

After a scoreless fourth, Morris put another run on the board on a an RBI single to right by Merek Klicker (2 for 3, RBI). That drove in courtesy runner Steven Wagner, who took first after Griffin Zweeres (2 for 4) singled. Wagner then went to second on a balk.

“Everyone on our team hits,” Klicker said. “I was up there hunting a fastball and trying to take it the other way, and that’s what I was able to do.”

Crystal Lake Central, meanwhile, was flashing leather and keeping Morris hitters off the basepaths.

The Tigers made two outstanding catches in the outfield.

In the third, right before DelFavero’s home run, Jack Wheeler sent a ball to deep center field. Central center fielder Welder raced back and dove Jim Edmonds-style to catch the ball and prevent at least a triple and possibly an inside-the-park home run. On DelFavero’s next at-bat in the fifth inning, he sent a drive to right-center that looked like it would be a double or triple, but right fielder Kelley dove full out to catch it.

“We barreled up some balls like we have all year,” Kein said. “To their credit, their kids made a couple of huge defensive plays. We had some chances in the first and second innings, but didn’t get the timely hit. They definitely won the timely hit battle today.

“We hit the ball well, but sometimes they just don’t fall.”

Morris, which had the decided edge in the stands with a huge crowd on hand, will send ace DelFavero to the mound Saturday in its final game of the season.

“I am definitely ready to go,” DelFavero said.

Kein feels his whole team will be ready for the third-place game.

“We are in the toughest spot in high school baseball,” he said. “No one wants to lose two games here. But, first and second is off the table and third is next on the list, so that’s what we’re going for.

“I also can’t say enough about the support we have gotten, not just in this postseason run, but all season long. The parents, the booster club and the community have just rallied around these guys. They have heavy hearts right now, but we have to have a short memory, come back tomorrow and not let one loss get us down.”