Wheaton Warrenville South had several representatives in the Benet stands on Thursday in Lisle, though most seemed to have left by the time the game nearly flipped over in the seventh inning. By this point, they have to know the Redwings fairly well.
Benet's John Boyle had been in control, allowing two runs in six innings. The junior pitcher struck out 10 Plainfield North batters before issuing his first walk in the seventh, showing why he's undefeated on the season. Casey Wilgosiewicz' grand slam nearly overshadowing his outing, but Bryan Roberts came on to notch a strikeout and save an 8-7 victory.
"(Boyle) gave us exactly what we needed to have," Benet coach Jeff Bonebrake said. "Made us look a little bit more intelligent than I think we are."
Bonebrake wouldn't be second-guessed for juggling his rotation after this regional semifinal win, now that Roberts, his future Division I pitcher, is available to start Saturday morning against No. 15 WW South, which defeated No. 2 Downers Grove South 4-3 on Wednesday to advance.
"I know we lost to them last year in the playoffs. I feel like we've played them six years a row in the playoffs," Roberts said. "They're always a team that's like mediocre in the regular season and then they always step it up during the postseason. They have so many athletes on their team, it's ridiculous."
The two programs have met during the last four spring postseasons, in addition to summer playoff matchups. Roberts allowed four runs and absorbed the loss during last May's 4-1 decision.
"It's the annual Benet-Wheaton South regional game," Bonebrake said. "It seems like we played the last 20 years against each other."
No. 7 Benet (22-13) reached this point in part by manufacturing runs on Thursday. Pat Gelwicks, batting from the No. 2 hole, didn't get a hit against No. 9 Plainfield North (22-10), but he moved a runner along in the first and had an RBI groundout in the fourth.
The fifth inning saw Matt O'Rourke drop a sacrifice bunt that eventually helped set up Mike Chmielewski, who lifted a sacrifice fly to center to score Mike Vanchieri. The Redwings worked station to station, arriving at a familiar point, across from WW South.
"They look like a team on a mission," Bonebrake said of the Tigers. "Obviously, we're gonna feel pretty good havin' Bryan on the mound but you know we're gonna have to score some runs and do the little things like we did today."
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