4A Mundelein Regional: Saint Viator withstands Mundelein's epic comeback

MUNDELEIN, Ill. – Saint Viator, the Sectional hosts and the reigning 3A champions, were slated as the No. 10 seed prior to the start of the playoffs. They were handed an assignment against No. 8-ranked Prospect, a game in which they won 8-2, to earn a spot in the Regional semis against Mundelein.

And today, they can call themselves 4A Regional champs. They’re Regional title winners despite letting an 11-6, seventh-inning lead slip through their mitts.

First things first, the Lions knew they had a difficult task in front of them considering they weren’t just facing the No. 2-ranked team within their Sectional, they had to face the No. 2-ranked prospect in Illinois’ senior class: Steven Sanchez. The lefty Arkansas commit is an absolute force on the mound and has been the Mustangs’ stalwart ace this spring. But the Lions came into the game with a distinct gameplan.

After a scoreless first inning, Viator’s Michael Wittich led off the inning with a walk and was followed by a Ryan Stejskal double to deep center field that had Mundelein’s Jeff Morton all turned around. Mundelein conceded the first run on a groundout to first base and Conor Warner executed a perfectly place bunt single, scoring another. Viator added one more in the frame and the score stayed stuck at 3-0 for the next two innings.

While the Lions were making Sanchez work hard, their starter, Bryce Hellgeth, was carving through Mundelein’s lineup four innings in. Through four, the Dayton commit, mostly known for his handiwork behind the plate, had allowed just one Mundelein hit. And he was about to get some more support, too.

Sanchez walked Casey Kmet to start the top of the fifth after getting ahead with a 1-2 count. Another Viator bunt, what would become their go-to tactic to attack Sanchez, pushed Kmet to second base and he came around to score on a double from Hellgeth, who moved up to third on an error in the same play. Wittich returned to the box and punched a first-pitch bunt expertly down the third base line that scored Hellgeth.

That bunt single chased Sanchez from the game and brought in Rahul Champaneri. Stejskal crushed the first pitch of Champaneri’s for a double, scoring Wittich from first. Viator tacked on two more to lift their lead to 8-0.

They put that 8-0 lead back into the arm of Hellgeth, who is no stranger to the big moment. He started last year’s 3A state title game and looked great until he tired late – he would encounter similar circumstances here.

The Mustangs buoyed back in the bottom of the fifth. Morton doubled to lead off the inning and Austin Greco, a reliable sophomore contributor for this team, singled to put runners on second and third. A groundout scored their first run and then they got three straight RBI base hits to pull them back into the game; a single from Drew Breitenreiter and back-to-back doubles from Mason Schaller and Ryan Patel.

Greco took the mound for the Mustangs in the sixth and pitched around two errors to keep their 8-4 deficit in tact and the momentum on their side. T.J. Yakimisky’s sacrifice fly brought home their fifth run and another Breitenreiter RBI single made it 8-6.

The comeback was in sight. Greco got two quick outs to start the seventh and the Mustangs were eager to get back to the plate when Viator restarted the inning. A hit by pitch and single put runners on first and second for Hunter Johnson, who singled home a big run, the Lions’ ninth. Hellgeth took back some of the runs he allowed on his two-run double to make it a late 11-6 lead.

After Stejskal relieved Hellgeth in the fifth, Johnson was actually brought in to relieve him in the sixth. He returned to the mound in the seventh and got Patel to ground out to start the inning, one out closer to taking Viator to a Sectional semifinals berth.

Sanchez was next up in the box and he smashed a solo home run high and far, and it was gone almost as soon as it left his barrel. The homer felt harmless at first, with Viator still protecting a four-run lead, but this is when their epic comeback started. An error and double breathed some life back into their chances but Johnson struck out Greco in a lengthy at-bat in an attempt to re-handle control of the game. Another Viator error, this time committed by Kmet at third, allowed two more Mundelein runs to score, making it an 11-9 game with the tying run at the plate.

Nine-hole hitter Jared Dorfman launched a first-pitch breaking ball deep to left center and it cleared the fence, bringing the Mustangs even, finally, after an arduous journey back to a tie game. And they didn’t want to stop there – Breitenreiter pulled a sharp single to left field to keep the inning going and Schaller dropped a bloop single right in between first  base and right field that Breitenreiter tested all the way from first base, but was gunned down comfortably at the plate to push the game to extras.

In the eighth, Mundelein elected to use shorstop Patel on the mound to buy themselves an inning of breathing room. However, Viator loaded the bases with one away for the top of its lineup. Jack Mahoney worked an 0-2 count back to full but swung through a fastball up in the zone to give Kmet the chance to be the hero. He worked a walk with relative ease to push across the go-ahead run, 12-11, re-applying the pressure back onto Mundelein’s bats.

Johnson dug deep and returned back to the mound after the last inning and was able to put down the Mustangs 1-2-3 to give his team the win and Regional crown.

Saint Viator will be going back to play on their home turf against No. 3-ranked Libertyville on Thursday in their Sectional’s semifinals.

Statistical Highlights

• Bryce Hellgeth (Saint Viator, 2018): 2-for-5, 2 2B, 3 RBIs

• Casey Kmet (Saint Viator, 2018): 2-for-4, 2 BB, R, RBI

• Cori Korab (Saint Viator, 2018): 3-for-4, RBI

• Jared Dorfman (Mundelein, 2019): 1-for-3, HR, 2 RBIs

• Drew Breitenreiter (Mundelein, 2018): 3-for-5, R, 2 RBIs