By Drake Skleba

 

BLOOMINGTON- In the second semifinal of the Cornbelt Conference Tournament at Horenberger Field, Stanford Olympia (22-7) scored three times in the top of the sixth to upend Bloomington Central Catholic 5-3.

 

After being shut down by Bloomington Central Catholic’s junior RHP Jesse Heaton (2-3) through five, the Spartan bats opened up. Trailing 3-2 as the game moved to the top of the sixth, the Spartans rallied for the victory at the Illinois Wesleyan University.

 

Senior CF Zach Zindel (2-for-4, 2 RBI) led off the sixth with a single. After a sac-bunt by senior second baseman Josh Zimmer, sophomore Zack Talbert tied the game with a big double to score Zindel.

 

“We fell behind tonight but came back and picked up a good win,” said Talbert. “I battled and I drove the ball out there to get the tying run home.”

 

After the second out, senior Matt Glenn gave the Spartans their first lead of the day with another booming double, scoring Talbert, which ended the day for Heaton. Senior Chris Highland came in to relief.

 

“We really battled to come back and win this one,” said Glenn. “I just did my job tonight. I was in a good situation and came through for us.”

 

Highland was greeted by the third Spartan double of the inning off the bat of senior DH Stuart Nafzinger, scoring Glenn and concluding the scoring.

 

Olympia plated a run in the first inning when junior Chase Hainline tripled and scored on a sac-fly by Zindel.

 

Bloomington Central Catholic scored three runs on Olympia starting and winning pitcher sophomore Jack Turner (5-2).The Saints’ Creighton-bound catcher Andrew Holt doubled home a pair, followed by a run-scoring single by senior Ben McAllister.

 

Turner settled down and blanked the Saints into the sixth.

 

“I was really nervous in the first inning,” said Turner. “I settled down after that and really pitched well for us.”

 

After the Spartans had taken the lead in the sixth, the Saints mounted a rally against Turner. Heaton singled and moved to second on a ground out.

 

Olympia head coach Ron Smith went to his pen and summoned senior Spencer Pratt to the mound. Saint first baseman Tyler Johansen singled and Heaton moved to third. Pratt made a good pitch and got a huge 4-6-3 double play to get out of the inning.

 

“Jack Turner was a little nervous in the first inning,” said Smith. “He settled down and pitched very well for us. I made the change in the sixth for a couple of reasons. The number one reason is Spencer Pratt throws strikes and two he is a great athlete. This was an emotional win for us over Bloomington Central. They have beaten us the last two years in the regular season and we have beaten them in the conference tournament. Also, we are probably going to see them in the state tournament in a couple of weeks.”

 

Pratt mowed down the Saints in the seventh and the Spartans advanced to the championship game against Mahomet-Seymour (19-7).

 

“This was a payback game,” said Pratt. “Central got us pretty good at their place so we wanted to win this one. I threw strikes and kept the ball down. My defense really played great for me.”

 

Stanford Olympia will play Mahomet Seymour in the Championship game at Horenberger Field on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University. Bloomington Central Catholic will meet Normal U-High for third place.

 

“We just didn’t take advantage of our opportunities as Olympia did,” said Bloomington Central Catholic head coach Jeff Paul. “Jesse Heaton battled on the mound for us tonight. Our game with Normal-U High will be a rubber match with them.”