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SAUGET - “We made it one time before, but it’s exciting every time.”
So said Triad baseball coach Jesse Bugger Monday evening after the Knights exploded for six runs in the bottom of the second and pitcher Nick Beeler tossed a two-hitter as Triad went on to defeat Chatham Glenwood 8-0 in the Sauget Super-Sectional game of the 79th IHSA Class 3A Baseball Championship at GCS Ballpark to move into a noon Friday semifinal game against Chicago St. Ignatius, 6-5 winners over Coal City in Monday’s Crestwood 1 Super-Sectional at Standard Bank Stadium in the Chicago suburbs Monday; the game will be at Route 66 Stadium in Joliet, home of the Frontier League’s Joliet Slammers.
The winner of Friday’s semifinal meets the winner of a 10 a.m. Friday semifinal game between LaGrange Park Nazareth Academy and Morton at 11 a.m. Saturday for the Class 3A state title, with the third-place game preceding it at 9 a.m. Saturday.
The last time the Knights got to the state tournament was 2012, where they finished fourth after falling to LaSalle-Peru in the semifinal and Nazareth Academy in the third-place game. Triad moves to the semifinal with a 29-11 record, while Glenwood was eliminated at 32-7-1.
“It never gets old; I know I was in knots all day thinking about it,” Bugger said. “I’m really, really happy for our seniors; they’ve really worked hard and they deserve everything they get. We’ve probably had better defenders in a position here or there, but as a unit, they really defend well; then you put us on AstroTurf and we’re just that much better, I think.”
Triad’s second inning explosion got started thanks to a one-out solo homer from Travis Heilmann over the boards in left that got the Knights going. “To jump out early, especially being the home team, was pretty exciting,” Bugger said. “The boys have been swinging the bats better and better as we go, like we’re supposed to; they’ve been putting in the work and I’m pretty happy for them.”
Once Triad got going in that bottom of the second, it was hard to stop them; Joe Wade, Chase Bertlesmann, Hunter Smith, Josh Mesenbrink and Zach Kraable all singed in succession to bring in two runs and keep the bases loaded before another run came in on an error that allowed Beeler to reach base; a Mack Langdon single and Hunter Boyd reaching on a fielder’s choice brought in two more runs. By the time the inning came to an end, the Knights had sent 11 batters to the plate and taken a 6-0 lead on the Titans.
Beeler then took over, holding Chatham at bay and allowing only one runner to get as far as third base in the third inning, conceding only a single to Luke Lehnen and a double to Jake Jergens. Triad picked up two more runs in the fourth, Heilmann singling in Langdon and Mesenbrink drawing a bases-loaded walk to bring in Heilmann.
Heilmann was 2-for-4 with the homer, two RBIs and two runs scored while Bertlesmann went 2-for-4 with a run scored, Kraabel 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored, Langdon 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored, Mesenbrink 1-for-3 with an RBI and run scored, Wade 1-for-4 with a run scored and Beeler 1-for-3 with an RBI on the day. Beeler got the win, dismissing six by strikeout while Gavin Wahlbrink took the loss, striking out one and giving up six hits and six runs, all earned.
That Triad is heading to Joliet fulfills one of the Knights’ goals each season – playing on the final day of the season. “We’ll get to play on the last day of the year; that’s always one of our goals – to play every day you can possibly play,” Bugger said. “We’ll be playing on the last Saturday. I’m super-proud of these kids; they’re a hard-working group of kids. They deserve everything they get; I’m extremely excited for them.”
