Lisle baseball books state trip with win over Beecher

LISLE - Memorial Day is supposed to be a day of rest and remembrance.

There was no resting for Lisle's baseball team Monday, and it will be a day the Lions remember for a long time to come.

The Lions topped Beecher 5-4 in a Class 2A supersectional game at Benedictine University on Memorial Day Monday, booking their first trip to the state finals in the process.

Lisle (21-10) will play in the a state semifinal at 3 p.m. Friday against Teutopolis at O'Brien Field, home of the Peoria Chiefs. The winner of the semifinal game will play in the state championship game at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

On Monday, the Bobcats jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. The Lions answered right back with two in the bottom half of the frame, but the critical inning for them was the fifth.

Nursing a 3-2 lead, Lisle pushed two runs across, one unearned to make it a 5-2 game. Bailey Welch reached on a fielder's choice and took second on a wild pitch, then scored on Cliff Krause's one-out double. Krause later scored on a two-out error that allowed Brian Czyl to reach first.

Beecher (15-15) scored two unearned runs on one hit in the sixth, but Ryan Van Volkenburg, pitching in relief of Alex Ventrella, worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning to preserve the win. It was the only inning in which in the Bobcats did not record a hit.

In the bottom of the first, Krause led off with a double, trotted to third on Ventrella's single and scored on Czyl's one-out single. Ventrella, who advanced to second on Van Volkenburg's groundout and went to third on Czyl's single, scored on Kevin Connin's groundout for a 2-1 Lisle lead.

Czyl drew a lead off walk in the fourth, took second on a passed ball and made it to third on Coppin's groundout. Jake Oard's sacrifice fly plated Czyl with what turned to be a crucial run that padded the lead and made it 3-1.