Baseball: St. Bede uses small ball to edge Yorkville Christian in regional semi

OTTAWA – Bunting. Defense. Pitching and small ball.

Everything they teach baseball players from a young age was on display Thursday in the Class 1A Marquette Regional semifinal between St. Bede and Yorkville Christian.

No. 3-seeded St. Bede, in typical coach Bill Booker style, took to small ball perfection in the bottom of the seventh inning for a thrilling 1-0 victory over No. 5 Yorkville Christian at Masinelli Field.

“That was one heck of a baseball game,” Booker said. “Tip your hat to Yorkville Christian. They made some good plays and had great pitching, just like we did. In the end, we didn’t hit the ball out of the infield and executed small ball perfectly, and that’s why we practice it so much.”

St. Bede (21-7) will face No. 1 Marquette (26-2) in the regional championship at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Ryan Brady led off the bottom of the seventh with a line drive off the glove of Mustangs starting pitcher Nolan Hooper.

Ryan Slingsby then laid down a bunt and beat the throw to first. That brought up Gus Burr, who advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt.

“We just executed perfectly. Both teams had great starting pitching and defense, but in the end it was small ball that gives us a chance to play a big rival in Marquette and get some payback.”

—  Brendan Pillion, St. Bede senior

Griffin May came up to pinch hit for Bruins starting pitcher Seth Ferarri and was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out, giving the Mustangs a chance for a force out at any base.

Brendon Pillion then seemed to catch everyone off guard as he laid down a squeeze bunt to score Brady for the victory.

“We practice that stuff all the time,” Pillion said. “We just executed perfectly. Both teams had great starting pitching and defense, but in the end it was small ball that gives us a chance to play a big rival in Marquette and get some payback.”

Both teams had runners on in the first inning but were unable to get any big hits together and then went down in order in the second inning as both pitchers were on cruise control.

Bryce Edwards singled up the middle for the Mustangs in the top of the third for the first hit of the game. Two batters later, Edwards broke for second base as Ferarri’s pickoff throw went to first baseman John Brady, who fired to shortstop Pillion for the out to end the inning.

The Bruins’ first hit came in the bottom half of the inning as Slingsby singled to left field, but they were unable to score despite hitting the ball hard, only to see the Mustangs’ defenders track down line drives each time.

Yorkville Christian again had a golden opportunity in the fourth inning as Trey Lombardo and Cody Hazzard singled.

Ferrari then got Brady Davis to fly out.

Jess Straton grounded to Pillion, who tossed to second for the out. Lombardo rounded third and headed home, where Burr fired to Nathan Husser for the inning-ending double play.

The Bruins came away empty in the bottom half of the inning when Pillion led off with a single that ate up Davis at first.

Husser walked for two on with no outs.

Luke Tunnell moved the runners over with a sacrifice bunt and Callan Hueneberg was intentionally walked, but Pillion was thrown out at home for the forceout before Ryan Brady flied to center to end the inning.

Nolan Hooper and Ferrari once again used solid pitching and great defense to keep the game scoreless until the seventh.

“What a game,” Mustangs coach Sean Bieterman said. “It was the same thing with Newark. We are only in the third year of the program so the future is bright, but give both teams credit. This was a great pitchers’ game as well as defense.”

Pillion and Slingsby led St. Bede with two hits each, while Pillion had the lone RBI and Ferarri went the full seven innings, giving up three hits and no runs.