Baseball: Marian Central’s upset bid falls short against North Boone in Class 2A regional final

RICHMOND – Marian Central had not won more than two games in a row all season but entered Saturday’s Class 2A Richmond-Burton Regional final against North Boone playing its best baseball of the spring.

The Hurricanes earned a walk-off win over Johnsburg to begin the postseason and knocked off top-seeded Richmond-Burton in the semifinals.

But after leading 3-0 after 5½ innings against North Boone, Marian came up just short of its first three-game winning streak of the season.

The No. 3-seeded Vikings rallied for three runs in the bottom of the sixth and scored on an error in the seventh for a 4-3 victory over the No. 8 Hurricanes to capture the team’s first regional title since 2018.

Marian (11-21), meanwhile, was trying to win its first regional title since 2015. Not many expected the Hurricanes to be in a position to do so, especially after a rocky start to the year.

“These guys really embraced the process of getting better every day,” first-year coach Matt Schmidt said. “Getting 1% better every day, getting their skills better, that’s what put us in this position. We played our best baseball at the end of the year.

“They got so much smarter and I had to say less. These guys have grown a ton.”

Marian Central took a 1-0 lead on an opposite-field home run from right fielder Owen Neuzil in the top of the fifth inning.

In the sixth, senior shortstop Braeden Todd came a few feet away from a grand slam as the ball hit near the bottom of the left-field fence, scoring Bryce Kowall. Brodee Vermette followed with an RBI groundout and a 3-0 lead.

Hurricanes junior pitcher Adam Wrzos stranded six base runners in the first five innings, but North Boone (25-8) finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth. JJ Ford drilled a two-run triple past Vermette in center field and Grady Condon added an RBI single to tie the game at 3.

Kowall drew a walk with two outs in the top of the seventh and reached second base on a wild pitch but was thrown out trying to steal third for the final out.

In the bottom half, North Boone’s Eli Lopez reached first on a one-out single to center field. After a pop-up to second base for the second out, Chris Doetch followed with a base hit to center field. The ball got away from Vermette, and Lopez came all the way around to score the game-winning run.

Self, a senior, started for the Vikings and allowed one run over five innings with eight strikeouts and five walks.

“A lot of excitement,” Self said of winning a regional championship. “You could feel everyone’s energy in the dugout and everyone really got into the moment. My sophomore year we got close and lost, and last year too we got here and lost, so it’s good to finally bring home some hardware.”

Wrzos went all 6 2/3 innings for Marian, allowing four runs (three earned) on nine hits. He struck out five and walked one.

“I was amped up, I think that’s the most excited I’ve ever been,” Wrzos said. “I just lost my command (in the sixth). I feel like I lost some (velocity), too. I wish I would have finished a little stronger and made some better pitches, but that’s going to happen.”

Colin Kowalsky finished 3 for 4 with a double for Marian, and TJ Cutrona and Vermette both added one hit.

Todd, one of four seniors on the Hurricanes, along with Michal Bubala, Santino Fiore and Walter Young, felt his team got better every game.

“This team’s improved so much over the year,” Todd said. “I haven’t had more fun with a group of guys just playing. Even if the record wasn’t great, these last couple games were the most fun I’ve had. It was a rough start. We had a hard schedule, so that didn’t reflect how good we can play.

“Playing teams around here, it just shows what we can actually do.”