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SCHAUMBURG – Prairie Ridge’s Dylan Bremer approached the plate with a bat in his hands and a chip on his shoulder.
Washington chose to intentionally walk the Wolves’ Matt Porter with the score tied and the winning run at second base in the bottom of the seventh inning. Porter had tripled to deep center field in the fourth inning and walking him put the force on at any base.
Still, Bremer used it for fuel.
“I felt a little disrespected that they wanted me instead of Matt Porter in front of me,” Bremer said. “I believe in Matt Porter, me and the guy behind me (Jack Tobin). But I felt disrespected. I went up there with a dog mentality, like I’m getting this done for my team.’ "
Bremer ripped a 1-2 pitch over first baseman Ethan Uftring’s head and courtesy runner Ryan Gregorio raced home with the winning run for a 4-3 Wolves’ victory in their Class 3A State Tournament semifinal Thursday at Wintrust Field.
[ WATCH: Prairie Ridge wins Class 3A state semifinal on walk-off single ]
Bremer’s game-winner capped an improbable comeback and marked the fourth consecutive one-run win for the Wolves (19-13), who will play for the state championship at 7 p.m. Thursday against either St. Laurence or Springfield. Washington (24-7) will play for third place.
Panthers righthander Kizer Teague, who sports long, floppy hair and an array of different arm angles and hesitation pitches, was tough on the Wolves through six innings. Teague entered the game with a 1.07 ERA, but had 107 pitches (eight from the pitch-count limit) when he started the seventh inning with a 3-1 lead.
“I told the kids, ‘We have to take a strike here, we have to get this kid out of here. We get this guy out of the game, we’re going to come back and win,’ " Wolves coach Glen Pecoraro said. “It just worked out that way, we’re fortunate. Unbelievable.”
With one out, leadoff man Will Komar was hit on an 0-2 pitch, then Alex Milone singled up the middle, sending Komar to third. Teague reached the limit and was relieved by Caleb Gauf.
Owen Brock hit a chopper that Gauf could not reach and shortstop Ethan Mountz had to charge hard. The throw got away from Uftring at first base and Komar easily scored while Milone raced all the way home.
“(Gauf) came with a curveball and caught me out in front and I still found a barrel and hustled to first base,” Brock said. “The throw took the first baseman into the basepath and he bumped into me. I was just worrying about getting to that bag. As soon as that ball sped away, I was hoping my two runners could score.”
Parker Swanson struck out five and allowed two earned runs in 5 1/3 innings for the Wolves. Jake Larson came in for the final five outs, striking out four and allowing one single. Larson left runners on first and third, getting the last two outs in the sixth.
“We went from a hard righty to a medium-soft righty and Jake threw well, threw strikes,” said Brock, the Wolves’ catcher. “He got everybody out on their front side. He’s pitched well in relief for us all season.”
The Wolves will play for a state championship for the second time in school history. Prairie Ridge won the Class 4A state title in 2008.
As Bremer saw the ball headed to right field, he ran to first with his fist in the air, knowing he had sent them to the championship.
“We came so far this season, this season wasn’t going to end like that” Bremer said. “Pec told us before the inning we were going to fight until the last pitch. That’s what we did and we won. This team fought their butts off the whole game, the whole season.”
Prairie Ridge 4, Washington 3
Washington 001 020 0 – 3 9 1
Prairie Ridge 000 100 3 – 4 6 1
WP: Jake Larson (1.2IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 4K). LP: Caleb Gauf (0IP, 1H, 1R, 0ER, 1BB, 0K).
Top hitters–Washintgon: Josh Heyder 2-4, Gauf 2-4 (RBI), Devon Vanderheydt 1-4 (RBI). Prairie Ridge: Will Komar 1-2 (2B, R, SB), Alex Milone 1-3 (R), Owen Brock 1-4 (RBI), Matt Porter 1-2 (3B, SB, R), Dylan Bremer 2-4 (RBI).