Baseball: Newman exorcises Elite Eight demons to advance to first-ever IHSA state finals

ROCKFORD – After ending the last two seasons with supersectional losses, the Newman Comets were determined to avoid repeating history in the Class 1A Rockford Supersectional at Rivets Stadium on Monday morning.

With a 3-2 win over the Chicago Hope Academy Eagles, they did exactly that – and secured their first trip to the state tournament in program history.

“It feels great. I don’t know what else to say. Never happened before at Newman; we’re the first team to do it,” Newman sophomore Joe Oswalt said. “It means a whole lot more [coming off consecutive supersectional losses]. Coaches look like they’re about to cry, players look like they’re about to cry, everyone was so excited.”

“I’ve been waiting for this for three years now. It’s an awesome feeling,” Newman junior Brendan Tunink said. “It makes it so much more satisfying, just knowing that we’ve been here and it’s been a grind for the past three years. Losing the first two, it’s awesome winning this.”

[ Photos from Newman vs. Chicago Hope Class 1A Rockford Supersectional ]

The Eagles (26-9) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first and held the Comets (22-8) scoreless for the first three innings. Sophomore Dominic Bonilla drew a one-out walk between two Tunink strikeouts, stole second, and then scored the first run on senior Ezekiel Bonilla’s double to left-center.

In the bottom of the second, the Eagles threatened to score again, putting runners on second and third after junior Cam’Ron Centeno flew a two-out single to left field and sophomore Matthew Mendez grounded a fast-roller into shallow center field.

Centeno and Mendez completed the double-steal on an error, but Tunink kept his composure for the next at-bat, striking out sophomore leadoff hitter Jorge Matos Jr. for the third out to keep the Comets’ deficit at 1-0 after two innings.

“I was so relieved. It’s just a couple errors,” Tunink said. “It got me kind of worked up, but I just battled through it, just tried to stay focused and not let that get to me too much. So it was awesome getting that strikeout.”

“That was huge. Those two runners on base could’ve gotten home on anything, a double or whatever, because they all had speed,” Oswalt said. “So that strikeout really held us in there.”

After the momentum-stopping strikeout, and a scoreless bottom of the third, Newman took control in the top of the fourth. A three-run rally turned the game on its head.

In the first three plate appearances, senior Nolan Britt and freshman Garet Wolfe drew consecutive walks, then Oswalt laid down a perfect bunt in front of home plate. Hope pitcher Cesar Marquez tripped while trying to field the ball, then sailed a throw past first base; Britt came around to score the tying run, while Wolfe went to third and Oswalt to second.

Junior Isaiah Williams popped a sacrifice fly to left field to drive in Wolfe with the go-ahead run, then sophomore Daniel Kelly hammered a double deep to center field, plating Oswalt for a 3-1 lead.

“That really shot our confidence up through the roof. Our confidence was going down, and then as soon as we started racking up hits, it shot right up,” Oswalt said. “We came out, played some defense, had some swagger, and played real well.”

“The last three games, we’ve been down pretty much the first three to four innings, and we’ve been used to this situation,” Kelly said. “We know that they’re going to break, we’ve been doing this, and we’ve been here the past three years. One or two runs aren’t going to win the game, so you’ve just gotta keep battling through it. And I think that [three-run inning] really helped us. And then we were on them the rest of the time.”

Down by two runs with one out, Hope made a pitching change, subbing Dominic Bonilla for Marquez.

Kelly went to third on a wild pitch in the next at-bat, but Bonilla settled in immediately after, striking out the next two batters to conclude the inning.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Eagles scored another run, drawing within 3-2.

Senior David Diaz ripped a leadoff single past third to start things off, then took second on a dropped pickoff attempt at first. Sophomore Elias Diaz then singled to left field to bring in David Diaz, but the Comets’ defense didn’t flinch. Senior catcher Jaesen Johns caught a bunt pop-up for the first out, then Tunink struck out two batters in a row to cap the one-run inning.

After giving up two runs on five hits and walking two batters in the first four innings, Tunink really dialed it in the rest of the way, pitching 2 2/3 scoreless, hitless innings with one walk. Kyle Wolfe came on to get the last out and finish out the game.

“The first inning, I just had little control issues,” Tunink said. “But after the first inning, I kind of locked myself in even more and just felt good after that.”

Dominic Bonilla worked 1-2-3 innings in the top of the fifth and sixth to keep it a one-run game for Hope. Tunink induced three flyouts around a walk to Ezekiel Bonilla in the bottom of the fifth, then went 1-2-3 in the sixth to keep the score 3-2 entering the final inning.

Senior shortstop Kyle Wolfe made a nice play for the first out in the bottom of the sixth, fielding a ground ball off a hop at chest-height behind third base, then whipping a long throw to first to beat the runner; Tunink struck out the next two batters.

“[Brendan] did awesome on the mound, striking people out, throwing strikes,” Kelly said. “He’s a really big part of our game – one of our best pitchers, one of our best hitters. He’s always in a good mood, and he’s always bringing people up.”

Newman nearly expanded its lead in the top of the seventh after loading the bases with two outs, but the Eagles got the defensive play they needed.

After a Kyle Wolfe two-out single, an intentional walk to Tunink and a walk to Johns, Britt grounded a ball to third; Wolfe nearly scored on the play, but the Hope third baseman fielded the ball and made the tag at third just in time, keeping the margin at 3-2.

Tunink induced a flyout against the first batter he faced in the bottom of the seventh, then struck out the second before Kyle Wolfe relieved him. Dominic Bonilla was hit by a pitch in the next at-bat, but then his courtesy runner was picked off attempting to steal second, sealing the Comets’ win.

“[Going to state has] been kind of a competition with us and volleyball, and congrats to my mom [volleyball coach Debbi Kelly], she got it before us,” Kelly said. “... It’s been awesome, because we’re the last one to do it, and it’s kind of completed our gauntlet.”

Oswalt went 2 for 3 and Kyle Wolfe went 2 for 4 to lead Newman at the plate. Tunink pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) and five hits, striking out 11 with three walks.

Hope freshman Marquez threw 3 1/3 innings, allowing three runs and four hits, striking out one with four walks. Dominic Bonilla pitched 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, allowing one hit and striking out four with two walks.

“It took a lot to get here. We are coming from a small school, a small neighborhood, so I think that just that we were here was a great experience,” Dominic Bonilla said. “And we’re not done. Next year is another year. We wanted to come out on top this year, but it happens. It’s baseball.

“As a whole, the season was great. We started off slow, but then we came back up and we changed our way and went all the way up here. So I think it was a great turnaround.”

Newman will play Henry-Senachwine in the 1A state semifinals at Dozer Park in Peoria on Friday at noon.