Glenbard North Nips Tigers for Regional Title

The never-say-die attitude that Wheaton Warrenville South’s baseball team exhibited all season was on display throughout its 4-3 loss to Glenbard North in the Wheaton North regional championship game Monday afternoon.

Down 3-1 to the Panthers going into the sixth inning, the Tigers fought back with two runs and tied the game 3-3.

But with two runners on board in the bottom of the seventh, Glenbard North’s Brandon Clark drove one off the center-field fence that plated the winning run.

“I think it showed character our team has had all year,” Wheaton South coach Tim Brylka said. “We’ve got a great group of seniors who set the tone for us all year. We felt like with this team nothing really fazed them. Whenever they faced adversity, they were ready to respond.

“We can’t hang our heads. I thought we competed well out there today. We felt good going into the seventh (inning) but they were a little better.”

One of those seniors, starting pitcher Jeremy Rhoades, went the distance and struck out seven. He threw 113 pitches and kept battling throughout the hot, muggy afternoon.

The game was moved from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in order to prepare the field following Sunday’s heavy rains.

“He pitched really well today,” Brylka said. “He ran out of gas a little bit at the end, but he had his curve ball working well and kept hitters off-balance. His pitch count was up and he was tired, but at the same time that’s the guy we want on the mound.”

After Glenbard North took a 1-0 lead in the third, Rhoades was directly involved in Wheaton South tying the game 1-1 during its half of the fourth.

Rhoades walked and stole second with two outs to get into scoring position. Sophomore catcher Rich O’Neil knocked in Rhoades with a single.

The Panthers scored twice in the bottom of the inning for their 3-1 lead, but senior RJ Hoshell and junior Dan Roadman came up big for the Tigers in the sixth.

Down 0-2 in the count, Hoshell fouled off the next few pitches and then ripped a run-scoring double. Roadman followed with an RBI single for the 3-3 tie.

Zach Jarosz, a senior, also doubled for the Tigers. Leadoff hitter Mike Shelton, a junior, tripled.

The Tigers (20-14), who at one point were 8-11, finished the year winning 12 of their last 15 games, including seven straight leading up to Monday. They defeated Wheaton North—the No. 4 seed in the St. Charles North sectional complex—on Friday and took fifth-seeded Glenbard North down to the wire.

Wheaton South was the 13^th seed.

“It’s tough playing conference teams because you know each other so well,” said Brylka, referring to facing the Falcons and Panthers in the playoffs. “We kind of got hot at the end of the year. We were starting to gain some confidence and feeling pretty good. There was a lot more on the line (in the playoffs), but it’s fun and it’s the excitement and energy you want. It was a fun day today.”