By Steve Millar
Correspondent
With a trip to state hanging in the balance, Lincoln-Way East chose to intentionally walk Brother Rice’s Amir Gray and take their chances with junior catcher Randall Nauden.
Nauden responded by ripping a walk-off single down the right-field line with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to send the Crusaders back to state. The hit drove home Jackson Natanek as Rice rallied for a 5-4 win over the Griffins in the Class 4A Crestwood Supersectional at Ozinga Field on June 5.
Nauden did not appreciate East intentionally walking Gray.
“I take that very personally,” he said. “I feel like it disrespects me. They feel like they put him on to get an automatic out and I didn’t like that.
“I came into this game just sitting back, waiting back on those pitches I know I can hit. In previous games, I was out in front, but I really focused on staying on my back half and driving the ball and that really helped.”
Gray, a Purdue recruit, hit a solo homer, while Natanek went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI and was the winning pitcher, coming on in relief and striking out the side in the top of the seventh.
“We’re young,” Brother Rice coach Sean McBride said. “Our ‘old’ guys, there’s a few of them and they’re tough. We talked about how in the playoffs, you stress emphasis on ‘Your dudes gotta be dudes.’ And today our dudes were.”
The Crusaders (25-15), who finished third in the state last season, are back in the final four after a season of adversity. They will take on New Trier (25-7) in a semifinal set for 5 p.m. Friday at Duly Health and Care Field in Joliet.
Rice rallied from a 4-1 deficit with three runs in the fifth before Nauden delivered the final heroics.
“Give (Lincoln-Way East starting pitcher Zach Kwasny) credit,” McBride said. “That was a gutsy performance. He had us with quick innings and it looked bleak and then we found a way for Bryce (Nevils) and Amir and Randall to come up and be the big dogs.”
Way to go, Coach! Good luck in finals. If u need a good pinch hitter, I’m ready!