One way or another, Braydon McKendrick’s evening was about to come to an end.
It was the top of the seventh inning against Mount Carmel on a warm evening at Wrigley Field, and the Brother Rice lefty was almost at the high-school pitch-count limit.
Two walks and an error loaded the bases with none out, but McKendrick was determined to finish what he started.
And he did, working around a wild pitch to retire the next three Caravan batters on a strikeout and two flyouts. That wrapped up the Crusaders’ 4-1 Catholic League Blue win on April 23.
“I wanted to finish it really bad,” McKendrick said. “My coach, (Sean McBride), he was gonna take me out, but (I said), ‘No, I’m finishing this, man.'”
McKendrick, who is committed to downstate junior-college power John A. Logan, threw a two-hitter with three walks and six strikeouts. Mount Carmel’s run was unearned.
He’s a White Sox fan, but was nonetheless thrilled to get the start in one of baseball’s iconic venues.
“It looks completely different when I’m watching on TV,” McKendrick said. “It looks nothing like this. This is so beautiful and … I’m so grateful.”
Louisville commit Colin Campbell led off the bottom of the first inning with a triple to right-center and scored when the relay throw home was off target.
“I was just trying to (have a) ‘be a dog’ mentality, set the tone for the team,” Campbell said. “… It was kind of nervous going into that at-bat, being a leadoff hitter. Crowd was going a little crazy. So then finally I got my fastball and drove it. …
“I caught a barrel and started running. I didn’t even see where it landed.”
The game will be a lifetime memory for Campbell.
“It’s crazy, just stepping out onto the field and realizing where you are,” he said. “… Not a lot of people can step out on Wrigley Field and especially play on Wrigley Field. … We had a good little crowd. Everyone was going crazy, it was just a fun atmosphere.”
Xavier (La.) commit Brent Nevils had an RBI single and eventually scored on Anthony Cartolano’s groundout in the third for Rice. Luca Agne’s leadoff triple and Gavin Stanislawski’s sacrifice fly made it 4-0 in the fourth.
This was Nevils’ first game at Wrigley as a player or even a fan. But it wasn’t his first game in a big-league stadium as he had played in the Double Duty Classic hosted by the White Sox at Rate Field.
“It was just a normal feeling for me coming out, playing another baseball game,” Nevils said.
Not so for Mount Carmel third baseman TJ McQuillan, a Wake Forest recruit whose godfather is Cubs assistant hitting coach John Mallee.
“I grew up coming here,” McQuillan said. “I know a lot of people here and it’s super cool being able to come out here and play. … The environment is unmatched.”