Frank Garofalo has been waiting for his chance, and it arrived on June 12.
The St. Rita junior had the first walk-off hit of his career as the Mustangs edged East Peoria 2-1 in the Class 3A state semifinals at Slammers Stadium in Joliet.
Sully Kazee (9-1) pitched a three-hitter for the win, striking out five and walking two.
St. Rita (29-12) advanced to its first title game since 2014 and fourth overall. The Mustangs will play Triad, a 2-0 winner over Crystal Lake South, at 1 p.m. June 13.
Garofalo came into the semifinal hitting .361, though he had just 36 at-bats.
“I didn’t have a good first half of the season,” he said. “I saw my opportunity, I took it, stayed with it and played good when I got in the lineup.”
“We had some injuries middle of the year,” St. Rita coach John Nee said. “Frank stepped in, played a little third base for a while, played a little shortstop. And every opportunity he got, particularly defensively, he took advantage of it. This is the third game in a row he’s come up with a big hit in the sixth inning (or later).”
This time, Garofalo came up with runners at first and second with one out in the bottom of the seventh.
“There were nerves in the situation,” he said.
But it didn’t show. He punched a single through the right side and JJ Quinlan beat the throw hime, triggering St. Rita’s celebration.
“I was hyped,” Garofalo said. “It was nice.”
So was Kazee’s effort on the mound.
“I felt really good,” the Southeastern (Iowa) recruit said. “My team played a great game behind me. I was super confident (that) no matter what, my team was going to make the play. It’s just really easy pitching when you have these guys behind you.”
The Mustangs went ahead 1-0 in the third when Julio Gutierrez hit a sacrifice fly to score Jayden Hawkins. East Peoria tied it in the sixth on losing pitcher R.J. Duncheon’s homer to right.
Kazee didn’t allow another runner past second base.
“He was awesome,” Nee said. “Got ahead in the ccunts … strike one is so important. … And the best part about it was, he gives up the home run … and he comes back and gets an out obviously puts us in a position to finish it off.”
Class 4A
Mount Carmel fell 3-1 to defending champion Libertyville and will play for third place at 7 p.m. July 13.
The Caravan (30-11) trailed 3-0 till the seventh. Illinois recruit Joey Ireland drew a bases-loaded walk before the Wildcats (30-10-1) closed it out. Ireland finished 1-for-2 with a double, a walk and an RBI.
“I was saying the whole time, ‘We’ve got to find a way somehow,” Ireland said. “And at the end there, we almost did find a way. And I’m proud of the guys. We fought all year. … We just came up a little bit short.”
Notre Dame recruit Connor Elenteny went the distance for Mount Carmel, allowing six hits and two walks while striking out five.