4A New Lenox Sectional: Lincoln-Way North Advances In Walk-Off Fashion

June 2, 2016

By Joey Anderson

Marist 7, Lincoln Way North 8

NEW LENOX, IL- Lincoln-Way North advances in the Providence sectional after beating Marist 8-7 in 10 innings on Wednesday afternoon.

Ryan Anderson, a Kalamazoo Valley commit, delivered a sac fly to right field scoring Ben Troike in the bottom of the 10^th inning to send home the Red Hawks on what turned out to be a dramatic afternoon of baseball in New Lenox.

Marist jumped on the board right away by scoring in each of the first two innings. The second batter of the game, senior Brian Wood, sent one deep over the centerfield wall to get things going for the Red Hawks in the first. In the second, a two out walk drawn by Junior Nate Stiegel turned into a run after a stolen base and an RBI single by Matt Donahue.

In the fourth, Lincoln-Way North decided to get the bats going by putting up a six spot and taking the lead. The big blow to the inning being a three-run homerun by Northern Illinois commit, senior Tom Szczasny.

Marist responded quickly in the bottom half of the inning. Junior Bobby Gorman answered Szczasny, launching a three-run homerun of his own to left field to tie the ball game up at six after four innings of play.

Headed to extras tied at 6-6, both teams exchanged runs in the ninth before the Phoenix offense was too much to handle. In the bottom of the 10^th, senior shortstop and Illinois commit Ben Troike walked to lead off the inning. He then proceeded to steal second base and was moved over the third after a James Quinn single. With one out and Ryan Anderson up, he sent a fly ball into right field deep enough to score Troike and go home in walk-off fashion.

Lincoln-Way North will meet the winner of Providence vs. Lincoln-Way East on Saturday for the Sectional Championship.