Warriors finish season with 26 wins.
By Mike Miazga
Correspondent
The Willowbrook baseball team dropped a 4-1 contest to South Elgin in the championship game of the recent Class 4A Lake Park sectional held at Schaumburg Boomers Stadium.
The Warriors finished a highly successful spring campaign with a 26-9 record that included winning a Class 4A regional title.
In the sectional final against South Elgin, the Warriors were limited to four hits and made three errors.
Ben Espinoza had a hit, while Alex Michaelson went 2-for-2. Jack Hines had a hit and an RBI.
Ryan Mintz was the tough-luck loser for the Warriors. He pitched a seven-inning complete game, allowing five hits and only one earned run, while striking out four and walking none. He threw 58 of 92 pitches for strikes.
Willowbrook was the No. 3 seed in the Lake Park sectional, while South Elgin was the No. 4 seed. South Elgin played New Trier earlier this week at Boomers Stadium for a chance to advance to the Class 4A state semifnals.
The Warriors reached the sectional final by recording a 5-1 win over Conant in the semifinals at Boomers Stadium.
Willowbrook led 3-0 after the first inning and scored two more runs in the sixth. The Warriors had seven hits.
Espinoza was 2-for-3 with a run scored. Jon Kelso had a hit, a run scored and an RBI. MJ Ranieri also had a hit, while Kyle Ferguson had a hit, two runs scored and a walk. Michaelson added a hit and John Taylor had a hit and an RBI. Kelso’s hit was a double. Ferguson stole a base.
Michaelson was the winning pitcher. He went the first five innings, allowing one hit, one earned run and striking out five. Jack Nilles pitched the final two innings and struck out two to earn the save.
