New Trier first baseman Anthony Calarco’s game-ending catch on an infield pop-up in the 4-3 win over South Elgin on Monday might look pedestrian in the scorebook. It might be noted with just a 3 or P3.
But the catch, which was far from certain and required a sprawling, athletic play by Calarco, put an end to a nearly disastrous seventh inning for the Trevians in the Class 4A Supersectional in Schaumburg. It also exorcised some demons in the process.
New Trier (30-4) advanced to face Crystal Lake South in the state semifinals at 3 p.m. Friday at Slammers Stadium in Joliet.
The Trevians were in a precarious spot prior to the catch.
New Trier entered the final inning ahead 4-1. A pair of errors, one on what could’ve been the final out of the game, led to two runs for South Elgin. When senior cleanup hitter Adam Walker popped up to Calarco, senior Kevin Barry was on second and represented the tying run.
“I was honestly shocked after I caught it,” said Calarco, a junior from Wilmette. “That was to get to state and I did whatever I had to do to catch it.”
A year ago in the very same playoff round and at the same ballpark, Boomers Stadium, New Trier suffered a stunning 4-3 loss to St. Charles North. The Trevians led that game 3-2 entering the final inning.
New Trier coach Mike Napoleon knew the memory of that loss would be tough to shake for his players as things began to go south in the seventh.
“When something like that happens, you’ve got to have it in your head,” Napoleon said. “Like, ‘Oh, (expletive) here’s what happened last year.’ But we were able to overcome that.”
Senior Sean Douaire, a Wilmette resident, was on the mound for New Trier when things began to unravel. After getting New Trier and senior starter Thomas Nugent out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth by striking out sophomore Patrick Keaty, Douaire came back out for the seventh.
Douaire struck out Benjamin Banks to begin the inning, then New Trier junior second baseman Payton Burch booted a ground ball hit by sophomore Austin Doty. Douaire followed with a strikeout of senior leadoff hitter Bryant Diel for the second out of the inning. But senior center fielder Eric Nicholas was charged with an error on a fly ball, which scored Doty. Barry followed with an RBI double to set the stage for Walker’s dramatic pop-up.
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“It was crazy,” Douaire said of the seventh. “I was pretty confident that they would make plays behind me even after the two errors. I was speechless out there, but I knew we could still pull it out.”
Calarco, a Northwestern recruit, hit a two-run homer to right field on a 3-0 count in the second to open the scoring for New Trier. New Trier made it a 4-0 game in the fourth when senior Kevin Donahue hit a sac fly and junior Cam Redding hit an RBI single.
Redding, who was the team’s designated hitter, was a nervous wreck as he watched from the dugout in the seventh.
“I had flashbacks to last year,” Redding said. “But we got it done and that’s all that matters.”
Brett Christie is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press