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player ready...LOVES PARK, Ill. — Newark senior Dalton Reibel reached his pitch count with two outs in the ninth inning Monday.
He was forced to become a spectator as the Norsemen tried to get the last out against Sterling Newman Central Catholic and punch their first-ever ticket to the state tournament. Reibel watched a couple of walks, which brought the potential winning run to the plate.
But senior Jared Slivka got a strikeout to end it as Newark won 5-3 in a Class 1A supersectional at Rockford Rivets Stadium.
“When (Luke Hauge) walked those two guys, I was getting a little nervous,” Reibel said. “Jared came in and closed the door. I was just so excited for him.
Newark (26-1), which has won 17 in a row, will play Glen Carbon Father McGivney in a state semifinal at 10 a.m. Thursday at Illinois State in Normal. The third-place game is scheduled for 4 p.m., with the state championship game following at 7 p.m.
“This means everything,” Reibel said. “We won one regional in our history. It’s just been a miracle season for us.”
Monday’s game went to extra innings tied at 3-3. Neither the Norsemen nor Sterling Newman (16-6) had scored more than one run in any inning to that point.
Newark managed to get two in the ninth, and the Kruser brothers all were involved. Jake and Mitchell Kruser started the inning with singles and both eventually scored. Hauge hit a sacrifice fly to give the Norsemen the lead, and Tegan Kruser followed with an RBI single.
“Tegan had a big base hit to get the second run,” Newark coach Josh Cooper said. “We were up one run most of the game. It was back and forth the whole game. To get that second run was huge. I can’t say enough nice things about that entire family.”
Mitchell Kruser got Newark on the board in the third, singling and scoring on an error to tie the game at 1-1. The Norsemen took a brief lead when Lucas Pasakarnis reached on an error and scored on Ethan Jeffers’ single in the fourth.
Reibel doubled and scored on Jack Kruser’s RBI single in the sixth.
“This was a total team win,” Cooper said.
Reibel (11-0) kept the Norsemen in the game. He allowed three runs, scattering 10 hits, striking out two and walking one. He got 14 outs on ground balls, including a pair of double plays.
“I love pitching to contact,” Reibel said. “It keeps me in the game as long as I can. I didn’t have my best stuff (Monday). My curveball wasn’t working at all, but I was able to get outs without using a second pitch, which was huge.”
Cooper was effusive in his praise of Reibel, who won’t be available Thursday due to pitch count restrictions.
“When this guy is throwing, we’re always confident,” Cooper said. “He would have kept throwing if he could have. I can’t say enough good things about this guy. He’s a leader through and through.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.