Naperville Central ace Grant Umbright wasn’t sure he had enough gas in the tank to start the team’s most significant game in 14 years.
The senior right-hander had no trouble finishing it, however.
“I just knew Grant had it the whole way,” Naperville Central catcher Ashton Feldott said. “I had full trust in him.”
In Umbright’s first relief appearance of the season, he allowed one run in three innings as Naperville Central rallied to beat Minooka 4-2 in the Class 4A Normal Supersectional at the Corn Crib on Monday night.
“He is the best player in the state,” Naperville Central coach Mike Stock said. “I could be wrong, but I believe it whole-heartedly.
“He is an absolute stud. I’m just so proud of him. He carried us.”
Indeed, Umbright got the job done on the mound, at the plate and on the bases for the Redhawks (30-9), who won their 15th game in a row to advance to the state semifinals for the first time since they won the 2010 state title in Bill Seiple‘s last game as coach. They will play Barrington (27-12) or Maine South (24-15) at Slammers Stadium in Joliet at 4 p.m. Friday.
In a mildly surprising move, Stock elected to start junior right-hander Decker McDonald, who had pitched two innings in relief during the Redhawks’ 3-1 win over Downers Grove North in the sectional final on Saturday, instead of Umbright (9-1), who had four days’ rest, in their first supersectional since 2012.
“Twenty-four hours ago, Decker felt good,” Stock said. “Grant wasn’t quite there yet, so we said we’ll go with Decker.
“It’s one of those deals where finishing the game is tougher than starting it. But I was confident with it either way.”
So was Umbright, a John A. Logan commit who started at designated hitter against the Indians (32-7).
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“Decker was unstoppable for us, and I have 100% confidence whatever he does,” Umbright said. “Whenever he’s on the mound and even at third base, I know he’s going to get the job done no matter what the circumstance is. He’s really good.”
McDonald needed to be good under trying circumstances. Facing Minooka’s high-powered offense in a pouring rain, he allowed one unearned run and three hits with three walks and four strikeouts in four innings.
McDonald threw 43 of his 82 pitches in the first inning, when four of the first five batters reached base on three walks and an error. But the Indians put only one ball in play and had three hitters called out on strikes.
“It was bad weather,” McDonald said. “I just had to push through it, trust my teammates behind me and just keep going.
“I know I had a pitch limit of 90, so I was getting up there. Grant came in and just finished the deal.”
Umbright already was affecting the game before he took the mound. He went 3-for-3 with a walk against Michigan State commit Zane Caves and stole home in the fourth inning.
Umbright was on third base with two outs when junior outfielder Jermaine Kenady took off for second and drew a throw from Minooka catcher Tyler Ebel. Kenady deliberately stopped short of second and tried to get in a rundown.
When Minooka’s second baseman hesitated, Umbright dashed for home and beat the throw to the plate with a headfirst dive to tie the game at 1-1. It was his first steal of home in a high school game.
“The second baseman was a little rattled, so I was just trying to creep as much as possible without drawing too much attention, and then once I saw myself get close to the middle, I decided to break,” Umbright said.
“It’s wet out here, so it needed to be a perfect throw. The throw was on, but I was able to get around on the other side of the plate and squeeze in there.”
The Indians squeezed out a run against Umbright on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth to retake the lead.
But Umbright tripled to lead off the sixth, sparking a three-run inning. The first two runs scored when Kenady singled to center and reached third as the throw ended up in the dugout.
“Grant is insane,” McDonald said. “That triple switched the momentum of the game, and then coming in and closing, he did amazing.”
Minooka had the tying runs on base in the sixth and the tying run at the plate in the seventh, but Umbright shut the door each time. Kenady made a sensational diving catch in the right-field corner to end the game.
“We got the runs we needed, and I wanted to shut it out,” Umbright said. “That’s what I did. Great defense behind me. Jermaine with the last play, so it was an electric way to end it.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.