Baseball: Marian Catholic rallies past Oak Forest
By Sean Duncan For Sun-Times Media May 30, 2012 11:16PM
Erik Callahan, of Marian Catholic, connects for a RBI double against Oak Forest. | Gary Middendorf~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: July 6, 2012 9:14AM
It did not look good for Marian Catholic.
The Spartans were chasing a run in the seventh inning against arguably the state’s most dominant pitcher, Oak Forest’s Kyle Funkhouser, who was pumping it especially hard Wednesday.
No worries.
Marian Catholic scraped together three runs in the seventh and went on to upend Oak Forest 7-5 in a Class 3A Lincoln-Way West Sectional semifinal in New Lenox.
Erik Callahan spurred the comeback with a run-scoring double, turning on a 93-mph Funkhouser fastball over the third-base bag to tie the game at 5. The Spartans (21-17) took the lead for good when Funkhouser was called for a balk, which scored Devin Pickett, who had reached on a bunt single. Callahan came around to score the final run on a passed ball.
“I was looking first-pitch fastball,” Callahan said. “He started everyone with a first-pitch fastball. It’s probably the third or fourth time I’ve seen that speed, but I was ready for it.”
Marian Catholic advances to play the winner of the Joliet Catholic-Lincoln-Way West semifinal at 11 a.m. Saturday for the sectional championship.
“I think the difference between us and some other teams is we’re battle-tested,” Marian Catholic coach Phil Wail said. “We’ve seen a lot of good pitching this year. … Erik (Callahan) is a player who comes through in big times for us.”
Marian Catholic took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but Oak Forest (27-7) rallied with two runs in each the third and fourth innings to mount a 5-2 lead. Brian Richard drove in three of those runs with two hits.
Pickett, an Iowa recruit, helped Marian get to within striking distance when he delivered a two-run double, cutting the deficit to 5-4 in the fifth. Pickett finished 3-for-3 and reached base four times.
After Pickett’s double, Oak Forest coach Thaddeus Gatton went to Funkhouser, who threw 100-plus pitches in the regional title game Saturday.
“ ‘Funk’ threw on three days’ rest,” said Gatton. “Those kids battled, but we didn’t have much left.”
