St. Rita’s nine players sprinted into the dugout after the top of the seventh wrapped up at Slammers Stadium on Friday in Joliet. There was clearly a little extra lift in each step. The Mustangs were ready to go win the biggest game of their lives.
Scoring one run in the bottom of the inning would send them to Saturday’s Class 3A state championship game.
“The whole momentum shifted after that third out,” St. Rita starting pitcher Sully Kazee said. “All the guys came together and believed. Bringing that energy into the bottom of the inning is very crucial.”
Junior Frank Garofalo was the Mustangs’ hero. He felt the energy, but said he was still full of nerves as he headed to the plate with the game tied, one out and runners on first and second base.
Garofalo ripped a single to left field and sophomore JJ Quinlan raced around to score from second to give St. Rita a 2-1 walk-off win against East Peoria in the 3A semifinals.
“I just saw a fastball and took it to left field,” Garofalo said. “It was a big moment, and I was ready for it. I’ve never had a walk-off before. It was hype. It was nice. A lot of emotion.”
Garofalo wasn’t one of the Mustangs’ major offensive stars throughout the season, but has finished strong.
“We had some injuries in the middle of the year, and Frank stepped in and played third base and shortstop,” St. Rita coach John Nee said. “Every opportunity he got, particularly defensively, he took advantage of it. This is the third game in a row he’s come up with a big hit [late in the game].”
Kazee threw seven innings and allowed three hits and one run to earn the win. The 6-4 senior struck out five and walked two. He suffered an injury early in the season.
“The team played a great game behind me, so I was confident,” Kazee said. “It’s just really easy pitching when I have those guys behind me.
“It’s definitely a blessing to be able to come back [after the injury]. Things looked rough in the middle of the season. I didn’t know what the future would look like. I just wanted to be healthy for the playoffs and help the team make it to state, and that’s what I was able to accomplish.”
Senior catcher Colin Quinn had two hits for the Mustangs (29-12). He watched St. Rita lose in the championship game in 2014 and 2019. The Mustangs have never won a baseball state title.
“I was wearing shirts that said my dad went to St. Rita when I was a toddler,” Quinn said. “Growing up, [St. Rita] always came up short. Now it is my opportunity to take us all the way.”
East Peoria (27-14) tied the game at 1 on a home run from starting pitcher RJ Duncheon in the sixth. Duncheon threw 6.1 innings and allowed two runs and five hits. He struck out eight and walked two.
“If we made a mistake, it was treating this game differently than we did what got us here,” Raiders coach Matt Plummer said. “Our guys have never been treated the way we were treated this week. Our community rolled out the red carpet for us. We were on a charter bus. We had a fire truck escort and a police escort. We wore suits on the bus and it felt like the dang World Series or the Super Bowl.”
St. Rita will face Triad in the Class 3A state championship game on Saturday at 1 p.m. Triad knocked off Crystal Lake South 2-0 in the second semifinal.