Baseball: Paul’s big day at the plate leads St. Charles East past WW South in regional semis

The start of the postseason couldn’t have gone any better for St. Charles East catcher Mac Paul.

The senior ended the game going 3 for 4 at the plate with a double and five RBI as the eighth-seeded Saints cruised to a 9-1 victory over No. 11 Wheaton Warrenville South in the Class 3A York regional semifinals Thursday.

“You’ve got to score runs to win the game,” Paul said. “But going up there knowing that we’ve got our guys at our back and that we’re getting runs in for them, it’s just a great feeling.”

The win was also the first postseason victory for Saints coach Derek Sutor, who was the head coach of the junior varsity team at Geneva before taking the job last June.

“That was fun,” Sutor said. “It was fun to have the team put together a whole team effort. We hit well, we threw well, we played solid defense and made the most of our opportunities.”

The Saints will face third-seeded York in the regional final at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Dukes won their regional semifinal 2-1 over Wheaton North on Wednesday.

Paul gave the Saints (14-13) the lead for good with two outs in the bottom of the third after hitting a two-run single to right field to make it 3-1.

He then drove in the first of four runs in the fifth on an RBI double, which was followed up by a two-run single by James Feigleson that knocked WW South starter Luke Scherrman out of the game. Feigleson scored two batters later after a throwing error from reliever Ryne Adler.

While Scherrman ended the game with seven runs to his name, he also struck out nine batters in his 4 1/3 innings. His father and Tigers coach John Scherrman said that while it wasn’t the result he wanted, he threw strikes and didn’t hurt himself in the game.

“He attacked the batters and forced them to beat him,” John Scherrman said. “He forced them to beat him instead of beating himself, and that’s all you can really ask for of your pitcher.”

Paul added RBIs four and five in the bottom of the sixth with another two-run single.

Joey Arend, who was the starting pitcher for the day, got the Saints on the scoreboard in the first after hitting an RBI single. It was his second game back after missing nine games due to an ankle injury.

Sutor said having his batters take advantage of scoring opportunities has been something he’s emphasized to his team all season, and they managed to put two and two together for the postseason.

“We just needed to get guys on and have quality at-bats to get them in,” Sutor said. “The pieces began to fall into place today.”

On the mound, the Saints’ trio of Arend, Nate Moline and Cole Ridgway limited the Tigers that put up 25 runs on the Saints during the three-game series from May 11-14 to only one run on the day. Although each pitcher gave up two hits in their outings and got in some pickles throughout the game, the pitchers kept cool and kept throwing strikes while relying on their defense to back them up.

“They did a great job of staying composed and being themselves up there,” Paul said. “They did an amazing job pumping strikes, and that’s all we can ask for.”

WW South’s only run of the game came in the second inning after Jacob Conover lined a single to left to score John Jensen and tie the game at 1-1.

The Tigers threatened to take the lead in the top of the third after Moline loaded the bases with only one out. He escaped the inning unscathed after Jayce Maranell lined a ball right to first baseman Dylan McCabe, who snagged it from the air and hopped on the bag for the double play. They also threatened to score in the sixth, but had their rally cut short by McCabe’s glove once again.

Despite the loss to end their season with a 17-15-1 record, John Scherrman said the team continued to fight all season, and he couldn’t be more proud of his guys.

“Today didn’t go the way we wanted or expected. Things just got out of hand at the end,” Scherrman said. “But this is a great group of teammates and competitors. The seniors leave Tiger baseball better than when they joined and they always fought back no matter what.”