By Patrick McGavin- Photos by Renee Kaspar
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LISLE— The night air was hot and humid, and the ball was likely to carry.
Even under those favorable conditions, Riley Robinson thought his ball was destined to stay close to where it started.
The first baseman of the Illinois Wolves 12U started to get excited when it zoomed out of reach.
“When I first hit it, I thought it was going to pop out, but then it just kept going,” he said.
Robinson’s three-run home run sparked a seven-run fifth inning in the Wolves’ improbable 11-10 comeback sixth-inning victory over Savage 12U in West Suburban Baseball League play at Sea Lion Aquatic Park on Tuesday, June 30.
The Wolves (47-15-1) overcame two separate five-run deficits to pull out one of their most memorable wins of the season.
Robinson personified the toughness and resilience of the team. He had 0-3 until his huge at bat, striking out twice. With two on and his team down 9-4 to start the bottom of the fifth inning, he crushed a high fast ball into the night.
Appropriate to the Fourth of July preparations, the ball flew out like a firework, gaining trajectory and speed.
“It felt amazing, and I’m just glad to be able to help out the team,” Robinson said.
He is still finding his groove and rhythm after suffering a broken thumb. Robinson is batting at the No. 9 spot until he gets his timing back.
“It’s taken a while to get my timing and feel right again, but I’ve just had to do a lot of extra practice and hitting,” he said.
The Wolves pounded out 11 hits, and made a series of spectacular late inning defensive plays that changed the outcome of the game.
Jude Dues, who started at third base, picked up the victory by throwing 2.1 innings, allowing four earned runs.
He made the outs when it mattered.
“I just tried to throw strikes and let my infielders make the plays,” he said.
Dues also aided his own cause. hit a bloop opposite field shot just inside the line for an RBI single. That was the final burst of the seven-run fifth inning.
“I knew there were two outs, and I was just trying to get the ball into a gap and score a run,” he said. “I’d been 0-2 at that spot, and I just tried hitting it into the outfield and making it go where they couldn’t catch it.”
The comeback was all the more remarkable given the Wolves ended the game with just eight field players after standout shortstop Johnny Ziroli took a shot to the face during the four-run fifth inning by Savage.
Outfielder Mason Munch shifted to second base, and Jimmy Jam Burns moved to shortstop.
In the modified two-player outfield, Greyson Johnson saved the victory with a brilliant diving catch with one out and the bases loaded in the top of the sixth inning.
“You don’t really think when you’re in the outfield,” Johnson said. “You just have to react. You have to think about where the ball is going beforehand, and then you can make the play.”
The Wolves dominated Savage 10-1 on June 15. The players walked in over confident, and thinking the game was a walk in the park.
“They definitely caught us off guard, and we were not ready,” catcher Caliel Varela said. “As soon as Riley hit that home run, the whole momentum changed, and everybody got fired up.”
The start of the game was delayed by 45 minutes after an earlier game went deep into extra innings. The Wolves suffered a nightmarish beginning with the starter not even surviving the first inning.
A Savage lead off hitter smashed a double down the left field line, an ominous start that saw walks and fielding mistakes allowed the early 5-0 advantage.
Burns, whose nickname is “Jimmy Jam,” worked out of one by coming in with the bases loaded and securing the final out of the first inning. He brought some order and stability with three strong innings, stirring out and allowing just two hits.
After the Wolves allowed four walks in the first inning, Burns gave no free passes in his time on the mound.
“I was just trying to be as accurate as I could, and find the strike zone,” he said. “I got some confidence getting that out with the bases loaded, and I just went from there. We’ve scored a ton of runs the whole season, so we never felt out of it.”
Johnson went 2-for-3 with a run scored for the Wolves. He blasted a two-run single in the first inning to help mount the comeback.
Johnson, Varela and Munch each had a double. Before taking the hard liner, Ziroli was superb at the plate. He went 3-for-3 with two RBIs.
Munch also had two RBIs. Five different Wolves’ players had at least one run driven in.
League rules restrict pitchers to nine outs, or three innings of work. After Burns settled in, Dues picked up from there.
The Wolves overcame some shaky early defensive with some real gems with the game in the balance. Facing his final hitter in the fourth inning, Burns made a great defensive action and throw to first base for the opening out
That was just the start. Munch threw out a Savage runner at second base who was trying to stretch a single. Varela closed out the defensive string with a gorgeous throw that nailed a runner trying to steal second base.
Johnson ended any further damage in the fifth inning with a beautiful throw for the 9-5 putout.
Starting the bottom of the fifth inning with two walks, the Wolves struck gold with the Robinson dinger.
“We got hyped, and everybody started swinging better,” Varela said. “At the beginning it was mostly the top of the order.
“Then everybody started hitting.”
The Illinois Wolves 12U team had many standout contributors Tuesday in the 11-10 victory over Savage 12U. They included Carter Behling, Cole Wolf and Jackson Donkin.
