By Patrick McGavin- Photos by Jenn-Anne Gledhill
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p871599493 **
MOUNT PROSPECT— Just call it the son also rises, or the moment a young man comes of age.
Auggie Ruffolo found the perfect swing to complete a game for the ages.
During a season where virtually everything has gone beautifully right, the Illinois Wolves 13U program found a new level of magic against Lake County Lightning 13U-Anderson.
Formally named “August,” Ruffolo got an early jump on his name.
“I’ve been hot recently with a new bat that my dad got for me,” he said. “I’ve been raking it.
“It was a good gift to give him on Father’s Day.”
Ruffolo smashed a walk-off run-scoring single for the Wolves’ dramatic comeback 9-8 six-inning victory in the championship game of the Experience the Turf tournament at Melas Park on Sunday, June 15.
In winning their 21st consecutive game, the Wolves (47-5-1) scored six runs in the final two innings to storm back from a 7-2 fourth-inning deficit.
Christian Slazak went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run and a run-scoring double. He nearly won the game with a three-run home run into right field.
LCL intentionally walked the bases to try and create a double-play ball.
“Before I got up, they were walking our players, but I know our whole team can hit,” Ruffolo said.
“I was thinking they probably didn’t know or realize how good I am. They didn’t know how hot I was, and I had been hitting the ball really well.”
A sacrifice fly RBI by Michael Petrbok set up the game’s only tie at 8-8.
Matthew Wiskowski, who started the rally with a home run in the fifth inning, was intentionally walked.
A left-handed hitter, Ruffolo drilled a first-pitch fastball to the opposite field against the drawn-in defense.
“At the end, coach Brandin (Muniz) told me to sit back on the fastball,” Ruffolo said. “I saw the first-pitch fastball, and I just took it.”
The game-winning play marked the only time in the game the Wolves led.
Slazak created his own comeback tale. His two massive hits and team-best three RBI offset an atypical pitching performance.
He gave up a leadoff home run and a two-run triple in the first inning as LCL jumped out to the 3-0 lead.
“That team was talking to me when I was on the mound,” Slazak said. “They kept saying my fastball was meat.
“When I came around on my home run, I yelled out, ‘Fastball is meat,’ and I got my redemption.”
The Wolves’ initial comeback from the 3-0 deficit stalled when they hit into double plays to end the second and third innings.
The situation appeared fairly bleak when LCL strung together some hits and aggressive baserunning to push across four runs in the top of the fourth inning.
The Wolves dominated LCL 7-1 in pool play on Saturday afternoon. Wiskowski struck out a season-best 14 batters in that game.
The Wolves got caught in the rematch.
“We knew this team threw one of their weaker guys against us yesterday,” Slazak said. “We knew we were going to get a new pitcher today, and somebody good.”
After Wiskowski shut down their big hitters Saturday, the LCL team was a cut or two above in the championship game.
“I didn’t feel like they were that good in the first game that we played them,” Ruffolo said. “Today they really came out strong. We didn’t come out as fast as them.”
The Wolves had to counter a special byproduct of tournament games.
They ended up playing two teams—New Trier and LCL—in the semifinal and championship game Sunday they previously defeated in pool play.
LCL also took advantage of five walks issued by the Wolves’ pitchers. The team collected double-figure hits with 10.
In a rare instance, the Wolves actually had fewer hits, with nine.
Slazak and Wiskowski had two hits apiece. Ruffolo, Spencer Marnell, Jackson Martin, Jonny Burke and Brady Madden had one hit each.
Slazak and Wiskowski pounded the home runs, and Slazak and Burke each drilled a double.
The Wolves had their backs up against the wall with LCL taking a seemingly commanding 7-2 lead after the fourth inning.
Wiskowski ignited the comeback with his moon shot over the centerfield fence to lead off the fifth inning.
“The previous inning I let a ball get past me in right field, and a guy got to third base, so I was trying to redeem myself,” he said.
“I was also trying to do something for my dad on Father’s Day. I was going into that bat looking to hit, and I got my pitch.”
The momentum slowly shifted.
With one out, Burke smashed his own double into right center. With Burke at third and two outs, Payton Swartzendruber was hit by a pitch.
Burke scored on a sharp ball by Madden into center field. An errant throw allowed Swartzendruber to pull the Wolves within 8-7.
A spectacular 4-3 putout by the LCL second baseman on a ball by Fred Sackley ended the threat.
Swartzendruber pitched the final two innings. He proved the Wolves’ most effective pitcher with four strikeouts.
He did allow a run in the sixth that pushed LCL out to the 8-6 lead.
His impact was considerable.
“I was just making sure I wasn’t giving them anything good to hit,” he said. “I was painting the outside corner. They were hitting my curveball a little bit after I threw it a couple of times. I was just trying to throw as hard as I could, and they didn’t hit it.”
Marnell led off the fateful sixth inning getting hit by a pitch. Martin followed with a walk.
Slazak, Petrbok and Ruffolo put the finishing touches on the remarkable performance.
“That team thought the game was over, and we never showed them that we were done,” Slazak said. “We got our energy up. Once they went through a couple of different pitchers, we knew it was over.”
Momentum tends to move fast and in downward streams. The Wolves had it, and LCL was powerless to really stop that propulsive push.
“Even when we’re down, we have a lot of confidence,” Wiskowski said. “In the last two innings the energy and the momentum went our way.”
The 21 consecutive wins is a milestone by itself. The significance was not to be overstated.
“Not a lot of teams can do that,” Ruffolo said. “It feels great to be a part of a team that can do that.”
In the Wolves’ 9-8 comeback win in the championship game, the team featured many standout contributors. Graham Johnson scored a run. Julien Duque also played a versatile and pivotal role. He started the game at first, and eventually shifted to catcher.
** Additional Photos **
