Baseball: Roberston saves South Elgin’s sectional win over Bartlett
South Elgin closer Jacob Roberston was just doing his job when the junior took the ball from starter Zach Barkho in the top of the seventh inning with the Storm one out away from a 2-1 win over Bartlett in Thursday’s first Class 4A Willowbrook sectional semifinal.
The Hawks had made it more challenging by loading the bases.
After quickly putting Gio Scivitaro, Bartlett’s No. 2 hitter, behind 0-2, Robertson induced the Hawks’ second baseman to fly to left field to earn the save and advance his team to Saturday’s sectional championship.
Fourth-seeded South Elgin (24-11) will face top-seeded York, 10-0 winners over No. 13 Glenbard West in Thursday’s second semifinal.
York (23-11) finished fourth in last year’s Class 4A state tournament. The Storm will be looking for their first sectional title since 2017.
“I was not as nervous as I thought I would be,” Roberston said. “Because that’s been my job all year — going in the late innings and getting us out of a jam.”
Barkho wanted to complete the game. Going into the final frame, the junior right-hander had given up only two singles and two walks and struck out four. After Bartlett’s leadoff batter in the seventh flew out, Barkho gave up a single to Austin Daubenmire and a walk to Vince Kamarat. Tino Acevedo’s sacrifice bunt put both runners in scoring position. After intentionally walking Josh Colaizzi, Barkho turned the game over to Roberston.
“Zach wanted to go back out there. They had the lower half of the order, and he wanted to get out there and try to finish the game. That is the competitiveness that he has. Zach did not have his best stuff today and he gutted it through,” said South Elgin coach Jim Kating. “Jacob came in and did a nice job. Nothing like getting in on your first few pitches with the bases loaded.”
Colaizzi also turned in a stellar performance. Facing the minimum number of batters in four of the six innings he pitched, the junior right-hander struck out 12, gave up two singles and walked a batter. Colaizzi struck out the side in three of the innings.
South Elgin made the most of the few opportunities Colaizzi gave them. With one out in the third inning, Colin Tuftedal drew the Storm’s only base on balls of the day. Nathan Robertson, Jacob’s brother, reached on an infield error. Aiden Bernau’s single just inside the right-field line plated Tuftedal and Roberston.
Eighth-seeded Bartlett (19-17-1) got one run back in the top of the fourth. With Daubenmire on second and Kamarat on first, Acevado laid down another bunt. Acevado was out at first, but the relay to third to get Daubenmire went wide allowing the senior to score.
“South Elgin hit the ball in spots where they needed to, and we couldn't execute when we needed to. We fought, battled and took good quality at-bats the entire game,” Bartlett coach Alex Coan said. “Unfortunately, we just ended up on the other side of this one.”