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Baseball: Rebels look for success in postseason
Ridgewood sophomore Alex Tomaszewski throws to first for an out. | Ryan Pagelow~Sun-Times Media
Updated: July 2, 2012 8:27AM
Ridgewood’s baseball team is aiming for its second consecutive regional championship when it begins play at 4 p.m. today at the Antioch Class 3A Regional tournament against the host school.
The Rebels are seeded 12th, while Antioch is seeded fifth.
The Rebels won the Guerin Regional championship last season, before falling to St. Francis in the first round of the Grayslake Central Sectional.
“I think Antioch is comparable to us. (The game) should be a battle,” said Ridgewood coach Chris Uhle. “We are going to need our seniors to step up. They have not been as vocal as we need them to be. With five sophomores out there, they need to be vocal before and during every play (as well). It is time for the sophomores to toughen up and play like they know how.”
Uhle knows his team will have to perform better than it has during the regular season to have any postseason success.
“I’m not seeing what I need to at this point in the season,” said Uhle. “I spoke with the team (last week) about our expectations and goals (for the postseason and) my expectations are to win a regional and advance to the sectional.
“We have been close all year, but can’t put a complete game together. We gave up a huge amount of unearned runs (this season). Factor that in with the number of games we lost by one and two runs and this could be a completely different season.”
The Rebels ended the regular season on a down note, dropping a three-game set to Riverside-Brookfield.
Ridgewood dropped the first two games 7-4 and 2-1 thanks to 11 errors by the Rebels. The Rebels followed that with a 4-3 loss in 14 innings on May 17.
With the defeats, the Rebels finished the regular season with an overall record of 13-20, which has not satisfied Uhle as he knows his team has the ability to play better.
“The season has been a roller-coaster ride,” said Uhle. “We have the ability to play well, but we struggle to put it all together.”
