This was different.
Aurora Christian pitcher Zach Zappia found himself in a unique position Saturday morning.
The junior right-hander drew the starting assignment for the Eagles against defending state champion Ottawa Marquette. He would oppose Alec Novotney, someone very familiar.
“This was pretty cool,” Novotney said of their playoff matchup. “I’ve seen Zach play baseball before and he’s pretty good, but we had never actually played against each other.”
Zappia lives in Plano. Novotney used to live in Yorkville before his family moved away, but growing up, the two friends played travel basketball together on the same team.
They were evenly matched on the mound Saturday through four innings before the Crusaders pulled away for a 5-1 win in the Class 1A Harvest Christian Sectional final at Elgin’s Trout Park.
Novotney was breezing along, recording eight of his 13 strikeouts in that span and needing only 42 pitches for Ottawa Marquette (32-3).
Zappia, meanwhile, worked in and out of trouble for Aurora Christian (21-15). Backed by four defensive gems, he threw 65 pitches and faced a 0-0 deadlock against his friend.
“In that moment, the adrenaline was really helping me get through it,” Zappia said. “I knew I was up there in pitches, but I was giving it all I had. I wanted to win this game. I tried my hardest.”
Novotney started the game with a double off the left field fence. The next batter walked before Zappia got out of trouble with a double play and a groundout to senior shortstop Jack Burns.
In the third, junior right fielder Christian Huerta ranged far into foul territory to track down a fly ball.
Then in the fourth, with Ottawa Marquette runners on first and second and nobody out, junior first baseman Nolan Robertson made a diving catch of a bunt and doubled off the runner at second.
Zappia followed by retiring the side, alertly covering home as senior catcher Kaleb Elwood tracked down a wild pitch and threw out a runner trying to score from third.
“He’s been a magician a couple times,” Aurora Christian coach Andy Zorger said of Zappia. “In our regional championship game, he did the same thing, getting out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam.
“He wriggled out of a couple things but couldn’t quite get out of that fifth. He got a little tired, they barreled up a couple balls, and he probably made a mistake on an 0-2 pitch down the middle.”
Ottawa Marquette finally broke through with two outs in the fifth inning, getting an RBI single from Novotney to open the scoring and following with two more RBI hits.
The Crusaders, who advanced to the NIU Supersectional, added two insurance runs in sixth.
“I told our guys beforehand the pressure was on them — they’re expected to be here,” Zorger said. “We were really not expected to be here. We’re just kind of riding it out.
“Unfortunately, we ran into a really good arm and he got aided by a very wide zone. They took advantage of it and we weren’t able to make that adjustment.”
Elwood pointed out that Zappia also benefitted from the strike zone and both pitchers used curveballs to their advantage.
“I was setting up in the other batter’s box and knew I could get that call if my framing was good to bring it in, and that’s what happened,” Elwood said. “(Novotney) was using mainly fastball-curveball, but when it’s working, you’re not going to use anything else.”
Freshman designated hitter Noah Zappia, Zach’s younger brother, lined a single up the middle in the third inning for Aurora Christian’s first hit.
Novotney, however, didn’t allow a runner to reach second until junior second baseman Noah Hensley doubled for the Eagles in the sixth inning and later scored on Elwood’s sacrifice fly.
“We’ve got a strong team coming back,” Zach Zappia said. “We only lose two senior starters. We just have to put in the work.”
