Senior right-hander Nick Lambert was definitely ready to take the mound Saturday morning for Waubonsie Valley. He just wasn’t sure that was going to happen before the playoffs began.
After Owen Roberts pitched the Warriors to Thursday’s win, however, the coaching staff was faced with a decision — start Lambert or go with Seth Gilliland? Lambert, indeed, got the call.
And he had to focus in quickly.
“I found out a day or two ago, so I had to mentally prepare for that,” Lambert said. “I had a little bit of nerves, but I knew all I had to do was throw strikes, pitch my game and it would be fine.”
Fine would be an understatement. Lambert cruised through five innings for the host Warriors in a 15-0 win over West Aurora in the Class 4A Waubonsie Valley Regional championship game.
Lambert (7-1) struck out four and scattered four hits without a walk for Waubonsie (21-12), which plays at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday against the host Porters (24-13) in a Lockport Sectional semifinal.
The Warriors scored 11 runs in the fourth inning to break Saturday’s game open against West Aurora (27-8), sending 17 batters to the plate. It took pressure off Lambert and the Warriors.
“We’ve had three guys throwing the ball well all season,” Waubonsie coach Bryan Acevedo said. “Going down to two games and two pitchers, we felt good. Nick has gotten better every time out.
“That was kind of the deciding factor. It was definitely a tough call. Seth has been really good.”
Ryan Lucas produced two hits, including a double, scored twice and drove in three in the fourth for Waubonsie. Nick Cerilli added a two-run double. Roberts, Hiroshy Wong and Seth Nielson each had two hits, while Roberts and Nielson also drove in two runs apiece.
Mason Atkins, Henry Hinkle, Eliseo Liscano and Chase Yusi had hits for West Aurora.
Having three solid starting pitchers is a luxury in the regular season. In the playoffs, when two can carry the load to state, difficult choices need to be made. That was the case Saturday.
But Lambert delivered exactly what Acevedo was hoping.
“He commands the zone,” Acevedo said. “He throws three pitches for a strike. He’s not going to walk you, so you’re going to have to beat us when he’s on the mound. That’s what we saw.”
Still, Lambert did find himself in a two-out jam in the bottom of the third inning.
An error followed by a single from Liscano had the Blackhawks threatening in a scoreless game. Lambert got a strikeout to end the threat and then Waubonsie opened the floodgates.
“I think that’s what carried our momentum,” Lambert said. “Everybody had nerves, but once we got out of that inning, everybody was more relieved.”
Josh Hung led off the fourth inning with a single and Shane Torres bunted him to second.
“We were playing for one and Nick was going to keep us in it,” Acevedo said.
Waubonsie had other ideas, though, and the bottom of the order got it started. Lucas, Cerilli and Nielson combined for four RBIs to get the Warriors on the board and they kept going from there.
“The fourth inning there was like the inning from hell,” West Aurora coach John Reeves said. “We couldn’t get out of the inning. Honestly, I don’t even know how to describe it.”
The inning went so long that Lambert had to go down to the bullpen to stay loose. He was unfazed, retiring West Aurora’s final six hitters in order to end the game.
“I just knew I had to go back out there and shut them down,” Lambert said. “You can’t give them any momentum.”
And now, the momentum is with Waubonsie heading into the sectional.
“We like our chances,” Acevedo said. “If we play clean defense and score a couple of runs for (Roberts), he’s going to give us a chance to win a baseball game.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
