Junior right-hander Keaton Reinke wants to be on the mound with the ball pitching in the biggest games for St. Charles North. And if it’s a winner-take-all championship game, even better.
He’s definitely got all the tools. But it’s his mentality that looms larger.
“This is what I live for,” Reinke said afterward. “I want to be in these moments with my guys. I know they’ve got my back. That’s just what I love and what I live for.”
Reinke, who just returned from a football visit to Stanford, lived up to the moment Friday.
Working 6 1/3 innings for the win, Reinke struck out four as the North Stars held on for a 4-3 victory over host Geneva that clinched the DuKane Conference title for St. Charles North.
Reinke reached his pitch count with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning for the North Stars (19-12, 14-7). He allowed three runs on seven hits and a pair of walks. Two pitches after Reinke exited, Josh Kobylinski induced a game-ending double play for the save.
Sophomore phenom Matt Ritchie was unavailable for the game, but St. Charles North coach Todd Genke didn’t hesitate to tab Reinke with the assignment.
“You can’t have somebody more important than a kid like him on the mound,” Genke said. “I thought he took us on his back. That’s just the kind of athlete he is and the kind of teammate he is.
“He had electric stuff. To hold that team to three runs is pretty impressive, especially here.”
Reinke also scored the first run of the game after legging out a dropped third strike. Charlie Major came up with a two-run single in the second to give the North Stars a 2-0 lead. Langdon Straub doubled and courtesy runner Cam Chickerneo scored what proved to be a pivotal insurance run.
Mason Bruesch, Ethan Gronberg and Nelson Wendell each had two hits for Geneva (23-11, 13-8), which scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to cut the deficit to one. Bruesch also stole two bases. Noah Hallahan pitched a complete game.
Reinke, a three-star recruit at wide receiver, is navigating that process while also trying to be the ace for the North Stars. Through it all, Genke said Reinke’s commitment to the baseball program never wavered. His toughness also has permeated the entire roster.
“When you compete like he does, whether it’s on the football field, baseball field, in the box, on the mound or in the outfield, special things happen,” Genke said. “He’s a special human.
“Regardless of all the other stuff going on in his life, he’s here for his teammates and for our program and we’re really lucky to have him.”
Reinke carried a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth. Geneva broke through when Wendell singled and scored on Hallahan’s sacrifice fly.
After St. Charles North added a run in the seventh, Reinke started to slow down and approach his pitch count. Four of the five batters he faced in the seventh reached base and two scored.
“It was heartbreaking to take him out there with as well as he’d pitched,” Genke said. “But we have confidence in Koby.”
Geneva coach Brad Wendell thought another comeback, which has been a calling card this season of the Vikings, was about to occur.
“It did feel like it,” Wendell said. “I still believed until the end. Our guys compete. In games like this, it’s tough to get wins. We just talked about being competitive.”
Once Kobylinski secured the double play, the celebration was on, led by an exuberant Reinke.
“Just being able to celebrate with my guys is what I wanted,” Reinke said. “It meant a lot. We have the guys. We proved it (Friday) that we’re the top guys and we’re going to be there for a while.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
