The Brookfield Minors 10-and-under all-star baseball team had momentum on its side after five straight victories en route to the District 9 championship, July 11. For the state tournament, the team overcame another type of adversity.
State didn’t begin until July 25 after wildfires seriously affected the air quality and resulted in the start date being delayed for a week.
“I didn’t like it because I just wanted to play baseball and it felt weird having to wait that long to play,” said catcher Keo Brown.
Once again, Brookfield met the challenge and made it all the way to the semifinals before losing to Elmhurst 9-5, Thursday, hosted by Roseland in Chicago.
Brookfield 10-U team members are Adonis Acevedo, Geno Belmonte, Brown, Lorenzo Creedon, Jack Deegan, Dean Forest, Lucas Ginez, Cameron Glassi, Kiaan Hala, Louis Petronella, Leo Pilotto and Sebastian Walus. EJ Belmonte is manager with assistant coaches Jeff Creedon and Bill Glassi.
“It felt good making it all the way to the semifinals. We pushed all the way,” Brown said.
“(Our state finish) felt really good because we hadn’t won districts in a long time,” Geno Belmonte said. “I think we just got a little momentum to get a little higher in the tournament next year. Maybe we can win districts again and see how we do in state.”
In pool play, Brookfield beat Ottawa 8-3, July 25, lost to Olney 6-5, July 26, and beat Rochelle 21-1 in four innings and South Holland 25-0 in three innings, both on July 29.
In the semifinals, Brookfield closed to 6-4 in the bottom of the fourth inning before Elmhurst answered with three runs in the fifth. Brookfield added a run in the sixth.
Pilotto (double) and Ginez each had two hits and Wilus had two runs batted in. Pilotto and Deegan shared the pitching duties.
“They took the (Elmhurst) loss well. Our defense was off a little bit and we gave up some unearned runs, but the kids overall stayed pretty positive,” EJ Belmonte said.
“They made it to the Final Four. I think that’s why they were happy (overall). In their eyes, they got third place. They were excited about that. It was cool. I thought it was a fun experience.”
Just reaching the semifinals took perseverance. Because of rainouts, doubleheaders were needed the final day of pool play.
Brookfield completed its second-place pool clincher over South Holland in the wee hours.
“It lasted until like 10 or 11 p.m. I think we’ve done that before once but since we were playing baseball, we weren’t that tired,” Geno Belmonte said.
Against South Holland, Wilus pitched a three-inning no-hitter with six strikeouts and two walks and had a triple and double. Creedon had three hits, including a triple, and four RBIs.
Belmonte was 4-for-4 against Rochelle with three RBIs. Wilus (2 doubles) and Brown added three hits apiece.
Pilotto (2-for-3) and Glassi each doubled and had two RBIs against Ottawa. Pitcher Deegan struck out seven in the first 3.2 innings against Olney, which scored three in the top of the sixth.
During the one-week gap before state, Brookfield continued practicing at Overholt Field. Several players’ families also delayed scheduled vacations, resulting in the team being at full strength for state, other than the sidelined Forest, who also missed districts after undergoing an appendectomy.
“There were quite a few vacations that were put on hold,” EJ Belmonte said. “We just practiced all week at Overholt (to prepare). That’s how we handled it. (Our players) just want to play baseball.”