Call it “the shot heard ’round Des Plaines.’
Maine West’s Brian Kopecky lived every kid’s back-yard dream Thursday afternoon, hitting a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to propel the Warriors over Buffalo Grove 6-5 in the opening round of the Stevenson sectional.
Kopecky’s blast, his second two-run shot of the game, capped a Maine West comeback that started after the hosts had fallen behind 4-0 in the first inning.
“These guys don’t quit,” Maine West coach Mike Murin said. “The way the wind was blowing, I told the kids it wouldn’t be a 1-0 game.”
The Warriors (21-9) slowly clawed their way back into the contest after spotting Buffalo Grove (20-14) the first-inning lead. Three of the Bison’s four runs were unearned, but Maine West pitcher Brad Alesi did not let the miscues rattle him. The senior struck out 10 in a complete-game effort and did not allow a runner past first base over the final six innings.
“He’s one of the kids we’ve counted on all year long,” Murin said. “He throws strikes and gets ahead of the hitters. The first inning, they hit him pretty well, but he settled down and got some defensive plays behind him. An outstanding job on his part, keeping us in it.”
Kopecky’s first home run trimmed Buffalo Grove’s lead to 4-2 in the second. Jarret Popko knocked a run-scoring single in the third to trim the margin to one, but baserunning mistakes thwarted several Maine West opportunities during the middle innings.
Pinch-hitter Dave Wilk led off the seventh, however, by launching a solo shot to center to send the game to extra innings.
Another unearned run gave Buffalo Grove a 5-4 lead in the eighth, but Kopecky came through once again. With a runner on second base, the senior outfielder lifted a 3-2 pitch off Bob O’Roark high into the right-field sky. E.J. Zibkowski drifted back and appeared to have a play, but the ball dropped just beyond the fence.
“I didn’t think it was going out, but the wind was blowing out,” said Kopecky, whose only other home run this season came in the season opener. “I was looking fastball with a full count. I had been looking to go to right field, and he came outside with a fastball.”
