Due to necessity, St. Charles North’s Ben Auer was forced into the role of an ace this spring.
The North Stars lost their top two pitchers — Northwestern football recruit Keaton Reinke to early graduation and Matt Ritchie to injury. It put Auer right into the mix as being the No. 1 guy.
As the season has gone on, however, Auer went from his name in pencil to full-blown ace.
“I’ve just kind of embraced it throughout the year,” he said. “The confidence has just kept going every outing.”
Doing what aces do, Auer struck out seven without a walk, scattered five hits and allowed only one run in five innings Saturday for the host North Stars in a 3-2 win over South Elgin in the Class 4A St. Charles North Regional championship game.
Auer also was the star at the plate as St. Charles North (22-12-1) won the 11th regional title in program history. He went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Ty Gleason added two hits with a double.
Reed Raczka tripled and scored twice while Josh Kobylinski retired the final five batters to earn the save for the North Stars, who face Huntley (30-7) at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in the McHenry Sectional semifinals.
Zacharia Barkho matched Auer on the mound for South Elgin (24-13), striking out seven in six innings. He allowed two earned runs on seven hits and a walk. Alex Muro had two hits and an RBI.
Although Auer barely pitched last season, St. Charles North coach Todd Genke believed the senior right-hander had what it takes. Over time, there was no doubt about his role as team ace.
“He stepped up big time,” Genke said. “Just a competitor. Last year, we pitched him a few times and he just wasn’t the guy. He played great and was all-conference in the outfield.
“This year he came to me and said, ‘Coach, I’ll step up. It’s my turn.’ Man, did he step up.”
With Auer set in in the top spot, Kobylinski confirmed that helped everybody else relax.
“He brought us all together,” Kobylinski said. “We were kind of looking around like, ‘Who’s going to be our ace?’ Somebody had to step up. It allowed people to take more definitive roles.”
South Elgin was aggressive in the count early in Saturday’s game, helping Auer keep his pitch count low. He stranded four runners in the first four innings before running into trouble in the fifth.
Muro’s RBI single cut the deficit to 3-1, but Auer delivered a strikeout to end the threat and then turned things over to the bullpen.
“It’s a great feeling,” Auer said. “I knew after Wednesday I was probably going to go again, so I had to get my mind right, get the body right and come out and do what I do best.”
All Auer could do was watch as Kobylinski finished off the game. Kobylinski came in to get the North Strars out of a jam in the sixth. He then retired the Storm’s top three hitters in the seventh.
“Koby has been good all year,” Auer said. “He’s been nails. We have a lot of trust in him to get the job done.”
South Elgin coach David Palmer was happy with his team’s resolve after falling behind 3-0.
“We knew a couple runs would get it done with the wind blowing in and Zach and Auer on the mound,” Palmer said. “This is what you expect from a playoff game.”
And Auer was happy to exact some revenge on South Elgin.
“They beat us last year, so there was a little extra in this one,” Auer said. “It just feels great.
“We’re excited to get back at it Wednesday.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
