Everyone had been waiting to see Libertyville’s Brady Buenik pitch like this again, including him.
A Tennessee recruit who features a fastball that reached 98 mph during a practice earlier this week, the 6-foot-3 Buenik began this season with incredibly high expectations.
But after many of the results seemingly fell short, at least in his mind, Buenik started the Class 4A state semifinal against Mount Carmel on Friday with something to prove.
“This year has been a struggle for me,” he said. “I committed, then people found out I’m not doing great, and they get on me about that and say stuff. All the student sections know who I am, and they tried to get in my head and rattle me.
“But tonight I think I did a good job of blocking everything out and dialing it in.”
Indeed, Buenik dominated the Caravan in the most significant start of his career, leading the defending state champion Wildcats to a 3-1 win at Slammers Field in Joliet.
Buenik, who took a shutout into the seventh inning, allowed one run on three hits and three walks and struck out seven over 6 2/3 innings. Junior right-hander Aksel McKnight recorded the last out for Libertyville (30-10-1), which advanced to the state championship game again to play Maine South (26-15) at 4 p.m. Saturday.
“I was feeling pretty good today, my body was loose, and it was calming all the nerves down and just relaxing and letting it rip,” Buenik said. “I wasn’t worried about anything else. That was a motivational thing for me to be ready to go for this outing.”
Buenik, who entered the game with a 2-3 record and a 4.76 ERA in 25 innings, was backed by his teammates, several of whom went to the coaching staff in the wake of the Wildcats’ supersectional win on Tuesday to make a case for him to get the ball against the Caravan (30-11).
“It got me pretty pumped up,” Buenik said. “These guys have worked so hard all year, and if I can deliver for these guys, it would mean so much to me. I love these guys more than anything in the world.”
Libertyville coach Matt Thompson loved Buenik’s command, which was often missing this season. Thompson knew he could get the job done.
“We truly believed in him,” Thompson said. “We were thinking about it as well, and ultimately we obviously went in that direction, and he delivered. He’s a competitor, came out and attacked the zone and did what we wanted him to do.”
Buenik’s good start helped — Mount Carmel’s first two batters struck out looking — and the Wildcats then scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning.
Junior second baseman Madden Cotts hit a leadoff triple, senior shortstop Trevor Wallace was hit by a pitch, and both scored on senior designated hitter Chase Lockwood’s two-out double.
“I feel like it set the tone for us,” Lockwood said of his hit. “(Buenik) set the tone on the mound, and I feel like that kind of got our bats going a little bit too. Against a team like that, you’ve got to come out with an early lead and keep pressing. We had pressure on them every single inning.”
Buenik kept the pressure on Mount Carmel’s hitters, including Wake Forest recruit TJ McQuillan and Illinois recruit Anthony Chavez. Those two went 0-for-6 with a walk. Until Illinois recruit Joey Ireland’s double to the wall to begin the sixth, the Caravan’s only two hits off Buenik were infield grounders.
Buenik walked two and hit a batter to load the bases in the seventh, which prompted Thompson to turn to McKnight. After walking Ireland on four pitches to force in a run, McKnight got Logan Fernandez to line out to center field to end the game.
Buenik was asked what was most effective in his pitch mix.
“Everything, honestly,” he said. “In the late innings, the ball started to sink a little more, and it was working really well low in the zone.
“My mindset was to attack these guys — make them prove that they could hit it.”
Lockwood, who pitched all eight innings of the Wildcats’ 2-1 win over Normal in a state semifinal last year, offered Buenik some advice before the game.
“I was like, ‘Dude, we all have your back. We’re all so proud of you,’” Lockwood said. “‘You worked your butt off to get here. Just be yourself. Don’t try to be somebody else. Stick with what you’ve got, and we’ve got your back.’”
Buenik didn’t stick with everything. He made a not-so-small tweak to his windup earlier in the week. He slowed down his tempo so he wouldn’t get to the plate too quickly.
“Normally, I was trying to be quick, but I was able to take my time, one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, and build that rhythm and keep that rhythm,” he said. “In previous outings, I’d get out of rhythm, stuff would go sideways and it would screw with your head.
“I think I’m probably going to stick with this for the rest of my life.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.
