Walk-off grand slam keeps Beardstown baseball coach in the game for another day

QUINCY — Beardstown never led until Jacob Pate's final swing, and the senior gave his coach at least one more game with a walk-off grand slam.

Pate crushed a curveball from freshman Sean Lowder to give Beardstown a 6-4 win over Pleasant Plains in the Class 2A Quincy Notre Dame Regional semifinals on Wednesday. Third-seeded Beardstown will face No. 2 QND at 11 a.m. Saturday for the regional championship.

"It's awesome to do in the regional game," Pate said. "I've got to give a shout-out to my dad (Dave Pate). We hit about 200 balls the last two days. I definitely owe it to him."

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Beardstown coach Robin Lewis has announced this is his last season in a 30-year baseball career. He's 633-266 and was a 2016 inductee into the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. His father, Ed Lewis, coached at Beardstown for 33 years and was inducted into the IHSBCA Hall of Fame in 1978.

Pate's grand slam will be a memorable event for Lewis, but he added, "Hopefully we'll have more memories for Saturday."

Pate's comes through

Pate gave up two runs in a shaky top of the first where he gave up two walks ahead of an RBI double by senior Cannon Greer. Freshman Cooper Schallenberg gave himself, the Cardinals' starting pitcher, gave himself a 2-0 lead when he scored on a fly ball from Zach Ponce when the Beardstown left fielder, Brock Krumboltz threw a strike to double up Greer at second.

"Just a couple of calls didn't go my way and they're a good hitting team," Pate said. "You can't make many mistakes — they'll poke it into left, right (and) that's what happened in that first inning."

After getting around a two-out single in the top of the second, Pate led off the bottom of the second with a solo home run to pull the Tigers (22-4) within 2-1.

Plains got an unearned run in the top of the fourth to reclaim a two-run lead before Ethan Heller got it back with an RBI single to left in the bottom half. In the top of the seventh, Schallenberg hit an RBI double off Pate for a 4-2 lead. Pate's final line was four runs on five hits and four walks. He struck out eight and hit a pair of batters.

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"He pitched with a lot of guts," Lewis said of Pate. "Some things didn't go his way. There were some pitches that I thought early that he should have gotten but we didn't and that was all part of it as well. So you know, I give him credit for hanging in there, toughing it out."

Schallenberg hit two batters in the bottom of the seventh which sandwiched a single up the middle by William Davidsmeier. Greer brought in Lowder, who kept Pate off-balance with his first three curveballs.

The fourth curveball was gone.

"I was definitely a 7-year-old dreaming in my backyard, thinking about that scenario and it came true," Pate said. "It's definitely gonna be a memory I'll never forget. That's for sure."

In the excitement of the play, junior courtesy runner Ryan McClenning began running off the field before he even got to second base. Pate got his attention to tell him he still needed to run the bases.

McClenning said he could laugh about the miscue.

"I don't know what I was thinking," McClenning said with a big smile. "He hit that and all my baseball knowledge just left my head. I mean, I just wanted to go run out and celebrate with my team and just enjoy the moment but he said, 'Ryan get back here.' I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I've got to run these bases.' The adrenaline just got me."

Pate finished 3-for-4 with two home runs and five RBIs.

Schallenberg shines

Pleasant Plains handed the ball to Cooper Schallenberg, a freshman who has made a big impact all season for the Cardinals (16-18).

Schallenberg finished with five runs on seven hits, one walk, two hit batters and he struck out four. He entered with a 3-3 record and a 1.14 ERA in 43 innings pitched. At the plate, he walked twice, doubled, drove in a run and scored another.

He was part of a starting lineup for Pleasant Plains which included four freshmen — himself, shortstop Charlie Severino, catcher Zach Ponce and left fielder Trager Shultz — and two sophomores — first baseman Carter Durako and right fielder Adam Green.

"We started four freshmen today and they all did something," said Pleasant Plains coach Dave Greer. "We started four freshmen and two sophomores and they play up at the level.

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"My thing is this: play, get better and next year, this is going to really, really help them. I mean, they don't realize it now but they'll have a fire in them. They just played so hard."

Schallenberg reached his pitch limit and Greer went to Lowder, in a tough spot for any pitcher with the bases loaded — especially a freshman. Lowder had a 1-2 pitch on Pate before he hung the final pitch a little bit.

Much respect for each other

Lewis and Greer have coached many games against the other. And the two have quite a bit of respect for the other.

"Dave had his kids ready to play like he always does," Lewis said. "They did the things that they needed to do."

Greer said while he holds Lewis in high regard, he still wanted to send him into retirement.

"I'm not going to say that (it's easier to lose to Lewis in his final season) because I want to beat him and he knows that," Greer said. "The last thing I want to do is lose to him (or anybody). He's just a class act and if it's anybody (who beats Greer), I'm glad it's him."

Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Class 2A baseball: Grand slam sends Beardstown to regional final