Washington baseball lost at state, but a senior's toughness still inspires
JOLIET — Washington didn't win its Illinois High School Association Class 3A state semifinal baseball game Friday morning, but it did win perspective.
"We're all down right now," senior left fielder Caleb Wudtke said. "But we're going to eat. We have a roof over our heads. We have a family.
"And we're alive. That's a win, too."
Washington ran into a dominating, college-bound pitcher and fought off a perfect game, scratching out one hit and a run in a 2-1 loss to Chatham Glenwood at Duly Health and Care Field.
BOX SCORE: Glenwood 2, Washington 1
That put an end to state title hopes for the Panthers, who will play at 9 a.m. Saturday in the third-place game against Crystal Lake South.
The Panthers' 34-6 season is no less inspiring. Nor is Wudtke's own journey, perhaps a symbol of the toughness and character that has worn orange on the field all season.
'I didn't know what was wrong'
Wudtke was in the shower in September when, suddenly, he couldn't breathe.
"Both my lungs collapsed," he said. "They just randomly quit. The doctors said it was because of my body stature (he's a lanky body shape)."
He went through four days of medical treatments. Then his left lung collapsed again. Surgery in February followed to repair his lungs.
"The pain didn't matter, I wanted to play baseball," said Wudtke, among a group of Washington players who grew up playing travel ball together since they were 7 years old. "The team wanted me back. That's all I thought about. It's what pushed me through it.
"I learned from it. Not everything is guaranteed."
Not in life, and not on the baseball field.
More: How a childhood bond helped Washington earn another trip to IHSA baseball state finals
Nearly unhittable
Parker Detmers, a junior right-hander for Chatham Glenwood and the younger brother of Reid Detmers, the major-leaguer who recently threw a no-hitter, was overpowering in his complete-game outing against Washington.
He took a perfect game one out into the fifth inning before Tyler Bishop walked. Kyler Klings lined a two-out single over short — busting up the no-hitter, too — to chase Bishop around with Washington's only run.
Detmers, who struck out nine of the first 10 batters in the game, finished with 14 strikeouts to tie the Class 3A record for whiffs in a state finals game.
"It felt amazing," said Detmers, who is committed to play at Louisville. "I had all my stuff."
More on Detmers: Fueled by pressure, this Louisville pitching recruit from Glenwood making his own name
Said Washington coach Kyle Wisher: "He was dealing, we kind of ran into a buzzsaw. It's OK to feel bad. But we're playing baseball tomorrow, on the final day of the season."
Washington starter Gus Lucas escaped jams when the Titans got two runners on in the third and fourth innings.
"There was pressure there because I knew there wasn't much (room for error)," Lucas said. "My slider and changeup were getting some outs, and it was a lift to get out of those innings."
But Glenwood (33-7) got its two runs in the top of the fifth.
Cru Erickson walked, stole second, and took third on a groundout. He coasted home when catcher Will Plattner ripped an 0-2 pitch into the right-center gap — where Klings dove for it but couldn't quite get there — for a triple and 1-0 lead.
Glenwood then made it 2-0 when Eli Curtis' slow roller toward the hole between first and second was thrown away by first baseman Bishop as Lucas tried to cover on the run, allowing courtesy runner Jackson Rose to score.
Lucas, who will play for Bradley next season, went six innings on 109 pitches, allowed two runs (one earned), walked five and struck out six.
'Every kid had a Bradley shirt': BU-bound pitcher part of deep Washington baseball team
Detmers went all 7 innings, allowed one run on one hit, walked one and struck out 14 on 90 pitches.
"Baseball isn't fair," said Panthers pitcher/shortstop Easton Harris, who will start the third-place game Saturday. "It's a cruel game. But we're playing tomorrow, on the last day of the baseball season, and you can't ask for more than that."
These Panthers are taking in the show
Washington and the other IHSA state finalists attended a banquet Thursday night, at which former big-leaguer Ryan Dempster was a guest speaker.
They stayed Friday after their loss and watched the Class 3A semifinal between Nazareth and Crystal Lake South.
They'll eat dinner together Friday night and come back for one last game on Saturday.
Wudtke will think about what he has faced, how he and the team have helped each other.
"Coming back from two collapsed lungs — he was down 30 pounds," Wisher said. "It took him a long time to get back into shape. But he got to the outfield for us, hit second for us.
"He's such a tough, hard-nosed kid like all the kids are on this team."
Harris, sitting at the podium during the post-game, added this:
"Caleb Wudtke came back as a pinch-runner, and then he got into the lineup. Watching him fight like that, he changed everything for us. His story kind of molded the team into who we all are today."
Wudtke nodded.
"There are good things this team has done," he said, "good things for each of us."
Welcome home the Panthers
The Washington baseball team will return back to Washington around 2 p.m. Saturday. They will return via U.S. Route 24 through Washington square, head west on Jefferson Street and unload at the Panther Plex near the baseball field.
There is a reception planned 1 p.m. Sunday at the school.
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. Reach him at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA state finals: Washington loses to Chatham Glenwood in 3A semis
