Baseball: Marian Catholic stuns Kyle Funkhouser, Oak Forest in seventh

Updated: May 31, 2012 7:01PM

It did not look good for Marian Catholic. The Spartans were chasing a run in the seventh inning against arguably the state’s most dominant pitcher, Oak Forest’s Kyle Funkhouser, who was pumping it especially hard on Wednesday.

No worries.

Marian Catholic scraped together three runs in the seventh, and went on to upend Oak Forest, 7-5, in a Class 3A Lincoln-Way West Sectional semifinal in New Lenox.

Junior shortstop Erik Callahan spurred the comeback with a run-scoring double, turning on a 93-mph Funkhouser fastball over the third-base bag to tie the game at 5-5. The Spartans (21-17) took the lead for good when Funkhouser was called for a balk, which scored Devin Pickett, who had reached on a bunt single. Callahan came around to score the final run on a passed ball.

“I was looking first pitch fastball,” Callahan said. “He started everyone with a first-pitch fastball. It’s probably the third or fourth time I’ve seen that speed, but I was ready for it.”

Marian Catholic advances to play the winner of No. 1 Joliet Catholic/Lincoln-Way West on Saturday for the sectional championship.

“I think the difference between us and some other teams is we’re battle-tested,” Marian Catholic coach Phil Wail said. “We’ve seen a lot of good pitching this year. … Erik (Callahan) is a player who comes through in big times for us.”

Marian Catholic mounted a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but Oak Forest (27-7) rallied with two runs in each the third and fourth innings to mount a 5-2 lead. Sophomore first baseman Brian Richard drove in three of those runs with two hits.

Pickett, an Iowa recruit, helped Marian get within striking distance when he delivered a two-run double, cutting the deficit to 5-4 in the fifth. Pickett finished 3-for-3 and reached base all four times.

After Pickett’s double, Oak Forest coach Thaddeus Gatton went to Funkhouser, who threw 100-plus pitches in the regional title game Saturday.

“Funk threw on three days’ rest,” said Gatton. “Those kids battled, but we didn’t have much left.”

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