“They’re doing all right,” the Hamilton baseball coach said Thursday evening at Grand Park Sports Campus. “Their turnaround and thinking is a little bit different than Tim (Nichting) and I’s. We’re going through the tape, going over things we did wrong and want to improve on, and the kids can just sit back and play Playstation while we’re doing that.”
Hamilton is in win-or-go-home mode after watching Hinsdale score four times in the bottom of the sixth inning Wednesday, but the locals are still only two wins away from the World Series.
REGIONAL GAME 1: Hamilton West Side 22, Wausau National (Wis.) 4
REGIONAL GAME 2: Hamilton West Side 10, Grosse Pointe Woods-Shores (Mich.) 2
REGIONAL GAME 3: Hinsdale (Ill.) 5, Hamilton West Side 4
West Side defeated Grosse Pointe Woods-Shores (Mich.) 10-2 on Monday and will face the Michigan champions again at 5 p.m. on Friday at Grand Park. The victor will play Hinsdale in a winner-take-all final Saturday at 5 p.m.
“They’re probably the biggest and most athletic team in the tournament,” Coomer said of Grosse Pointe, which blanked Lexington Eastern (Ky.) 10-0 in four innings Thursday. “They swing the bat, and they’re pretty deep in pitching. For us to get where we want to get, it’s probably got to be a high-scoring game. If we don’t hit, then we’re in trouble.”
Pitch-count rules will keep the top two pitchers for both teams — Braedyn Moore and Lake Cundiff of Hamilton, Joey Randazzo and Jack Jones of Grosse Pointe — off the mound Friday.
“It does look like it could be a slugfest,” Grosse Pointe coach Jason Hill said. “The way Hamilton hits the ball, I don’t know if that puts us in an advantage or a disadvantage.”
Hill said his starting pitcher will come from the trio of Drew Hill, Will Pflaum and Matthew Greene. Hill is a lefty.
Coomer said he’s trying to decide between five righties: Davis Avery, Ethan Mueller, Jared Halupnik, Casey Parsons and Jaycee Taylor.
“Honest to God, it’ll be a game-time decision,” Coomer said. “They’re all pretty much the same. We’re going to warm them all up before the game and see how we go. You might see all of them.”
Grosse Pointe has defeated New Albany (Ind.) 4-3 and Lexington Eastern since meeting West Side. Randazzo threw a three-hitter in Thursday’s victory, which included 11 Michigan hits off Eastern’s Ty Bryant and Leighton Harris.
“We’re feeling good. How can you not?” Hill said. “It was a great pitching performance by Randazzo, and the bats woke up a little bit today.
“We were certainly disappointed losing to Hamilton, but we knew we weren’t out of the tournament. It’s not an ideal position, but we’re still alive, and I think the kids are really taking to this backs-against-the-wall thing and running with it. There’s no tomorrow, and we’re playing like it right now.
“Honestly, everything from this point on is gravy. We made it to this point and had an opportunity to play on ESPN today, which was very cool for the kids. We’re going to come out and have fun again tomorrow and see what happens.”
If West Side can advance to Saturday, Moore will be available to pitch against Hinsdale.
The World Series will be held Aug. 17-27 in South Williamsport, Pa.
Great Lakes Regional
Here is the full schedule for the Great Lakes Regional at the Grand Park Sports Campus, 711 E. 191st St., Westfield, Ind. Games will be played on Diamond 17 and the format will be modified double elimination:
Sunday, Aug. 6
Hamilton West Side 22, Wausau National (Wis.) 4, four innings
Lexington Eastern (Ky.) 1, New Albany (Ind.) 0
Monday, Aug. 7
Hamilton West Side 10, Grosse Pointe Woods-Shores (Mich.) 2
Hinsdale (Ill.) 5, Lexington Eastern (Ky.) 2
Tuesday, Aug. 8
Lexington Eastern (Ky.) 10, Wausau National (Wis.) 5
Grosse Pointe Woods-Shores (Mich.) 4, New Albany (Ind.) 3
Wednesday, Aug. 9
Hinsdale (Ill.) 5, Hamilton West Side 4
Thursday, Aug. 10
Grosse Pointe Woods-Shores (Mich.) 10, Lexington Eastern (Ky.) 0, four innings
Friday, Aug. 11
Game 9 — Hamilton West Side vs. Grosse Pointe Woods-Shores (Mich.), 5 p.m.
Championship
Saturday, Aug. 12
Game 10 — Hinsdale (Ill.) vs. Game 9 winner, 5 p.m.
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