After the final out was called, Prospect had pulled off the 7-5 comeback win against Palatine on Thursday May 23. They are set to play Mundelein at 10 am tomorrow for the regional title. For Head Coach Ross Giusti it was very exciting to be able to get out of the slump they were in.
“We really haven’t been able to celebrate much recently, so being able to put a nice team win together and being able to celebrate a big win was a really good feeling,” Giusti said.
Early in the game, senior starting pitcher Laughton Joyce had early struggles as he gave up 4 runs through 3 innings. This led to Senior Jack Krueger coming in relief in the top of the fourth inning.
“We really haven’t asked him to come out of the bullpen this year at all,” Giusti said. “He stepped in the 3rd or 4th inning and really stopped Palatine in their tracks.”
Senior Luke Tabbert and Krueger said it being their last season on the team has helped motivate them to play better.
”It’s kind of sad and that’s why I want to win even more,” Krueger said. “Because it’s our last year playing with all of our friends that we’ve played with almost our whole life.”
Krueger’s bullpen contribution wasn’t the only important moment from the game. Another key play from the game was a clutch double hit by sophomore Aidan Nelson in the 5th inning, which gave the knights the lead 6-5. Giusti attributes the win to the patient approach hitters like Nelson showed.
The Knight are 15-1 when they score more than 5 runs and that is Giusti’s goal for the team going into the next game. Going into the playoffs the knights weren’t always getting to that goal. However, Giusti explained how the playoffs can give the team a clean slate.
”Everybody in the state of Illinois is zero and zero,” Giusti said. “You get to press the reset button and get ready to establish some momentum.”
For both Krueger and Tabbert this playoff run is very important for them and they are ecstatic to leave their final marks on the field for Prospect.
”I can’t wait, we were all talking yesterday and the days before the first game and everybody is so super excited to go play,” Tabbert said.
