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Baseball: Hall blast lifts New Trier past Loyola
5/26/12 Glenview New Trier's Austin Zimmerman (11) gets back to third getting Loyola's Fred Smart (26) out during the regional baseball final on Saturday, May 26th. | Dan Luedert~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: May 26, 2012 10:50PM
Chris Hall went to bat in the bottom of the sixth inning Saturday in Glenview with the intention of bunting Josh Perlmutter over to second base.
The New Trier senior catcher ended up hitting a two-run homer over the left-field fence to rally the Trevians to the regional championship with a 2-1 win over host Loyola.
The homer came with controversy as the ball flirted with the foul pole, but the umpire didn’t change his call.
“He put a good swing on it,” said New Trier coach Mike Napoleon, who first gave Hall the bunt sign before waving it off.
Hall’s home run was one of only three hits for the third-seeded Trevians (26-10). Campell Lipe contributed two singles in the win.
Starter Nick Hedge overcame an unearned run in the first to pitch the complete-game victory.
“I have confidence in my team,” Hedge said. “I knew the bats would click at some point.”
Loyola’s JT Trimble suffered the hard-luck loss, throwing all six innings. The junior right-hander was undone in the sixth by a lead-off walk to Perlmutter before surrendering the homer on a 2-0 pitch.
“They played a terrific game, and he pitched an incredible game,” Hedge said.
The 11th-seeded Ramblers (12-25) got the early lead after Michael Servatius started the game with an infield single and scored on an error.
But Hedge showed his toughness by shaking it off to deny Loyola its second win over the Trevians this season.
“Great job,” Hall said. “He’s done that all year for us. We need to score more runs when he’s pitching.”
New Trier meets second-seeded Oak Park-River Forest on Thursday in the sectional semifinals at Evanston. The Trevians last won a sectional title in 2009 when they captured the state championship.
