The last high school game of his career. The last time wearing a Hampshire jersey. A storied program in St. Rita as the opponent.
Senior right-hander Matt Jachec took a deep breath before throwing the first pitch Saturday and decided he wouldn’t change a thing.
Not a single one.
“I just tried to do what I always do,” Jachec said afterward. “It’s worked all year.”
Jachec battled and struck out six, but the Mustangs scored in the bottom of the seventh inning on an error for a 3-2 victory in the Class 4A third-place game at DuPage Medical Group Field in Joliet.
An Indiana State recruit, Jachec (7-4) scattered eight hits and two walks for Hampshire (22-16). Only two of the runs were earned.
“I felt pretty good,” Jachec said. “The zone was tight and I had to make a couple pitches over the middle and they got hits. That really cost us.
“They’re a good-hitting team and that’s how it worked out.”
Jachec got an early cushion against St. Rita (35-7) thanks to Caden Pyszka, who sliced a triple to left field that scored Andrew Krajecki and Nick Sladek in the top of the first.
“It was a curveball outside,” Pyszka said. “I just wanted to hit it to the left side. It was tailing a lot, so I thought it would get down.”
Hampshire coach Frank Simoncelli pointed out how hitting the other way was a focus for Pyszka.
“He’s been hitting that all day during batting practice,” Simoncelli said. “He’s been working on that, and he put it together during the game.”
The runs gave Jachec confidence on the mound.
“It does everything,” he said. “Getting two runs and knowing I have a couple runs to give up, have a little space, lets me work the hitters and hit my spots.
“It just didn’t work out the way we wanted.”
St. Rita forced a 2-2 tie with runs in the third and sixth innings.
In the bottom of the seventh, Jachec hit a batter with one out. Jalen Greer, who was drafted last Tuesday in the fifth round by the Oakland A’s, grounded out to third.
On the play, however, Sean McDevitt raced from first to third. A throw across the field got away, and McDevitt scored the game-winner.
“It’s baseball,” Simoncelli said. “It happened. It’s a little uncharacteristic as far as this playoff run. We’ve been playing lights out. We tried to make a play and it didn’t work.”
In Simoncelli’s eyes, the ending didn’t diminish Hampshire’s first trip to state.
“One day these guys are going to look back at this, and they’re going to be super proud of everything that they’ve accomplished,” Simoncelli said. “It’s a tough pill to swallow right now. It’s fresh.
“They put Hampshire on the map. I couldn’t be more proud of these guys.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.