2024 Championship Game- Bombers vs Southsiders

With the bases loaded in the top of the ninth, Bombers third baseman Anthony Martinez stepped to the plate trying to keep things simple.

In a tie game, he just wanted to drive the ball and bring in a run one way or another.

Drilling a sacrifice fly to center field, Martinez drove in what proved to be the game-winning run as the Blue Island Bombers defeated the Southsiders 9-7 on July 31 in the Crestwood Collegiate League championship at Ozinga Field.

“I’m a two-way player. I understand where the pitcher is standing and what kind of situation it is,” Martinez said. “With the bases loaded, he doesn’t want to get behind and walk somebody. He’s trying to get ahead of me, so first pitch, I wanted to be on time. I’m trying to get a barrel, hit it in the air and get a run home.”

The Bombers won the first Crestwood Collegiate League championship.

Martinez finished with 3 hits, 2 RBI and a run for the Bombers.

Ryan Seddon (2 hits, 3 runs, RBI), John Lemm (2 runs, RBI, 4 walks, stolen base), Nate Maliska (double, 2 hits, 2 RBI), Kyle Peterson (hit, 2 RBI), Jason Krol (3 hits), Mike Mango (run, 3 walks) and Joey Zietaras (2 runs) all contributed to a big offensive effort.

Jacob Jurka earned the win, allowing 1 run (0 earned) on 1 hit with 3 strikeouts over 2.2 innings pitched. Alex Dvorak threw a shutout inning with 2 hits and a strikeout.

Bryan Collier pitched out of an inherited bases-loaded jam in the fifth.

For Martinez, winning the championship in the league’s first season was a great way to cap his summer.

“Four teams, two teams, six teams, 100 teams, championships are always the best,” Martinez said. “I’m a competitive guy. I always want to win. Being on the winning side, winning a championship is always great.”

Martinez is a Lockport Township High School graduate. He’s heading into his sophomore year at South Suburban College.

The Bombers trailed 6-2 through 6 innings but rallied with a run in the seventh, four in the eighth and two in the ninth.

After Martinez’s sacrifice fly to center, Maliska hit a RBI single to score Seddon and extend the lead to 9-7. Jurka headed back out to the mound and closed things out with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth, including a strikeout to end the game.

“That’s my approach, just go after batters,” Jurka said. “[The heat and humidity], it wears on you, but it’s a championship game. You power through it.”

For the Bombers, it was the third win in four days to claim the title. With the pitching staff a little thin, Jurka wanted to help the team however he could.

“I knew someone was coming in behind me, but I wanted to finish the game,” Jurka said. “I love pitching. Baseball and pitching, it’s fun. I wanted to put our team in the best possible scenario to able to win this game. We did it.”

Jurka, a Lincoln-Way West graduate, is heading into his junior year at the University of St. Francis.

Jump-starting the offense, Seddon and Lemm set the table as the Bombers’ leadoff and No. 2 hitters. Both players had big summers offensively.

Seddon is a recent St. Laurence High School graduate. He’s heading to the University of Evansville this fall. Usually batting middle to the lower part of the lineup in high school, Seddon said he loved the chance to bat leadoff for the Bombers.

“I struck out early in the game, so I figured I had to have better at-bats and find ways to get on,” Seddon said. “Their pitcher was throwing well, so we wanted to get him out of the game. The guys behind me, they can hit me in, so I want to use my speed to my advantage. I want to force the pitchers behind me to make tough decisions.”

Seddon said he zeroed in as a more traditional leadoff man in the playoffs.

“With summer ball, you’re working on things, being more aggressive,” Seddon said. “Toward the playoffs, I tried to be more traditional leadoff hitter, see pitches, find ways to get on and be the table setter our team needed so they could drive me in. I really enjoyed it.”

Right behind him in the No. 2 spot, Lemm was an on-base machine all summer for the Bombers.

He shook off an error he made in right field in the first inning and focused on delivering at the plate the rest of the way.

“That error, it was just me,” Lemm said. “I took my eyes off the ball. With how hot it was, I was struggling. It was my fault, but I was able to regroup back there.”

Lemm played the last 2 seasons at South Suburban. He will head to Southern Illinois University.

“With four walks, I was looking to get a pitch I wanted to put a healthy hack on,” Lemm said. “I wanted to do some damage, make them pitch carefully and get to the next hitter.”

For the Southsiders, Cristian Ruiz fired a gem in his start. He gave up 2 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits and 4 walks with 7 strikeouts over 5.2 innings.

Offensively, the Southsiders were led by Sam Nigro (2 runs, 2 walks), Bryce Vorwald (double, 3 runs, 2 walks, stolen base), Francis Muraida (2 doubles, 3 hits, 3 RBI, walk), Jack Hughes (hit, 2 RBI, walk), Trey Vorwald (2 hits, run, RBI, 2 walks), Nolan Czako (2 hits), Quinton Allen (RBI) and Alejandro Munoz (hit, walk).

The Bombers rallied from a 6-2 deficit to win the Crestwood Collegiate League's first championship with a 9-7 victory over the Southsiders.

Anthony Martinez Jacob Jurka Ryan Seddon John Lemm

Anthony Martinez drove in the game-winning run with a hard-hit sacrifice fly to center field in the top of the ninth. He finished with 3 hits, 2 RBI and a run in the championship.

Jacob Jurka earned the win in the championship game, giving up 1 run over 2.2 innings with 3 strikeouts. Jurka is heading into his junior season at the University of St. Francis.

Ryan Seddon finished with 2 hits, 3 runs and a RBI in the championship game batting leadoff for the Bombers. Seddon is heading into his freshman year at the University of Evansville.

John Lemm did a little bit of everything for the Bombers in the championship, racking up 2 runs, a RBI, 4 walks and a stolen base.