EVANSVILLE — Brodhead-Juda coach Aaron Guilbault has long thought his team had what it takes to win big games. The formula is there: An ace pitcher, a speedy table-setter at leadoff and overall capable hitters 1-9. It was just a matter of putting it together for seven consecutive innings.
“We’ve been searching for that kind of a performance all year long,” said Guilbault after his team’s 3-0 win over Evansville May 27 in a WIAA Division 2 regional quarterfinal game. “We knew we had a great group of kids that could do it.”
Brodhead-Juda will face top-seeded Edgerton in the second round, but ace Brady Malkow should be ready to go on 4-days rest.
“Brady is a tremendous leader and a great teammate,” Guilbault said.
The senior righty got stronger as the game went on, striking out five of the final seven batters he faced. He allowed just two hits and one walk.
“We came in saying, ‘Why not us?’ I knew that as our captain, as our guy, if I went out there and believed that we could go out an win, then everyone else would be there and believe,” Malkow said. “Everything I built up for in my life was for this moment. I’ve never won a playoff game before. We were so close last year. This was I everything I’ve been working for, and now it was in my hands.”
Also aiding Malkow was stellar defense. The Cardinals were free of errors on defense, a rarity over the past few seasons.
Brodhead-Juda scored its first run right off the bat in the first inning. Speedy centerfielder Aidyn Vondra singled to right to lead off the game, then moved to second on a passed ball and to third on a wild pitch. Malkow would drive him in on a grounder.
“Once we got that first run, I knew I could keep them down low. One run is going to give us a good shot,” Malkow said.
The score stood at 1-0 for the next five innings, as Evansville hurler Willard Peterson stifled the Cardinals much of the afternoon.
“Will is a heckuva pitcher for those guys. When you put up a run on him that early, it gave a lot of us confidence,” Malkow said. Peterson struck out 10 batters, allowed just four hits and one walk. Just one run against him in 6.2 innings was earned.
In the top of the sixth, Brodhead-Juda scored a second run. Malkow got things started with a two-out single. Eventually he would score on a wild pitch.
In the seventh, Evan Senobe beat out the throw on a chopper to short, then went to second on an error in Vondra’s at-bat with two outs. Gage Bockhop then hit a liner right at the second baseman that brushed off the mitt and into the grass, allowing Senobe to score from second.
“You love to get an insurance run there — a little extra padding, some extra margin for error. It really took a lot of the pressure off Brady to just go out there and pitch and do what he did all day long,” Guilbault said. “I told the kids after the game that it was great Brady pitched like that, but we still had to put bats together and put runs on the board. It was a great team win altogether.”
Brodhead-Juda played Edgerton on late in the season on a pair of make-up games from early-season rain-outs. Edgerton won the first game on April 23 10-1, but the Cardinals kept it closer a month later on May 23, 4-0.
Getting a chance at redemption is something the Cardinals won’t take lightly, and Guilbault said he’s glad he gets to watch this group play at least one more time.
“I wanted this so bad for our senior group,” Guilbault said. “I took our seniors outside yesterday when we got rained out and told them that I love them — they’ve meant so much for our program. They’ve been here for four years and they’ve added to our culture and our expectations. I hope these younger kids were taking notes.”
