ADDISON – baseball coach Todd Genke may have added a few more gray hairs Wednesday afternoon. The top-seeded North Stars (26-5) watched No. 16 stage a four-run rally to take a 7-6 lead in the top half of the seventh inning during their Class 4A Addison Trail Regional semifinal clash.
Slightly stunned, the North Stars regrouped and put together a comeback of their own. After Trevor Lambel’s RBI single tied the game at 7-7, Jake Kujak followed with an infield single before senior shortstop Jackson Spring delivered the game-winning RBI single to left, sending courtesy runner Ty Koziol diving head-first across home plate during the North Stars’ 8-7 victory. “I briefly talked with Coach (Genke) about what the plan was going in,” said Spring, who went 2 for 4 with a walk, run scored and stolen base from the leadoff spot.
“We were in a good position (runners on first and second with one out). “Coach said, ‘If you see one you like, go after it,’ so I was ready to hit. It feels great.
” Genke, who has guided the North Stars to nine regional titles and five 30-win seasons, including a second-place state finish in 2019, recorded his 500th career win (500-174-4) in a most memorable way. “To get it in that fashion, I certainly won’t ever forget it,” said Genke, whose team will face either Addison Trail or Glenbard East in Saturday’s 10 a.m.
regional championship. “It was a little more drama than I was looking for.” St.
Charles North began the game with a fou.