Crusaders travel by Van Assen
After rocky beginning, Purdue recruit shuts door on St. Rita for Brother Rice
Senior right-hander Cole Van Assen has pitched in many big games for Brother Rice.
After a bit of a rocky first inning Saturday, with St. Rita scoring twice, the Purdue recruit was practically sterling for the Crusaders in giving up just three hits the rest of the way.
So, where does a pressure cooker under a hot sun against a Catholic League rival rate?
“I’ve been in bigger games, so I’m used to it,” he said with a shrug. “It’s my job to do that.”
For Van Assen, winning is job one. He went the distance, striking out eight without a walk in a four-hit gem for a 6-3 win in the Class 4A Mount Carmel Sectional championship game.
A five-run third inning proved to be big for Van Assen and Brother Rice (24-15), which will play Lincoln-Way East (31-8) — a 10-9 winner over Lockport — at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Crestwood Supersectional at Ozinga Field.
Sophomore second baseman Jackson Natanek, who went 2-for-3 and was on base three times, got the Crusaders on the scoreboard with a solo home run to center field in the first.
Natanek also had a bunt single tin the third as Brother Rice leveraged a walk, an error, a fielder’s choice and two other hits to break the game open in support of Van Assen.
Van Assen, who was first to hoist the sectional plaque in short right field, impressed St. Rita coach John Nee, who watched Louie Sisto outduel him on May 2 in a 5-2 win.
“He’s a big-game pitcher,” Nee said of Van Assen. “We knew that. We were fortunate enough to beat him during the regular season. (Saturday) he had a great breaking