Shamrocks win title

Just four months after the Routt Catholic High School baseball team won a state title, the junior high that feeds into the high school won an Illinois Elementary School Association state baseball title Saturday in East Peoria.

The Our Saviour junior high baseball team won both its games at the Class 1A state tournament Saturday to give the Shamrocks their first state baseball title since 2003.

“This is a heck of a group we have,” said Our Saviour coach Joe Horebik. “We had our ups and downs at the beginning of the season, but they came together when it counted, started playing as a team and just hit the heck out of the ball.”

Our Saviour defeated Pontiac St. Mary’s in the semifinals Saturday morning, 3-2. The Shamrocks then faced Peoria Limestone Walters in the championship game, winning 11-3.

Our Saviour trailed 3-0 entering the fifth inning of the championship game.

“We were hitting the ball hard, but it was right at everybody,” Horebik said. “But I’ve got to give a lot of credit to the Peoria Limestone team. They were making some phenomenal plays.”

Our Saviour scratched out four runs in the fifth inning, however, to take the lead. The Shamrocks then turned it into a blowout in the seventh inning.

The team loaded the bases with no outs, bringing Anthony Lucchesi to the plate. Lucchesi launched a grand slam over the outfield fence as Our Saviour rallied for seven runs in the inning.

Horebik said his players rarely show emotion on the field, but that wasn’t the case after they won the title.

“You didn’t see anything but teeth after we won,” Horebik said. “They were all smiling.”

The state title marked Our Saviour’s first in the sport since 2003. Several members of that team played key roles in Routt’s state title last spring.

Horebik said his group this year could be  in the same position four years from now — just like the 2008 Routt baseball team.

“I definitely think it’s possible,” the coach said. “If they can stay together and keep on progressing and getting better, I think they’ll be in the same place that team was last year. They have as good a shot as anybody else.

“We proved it tonight.”

Our Saviour finished its season at 16-2. Members of the team include: Lucchesi, Ben Whalen, Brent Long, Brett Elliott, Elliott Reif, Gabe Mast, Jonathan Newell, Josiah Overton, Justin Ketcham, Lucas Worrell, Nick Lonergan, Nick Poole, Ryan Bickhaus and Ryan Lindsey.

BLUFFS TAKES FOURTH
After beating Putnam County in the quarterfinals, Bluffs lost both of its games in the Class 2A state tournament Saturday in East Peoria.

Bluffs dropped a 5-4 decision in extra innings to Springfield St. Agnes in the semifinals. St. Agnes went on to win the state title.

“We lost three games this year, and of the three games we lost, two of them were to state champions, and the other one was to the third place team in the state,” said Bluffs coach Bryan Barnett. “We definitely don’t have anything to hang our heads about.”

Bluffs lost to Shelbyville Moulton 17-9 in the third-place game. The Bluejays finished their season at 11-3.

“We had a great group of kids this year that had some prior history with state tournaments with Little League, and they kept doing it this year,” Barnett said. “Any time you can make it to the state tournament, you’ve got to be pleased as a coach. It’s something not every team gets to do, so you’ve got to be thankful.”

Members of the Bluffs team include: Alec Berry, Austin Boehs, Brandon Buhlig, Caleb Burk, Clayton Savage, Corey Barnett, Drew Barnett, Harley Kunkel, Hunter Bettis, Kyle Matthews and Tyler Devlin.