The Illini West Chargers baseball team traveled to Chillicothe on Wednesday, May 22, and defeated Taylor Ridge (Rockridge), 11-2, in an Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Class 2A Sectional semifinal.
Carter Chapin flew to left to start the game. Colby Robertson flew to right field for the second out. Wesley Robertson singled on a ground ball to third base. Shawn Watkins Jr. followed with a single near home plate and advanced Robertson to second base. Lucas Finch was the courtesy runner for Watkins Jr. Ethan Carlisle singled to center field, scoring Robertson for a 1-0 lead and advanced Finch to second base. Nick Bruns drew a walk to load the bases. Stephen Sparks flew out to right field to end the half inning. Nick Bruns set down Taylor Ridge (Rockridge) one-two-three in the bottom of the first inning.
Max Kinnamon drew a walk to open the second inning. He was picked off first base by the pitcher Ryan Oelke. Nick Johnson struck out swinging and Chapin flew out to right for the third out. Liam Steele tripled to right field to lead off the home second inning. Steele tied the game after tagging up on a Quinten Smith sacrifice fly to left field. Bruns struck out Keegan Bohnsack swinging for the second out. Joey Reiff grounded out to second base to end the inning.
Colby Robertson singled to start the top of the third inning. Wesley Robertson reached on an error by the third baseman and Colby Robertson advanced to second. Watkins Jr. grounded into a fielder’s choice and the runners advanced a base. Finch courtesy ran for Watkins, Jr. Carlisle singled to left field, plating Colby and Wesley Robertson both for a 3-1 lead. Finch advanced over to third base. Oelke struck out Bruns looking for the first out. Sparks singled to left field to score Finch for a 4-1 margin. Sparks advanced to second and Carlisle to third on the throw back in. Kinnamon sacrificed to third base to score Carlisle for a 5-1 advantage. Sparks went to third base. Johnson was hit by a pitch and stole second base. Chapin doubled to center field, scoring Sparks and Carlisle to up the lead to 7-1. Colby Robertson grounded out to third for the final out of the top of the third inning.
Steele singled to right field to open the bottom of the third. Cullen Daly singled to right field. Steele advanced to third and scored on an error by the right fielder for a 7-2 score. Daly advanced to second on the same error. Daly was thrown out trying to steal second base. Carsen Dekeyrel struck out swinging for the second out. Cullen Schwigen popped out to first base in foul territory to end the inning.
Wesley Robertson struck out swinging to lead off the fourth inning. Watkins Jr. singled. Finch came in as courtesy runner and stole second base. A balk by the pitcher advanced him to third. Carlisle struck out swinging for the second out. Bruns struck out looking to end the half inning. The Rockets failed to score in the home fourth inning.
Sparks reached on an error by the third baseman to lead off the fifth inning. Kinnamon sacrificed Sparks to second with an out to the pitcher. Johnson grounded out to shortstop and Chapin struck out looking for the third out. Bruns struck out Trevor Dye for the first out. Steele grounded to the pitcher for the second out. Daly singled to center field. Wesley Robertson came in at pitcher for the Chargers. Dekeyrel walked and Daly went to second base. Schwigen grounded into a fielder’s choice and Daly was out at third to end the inning.
The Chargers didn’t score in the sixth inning. Dye singled to third base to lead off the Rockets’ sixth inning. Steele lined to right field for the first out. Smith grounded into a fielder’s choice and Dye was out trying to advance to second base. Bohnsack singled to right field and Smith advanced to second base. Reiff reached on a dropped third strike to load the bases. Owen Steele grounded out to shortstop to end the inning.
Jaydyn Combites drew a walk to start the Chargers’ seventh inning. Sparks singled and advanced Combites to second. Kinnamon popped out to the catcher for the first out. Johnson drew a walk to load the bases. Chapin singled to left field to score Combites and Sparks for a 9-2 advantage. Colby Robertson reached on an error by the third baseman. Johnson advanced to third and Chapin to second. Wesley Robertson reached on an error by the right fielder and Johnson scored for a 10-2 margin. Chapin moved to third and Colby Robertson to second base. Watkins Jr. singled to left field to plate Chapin for an 11-2 score. Colby Robertson advanced to third and Wesley to second. Carlisle grounded into a fielder’s choice and Colby Robertson was out trying to advance home for the second out. Combites flew out to center to end the half inning. The Rockets went in order to close out the game and give the Chargers an 11-2 win.
“What jump-started our offense was some big two-out hits and we played a little small ball as well,” Chargers head coach Zack Burling commented after the game. “We played a good overall baseball game.”
Bruns was the winning pitcher. He went 4-2/3 innings, gave up four hits and two runs (one earned), struck out five and walked two. Oelke allowed six hits and seven runs (four earned), struck out two and walked two.
Wesley Robertson pitched 2-1/3 innings in relief. He gave up no runs and just two hits while he struck out four and walked none. Watkins Jr. was 3-5 with a run batted in. Chapin led in runs batted in with four.
Chapin, Colby Robertson, Wesley Robertson, Sparks and Carlisle collected two hits each. The win was the 28th for the Chargers who faced Peoria Notre Dame in the sectional final (see separate story) on Saturday, May 25. The Rockets ended the season 15-16.
