May 11, 2025
Shaw Local
NewsSubscribePrep SportseNewspaperObituariesFriday Night DriveNewsletterStarved Rock CountryEvent CalendarGames and Puzzles

Baseball: Hall looks to punch its ticket back to State

Red Devils will face defending State champ Joliet Catholic in today’s supersectional

By Kevin Hieronymus
Members of the Hall baseball team celebrate after defeating Sherrard during the Class 2A Sectional final game on Saturday, May 27, 2023 at Knoxville High School.

Members of the Hall baseball team celebrate after defeating Sherrard during the Class 2A Sectional final game on Saturday, May 27, 2023 at Knoxville High School. (Scott Anderson)

Don’t look now, but the Hall Red Devils are just one game from punching its ticket back to the Class 2A State Baseball Tournament.

The last time, the Red Devils made it there, they won the whole thing, defeating Teutopolis, 4-1, for the 2018 Class 2A State Championship.

The Red Devils (23-8) will face Joliet Catholic (22-8-1), the defending Class 2A State champion, at 1 p.m. Monday in the Class 2A Geneseo Supersectional. The Hilltoppers beat Chicago Christian, 10-0, in six innings Saturday to win its own sectional.

It’s been a magical run so far for the Red Devils.

Hall trailed Riverdale 2-0 in the regional finals and rallied for a 6-5 win, throwing out the tying run at the plate to end the game.

The drama was only building.

In Saturday’s sectional championship against Sherrard, the Red Devils found themselves down 4-1 on a first-inning grand slam, 6-1 in the third inning and 7-3 in the fifth inning.

They rallied with a seven-run, sixth-inning charge to post a 12-7 win.

Next, they will set their sights on Joliet Catholic, which has won four state titles dating back to 1994 and made nine state appearances in the past 33 years.

Prior to 2022, Joliet Catholic’s State appearances have been in either the 3A or AA in the two-class system.

“We’ve just got to keep fighting like we have been,” Hall’s Joel Koch said. “We’ve been more or less the underdog all the way through this. We weren’t supposed to win this game (Saturday’s). We just came out and fought like we have all season.”

“Honestly, it’s one of these years. We’ve kind of flown under the radar, lurking in the weeds, whatever cliche you want to use,” Hall coach Tom Keegan said. “But these guys got something to them. It’s whether they’re on the diamond or in the dugout, they’re all in. It’s fun.”

Hall made short work of Brimfield in its last supersectional with a 12-0 win in five innings in 2018 at Augustana College.

Hall supersectional appearances

2018-2A (at Rock Island) - Hall 12, Brimfield 0 (5 inn.)

2023-2A (at Geneseo) - Hall (23-8) vs. Joliet Catholic (22-8-1), 11 a.m