For two years now, Coal City junior Lance Cuddy has been about as solid a starting pitcher as they come.

And the performance he had against a stacked Wilmington lineup Wednesday was one of his best yet.

With the Coalers playing as the visiting team on their home turf due to heavy rains in Wilmington, Cuddy struck out 13 Wildcats and walked one in a three-hit shutout, while Gavin Berger scored after tripling in the second and doubling in the fourth to give the Coalers a 2-0 win and their first season sweep over their Illinois Central Eight Conference rivals since 2021.

“I was just really confident that my team had my back,” Cuddy said. “I executed all my pitches really well. I thought it went great. ... I’m just confident with what my coach and catcher call and try to execute it to the best of my ability.”

After tossing three shutout innings in an opening-day win over Parkview Christian, Cuddy was roughed up a bit – and perhaps more notably for Coalers head coach Greg Wills, saw a rough defensive effort lead to four unearned runs – in the Coalers’ 11-1 loss at Minooka last month.

Wednesday was Cuddy’s third start since then, all Coalers victories in which he recorded double-digit strikeouts and allowed two earned runs or less, including helping the Coalers (9-4, 6-0) to a 4-3 win at Wilmington on March 30.

“He’s just continuing to strike out 13, 14 guys, just dominating,” Coalers coach Greg Wills said. “What more can you say about what he did? He just came out here and was in control from the first pitch.”

He wasn’t the only pitcher locked in on Wednesday either. Wilmington senior Cooper Holman, who also matched up with Cuddy in that March 30 tilt, was nearly as sharp, allowing two earned runs on four hits and seven strikeouts in a complete game of his own.

Wilmington (6-4-1, 3-2) coach Mike Bushnell was obviously pleased with the way Holman dealt once again. But a Wildcats offense that had scored seven or more runs in four of their last five games just couldn’t find a path to success against the Coalers’ stout southpaw Wednesday.

“I thought Cooper and Lance pitched awesome,” Bushnell said. “We just could not generate any offense.”

The Coalers weren’t able to muster up much of their own, but the senior Berger was the source of it when they did. He opened the top of the second with a triple and came home an at-bat later when Carter Nicholson singled to center.

He then opened the fourth with a double, made it to third on Donnie Ladas’ one-out groundout and came in for insurance Cuddy wouldn’t need on Kellen Forsythe’s two-out single.

“We knew this was going to be a one-run game, a close game. ...” Wills said. “We’ve had some really, really great at-bats against [Holman]. Not necessarily a lot of success, but we’ve just hung in there, battled, stayed in the zone and made him throw a lot of pitches.

“And those chances to score runs are going to be few and far between. You’ve got to take advantage of that, and I thought we did that today. And Lance made it stand up.”

Berger, a three-sport standout in football, basketball and baseball, is plenty familiar with the bitter-but-respectful rivalry between the Coalers and Wildcats. And after the Wildcats emerged on the gridiron on their way to a state title and swept them in a pair of ICE basketball games, he and the Coalers were glad to score their own sweep on the diamond.

“It’s amazing,” Berger said. “We never get them in football, so it’s an amazing feeling to come in here and beat them 2-0. It’s the best rivalry we have. It’s just amazing.”

Both teams are set for home games Thursday afternoon – the Coalers in an ICE battle with Lisle and the Wildcats a nonconference tilt with Plano.