Surreal was the word Tanner Jones used to describe the play his Herscher baseball teammate Dylan Bayston made on Monday.

With ducks on the pond and two outs in the top of the sixth inning of the Tigers’ home game with Illinois Central Eight Conference rival Manteno, the Panthers’ Maddox Toepper looked to have a two-run double down the right field line. But a diving Bayston made an inning-ending catch that preserved the Tigers’ 6-3 lead, which ended up being the final.

“That wind was howling in, so it started pushing it away from me,” Bayston said. “I just had to go full out for it knowing that they had some runners on and it would be a big play if I didn’t get to it.”

The junior right fielder also had a big day at the dish for the Tigers (22-7-1, 7-4-1), beginning in the first inning. After the Panthers tagged Jones on a Jake Stevens RBI groundout and back-to-back two-out doubles from Braden Campbell and Connor Harrod, the Tigers got that pair of runs right back. Nash Brubaker legged out a two-out triple that brought Colton Carson home before Bayston roped a double the next at-bat to quickly negate the vistors’ early advantage.

Campbell, Jones’ counterpart on the mound, briefly put the Panthers back ahead with an RBI sacrifice fly in the third, but Bayston’s two-run single in the bottom of the frame gave the Tigers a 4-3 lead that only grew from there.

Both of Bayston’s hits on the day came with two strikes. An aggressive hitter who doesn’t see many deep counts, he said that whether it was against Campbell or Panthers reliever Brendan Jedlicka, he had to adjust and get the job done.

“I really like to hunt first pitch,” Bayston said. “I got down in some counts, but I just shortened up, tried to hit the fastball and adjust to the offspeed.”

Jones, who added an RBI single as part of the Tigers’ two-run fifth and his own three-hit day, got better the deeper he went on the mound. He kept the Panthers guessing as he mixed a fastball, sinker and curveball around all corners of the plate. He allowed three earned runs on eight hits, a walk and six strikeouts over 6⅔ innings before Brock Berns struck out Campbell to end it.

“That’s all [catcher] Cooper [Meredith] and coach [Eric Regez],” Jones said of keeping the Panthers off balance. “They work that out very nicely. I don’t shake too many times, I just try to throw with as much confidence as possible and throw strikes.”

Jones went 3 for 4 with a run and an RBI. Leadoff hitter Gaige Brown scored and added two hits, joining Bayston in the two-hit club for a Herscher team that’s caught fire. Since a three-game skid in late April, the Tigers are 7-0-1, outscoring opponents 64-40 in that stretch.

“For the most part our pitchers are throwing strikes and we’re making some plays behind them,” Tigers coach Eric Regez said. “That’s the recipe for playing quality baseball.. … One of the biggest differences on our team right now is our defense is playing better."

The Panthers (14-7, 8-5) had a chance late, as Logan Bufford reached on a two-out error before Stevens singled down the right field line to chase Jones, making Campbell the potential tying run when Berns closed the door.

Campbell, Harrod and Tyler Buehler all doubled as part of their respective two-hit days. Campbell also allowed five earned runs on five hits, five walks and a strikeout over three innings before Jedlicka allowed an earned run on four hits, two walks and five strikeouts over three relief innings.

“Tanner worked ahead, we didn’t, at least starting,” Manteno coach Matt Beckner said. “When you’re sitting on fastballs, we couldn’t throw it by them today. Offspeed we weren’t locating, they were sitting on pitches and they delivered. The difference was Tanner was working ahead, he was mixing well and we just didn’t get it done.”

The teams will meet in Manteno for the back end of their two-game slate and could meet again soon as members of the same Class 2A sub-sectional.

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Herscher's Dylan Bayston makes a diving catch during a home game against Manteno Monday, May 11, 2026. (Mason Schweizer)