McHenry falls short against Libertyville in first IHSA state championship appearance

JOLIET – McHenry was trying to figure out a way to crack open a window of opportunity for itself on multiple occasions in the Class 4A state championship game at Duly Health and Care Field on Saturday night.

But Libertyville, specifically Wildcats starting pitcher Josh Holst, wasn’t all that interested in allowing that to happen – slamming that proverbial window shut at every turn.

Holst tossed a complete-game two-hitter that allowed Libertyville to claim its first state title in baseball with a 4-1 victory.

The runner-up finish by McHenry (36-5-1) also accounted for the program’s best finish ever, topping its fourth-place result from three years ago. The Warriors’ 36 victories were their most in program history.

It was immediately evident that it was going to be an uphill climb for McHenry.

Holst carved up the Warriors in the first two innings and didn’t allow a baserunner until a two-out walk to AJ Chavera in the top of the third.

“The kid on the mound over there is a good kid,” McHenry coach Brian Rockweiler said. “He was throwing two or three pitches for strikes. And he’s their guy for a reason.”

“All year, this has been a special group. They played hard. They did everything the right way. We had a lot of expectations at the beginning of the year and they met them all. I’m super proud of them.”

—  Brian Rockweiler, McHenry coach

The performance was even more remarkable considering Holst felt a slight pain in his groin on the first pitch he threw.

“It didn’t feel real good,” Holst admitted. “I was really thinking about that and it calmed me down a little bit, like I kind of felt like I was going too hard. And then I just stayed back and smooth through the whole game.”

If Holst was struggling, it could have fooled everyone in attendance. He never saw more than four hitters in any inning and his only inning of even slight peril was the fourth when he hit Landon Clements to start the frame, gave up a one-out single to Conner McLean and then Clements came home on a sacrifice fly from Kyle Maness.

That pulled McHenry to within 2-1 thanks in large part to a yeoman’s-like effort from McHenry pitcher Zach Readdy.

Readdy was not even the intended starter for McHenry as original starter Bryson Elbrecht suffered an injury in batting practice before the title game and was unable to go.

The start looked ominous for Readdy as he surrendered a leadoff triple to Cole Lockwood in the bottom of the first and was promptly brought home on an RBI groundout by Holst.

But Readdy settled in and retired the side in order in the second and fourth while allowing Libertyville to scrape across a run in the third on a two-out single from Carson Holmes.

“I thought Zach did a really good job on the mound, kind of on short notice pitching. Bryson got hurt right before the game in BP and he couldn’t pitch,” Rockweiler said. “He sprained his ankle. It was kind of a freak thing. And it probably wasn’t how we drew it up. But Zach did a great job coming in and giving us five innings.”

Readdy gave way in the fifth and reliever Kaden Wasniewski surrendered a two-out, two-run single to Holst which gave the Wildcats plenty of insurance considering how well Holst was pitching.

McHenry only had a leadoff man reach base once in the game, in the fourth, when the Warriors scored their only run of the game. McHenry had five batters reach base in the contest, only one of them advancing past first.

“We couldn’t get a couple of guys on, or if we did, it was always with like one or two outs,” Rockweiler said.

It obviously wasn’t the end that McHenry was hoping for.

But Rockweiler was quick to point out the merits of the journey that got them to the title game in the first place.

“All year, this has been a special group. They played hard,” Rockweiler said. “They did everything the right way. We had a lot of expectations at the beginning of the year and they met them all. I’m super proud of them.”