Leaders lead. Veterans lead. Seniors lead, except when no leadership is required.

The fact that Crystal Lake South’s baseball team started only two seniors in its supersectional win Tuesday is misleading.

Leadership – and, maybe more importantly, big-game experience – abounds on the Gators’ roster, which features five players from their sectional-final basketball team. Carson Trivellini, in fact, counts a staggering 20 postseason wins (six regional titles) in his three years as a high school baseball and basketball player.

That’s the lead.

“We trust the younger guys,” senior right fielder Michael Rathjen said. “[As seniors], we don’t have to lead all the time. We try to lead them as much as we can. They know what they’re doing.”

South’s starting lineup in its 4-0 win over Fenwick in the Class 3A Schaumburg Supersectional at Wintrust Field featured seniors Rathjen and Nolan Dabrowski (second base), juniors Trivellini (shortstop), Michael Silvius (pitcher), Jackson Lee (catcher) and Nick Stowasser (center field), and sophomores John Morgan (third base), Ryan Morgan (first base) and Wes Bogda (left field).

Freshman Reed Mitchell, a recent call-up, punched an opposite-field single to left.

Another senior, NIU-bound lefty Devin De Loach, and Silvius have anchored the pitching staff in the state playoffs (two starts each), while senior Matt Bychowsky started the team’s tournament opener.

All of the above players have helped the Gators advance to state for the first time since 2022, when they placed fourth in Class 3A. South (29-9) plays Triad (35-5) at 1 p.m. Friday in a state semifinal at Slammers Stadium in Joliet.

“It feels great,” said Lee, who’s hit safely in all five of the Gators’ postseason games, going 6 for 15 (.400 batting average) from the No. 3 spot in the order. “This is what we’ve worked for all year. It’s a great group of guys, and I know that we’ve had it in us. All the hard work is starting to pay off.”

The hard work has been going on since the start of the school year. Silvius quarterbacked the football for the second year in a row last fall. Trivellini, Stowasser and the Morgan twins all started or played heavy minutes for the basketball team. Bogda also contributed during the course of the season.

After South’s basketball team won 27 games, the baseball team sits at 29 wins. A victory Friday would give the Gators their first 30-win season since 2017, when they went 36-5 in capturing the Class 4A state championship.

Coach Brian Bogda said the basketball and baseball teams train and lift together in the offseason. He and basketball coach Matt LePage work together with the players.

“There are a lot of parallels,” Brian Bogda said of the success the basketball/baseball players have experienced. “There’s a lot to be said about the work that they do together. ... I’m super impressed with those guys.”

The South/Triad winner plays in the state championship game at 1 p.m. Saturday against the winner of Friday’s first semifinal between St. Rita (28-12) and East Peoria (26-13). The third-place game is at 10 a.m. Saturday.

FVC represents, again: South’s supersectional win over Fenwick means the Fox Valley Conference will be represented at state for the third year in a row and 16th time since the start of the century. The FVC has had a team at state 10 out of 12 seasons since 2014 (COVID-19 canceled the 2020 campaign).

McHenry was the Class 4A state runner-up last year, while Cary-Grove took fourth in 3A. Crystal Lake Central won the 3A title in 2024.

“I think that speaks volumes about the conference, the players and the coaches,” said Brian Bogda, who’s in his 19th season as South’s coach. “Our conference schedule absolutely pushes each other to try and strive to be our best, learning from failure and bouncing back.”

South finished fourth in the FVC with a 10-8 record behind champ Huntley (30-8, 15-3), McHenry (28-8-1, 14-4) and Prairie Ridge (22-9, 12-6).

“We play in a really tough conference, with Huntley and McHenry being top-15 teams in the state,” pitcher/third baseman Silvius said. “We went down both times against them, but it doesn’t stop us from coming out here and beating teams from other conferences. Just making sure we get the job done is what matters most.”