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CHILLICOTHE – Things didn’t start how the Morris baseball team wanted Wednesday in the semifinals of the Class 3A Metamora Sectional against Dunlap.
Because of the rain Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, the game had to be moved from Metamora to the artificial turf surface at Illinois Valley Central High School. Then the earlier semifinal featuring Joliet Catholic Academy against Washington was delayed 45 minutes because of rain at game time, leading Morris’ game to start an hour after its scheduled start.
On top of all that, Dunlap put up three runs in the bottom of the first after Morris was retired 1-2-3 in the top half.
But Morris had University of Illinois-bound Jack Wheeler on the mound, and he got into a rhythm after the first inning. He limited Dunlap to just one more run in six innings of work, giving his offense time to come back.
And come back they did, scoring a run in the third, four in the fourth, one in the fifth and two in the sixth to secure an 8-4 victory and move to Saturday’s 10:30 a.m. title game at Metamora against Washington, which eliminated JCA 5-1.
Morris 8, Dunlap 4: Morris (27-8) had two outs in the top of the third when No. 9 hitter Landon Norris continued his hot streak by reaching base on a hustling infield single. After a single by Ximi Baftiri, Norris came around to score on a single by Brett Bounds (3 for 4, double), who was thrown out at second trying to stretch it into a double.
Wheeler, who threw 31 pitches in the first inning, retired Dunlap on nine pitches in the bottom of the third to get his team back into the dugout. With one out in the fourth, Griffin Zweeres tripled to right. An out later during a walk to Merek Klicker, a passed ball scored courtesy runner Lorenzo Zdanwic. Mick Smith and Bryce Lee followed with singles to load the bases before a wild pitch scored Klicker and tied the game at 3. Baftiri (2 for 4, 2 RBIs) followed with a single to right that plated Smith and Lee for a 5-3 lead.
Again, Wheeler made quick work of Dunlap, this time retiring the side in seven pitches. He then led off the fifth with a solo homer to right, his 11th of the season, to put Morris ahead 6-3.
“Being behind 3-0 in the first inning wasn’t great,” Wheeler said. “We knew Dunlap is a good team. They’re in the sectional for a reason. I just knew I had to stay composed, and I was able to get into a better rhythm after the first inning. We wanted to get off the field as quick as we could and keep the momentum going on offense.
“On the home run, I was leading off the inning, so I decided to take a big hack. I was sitting on a curve, and I got one.”
Dunlap was able to push across a run in the bottom of the fifth, forcing Wheeler to throw 24 pitches. In the top of the sixth, Norris and Bounds scored on a throwing error for an 8-4 lead.
The Eagles threatened again in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases with one out. Wheeler got out of it with a strikeout and a fly to left, but he had reached the 110-pitch limit.
Steven Wagner came on in relief in the seventh and struck out two of the four batters he faced to send his team to the next round.
“I’ve said it before: When the dam breaks with our offense, it really breaks,” Morris coach Todd Kein said. “We were able to get guys on base and get the timely hits when we needed them. This game really starts with Jack, though. He settled in after the first inning and had those couple of innings with less than 10 pitches. He needed to have some efficient innings, and he did that.
“And, I hope no one forgets the job Steven Wagner did. He hasn’t pitched in a while, and it’s not easy to come into a sectional game. Even a four-run lead seems like it’s only one run, but he was fantastic.
“Still, we don’t want to let this win erase some of the mistakes we made. We have to tighten things up defensively and on the bases. We’ll do that and be happy to have the chance to compete Saturday.”
Washington 5, Joliet Catholic 1: In the first game of the day, JCA (22-15) could do little against Washington’s Carter Prina. The Hilltoppers managed only four hits, singles by Ryan Yurisich, Keegan Farnaus and Vince Bremner, and a double by Johnny Curbis.
JCA loaded the bases in the top of the first inning but could not score. Washington then put three runs across in the bottom of the inning, including an RBI double by Prina.
Hilltoppers ace Lucas Grant was not available to pitch after his shutout of Ottawa in Saturday’s regional final, and JCA ended up using six pitchers.
The Hilltoppers got on the board in the third inning. With one out, Yurisich singled and came around to score on a Washington throwing error on a ball hit by Steve Martin. That was the extent of the Hilltoppers’ offense, as they managed to get just one more runner to second base the rest of the game to see their season ended.