Brady Kozlowski got a pretty good look at Normal Community standout pitcher Gavin Swartz lashing a double that scored a run.

He got an even better look in his second at-bat.

Kozlowski ripped a three-run homer over the right field fence to put Minooka firmly in control of its Class 4A Normal Community Sectional semifinal game, and its relentless postseason offense added another chapter in an 8-2 win over the highly touted Ironmen at Illinois State University’s Duffy Bass Field.

Minooka (30-6) advanced to the sectional title game at 11 a.m. Saturday at Illinois State, where it will play Edwardsville. Edwardsville defeated O’Fallon 6-5 in the other semifinal.

Swartz looked like an ominous opponent when he struck out the first two batters of the game, but a Minooka offense that has outscored three foes 31-6 in the postseason isn’t that easily denied.

Landon Currie got Minooka going with a double that would have left most high school parks, and Kozlowski’s double chased him home with Minooka’s first run of the contest.

Normal Community answered with a run of its own to tie the game on three consecutive singles, the last of which, from Beckett Weber, tied the game at 1.

But any thoughts that the game might settle into a pitcher’s duel ended in the third inning.

Tyler Ebel led off the frame with a single, and while he was washed off the books on a force out on a Ryan Keener grounder, Gavin McReynolds was plunked with a pitch. After Currie flew out, Kozlowski battered a Swartz offering to give Minooka a 4-1 lead and all the cushion it would need.

“I was just trying to do some damage with my first at-bat,” Kozlowski said. “And I went up the second at-bat with confidence, but honestly, I had two strikes on me, so I was trying to shorten up and just put the bat on the ball, and it ended up getting out.”

For good measure, Minooka put together another big inning that was helped along by walks and forced the early departure of Swartz. An RBI single from Currie, a bases-loaded walk coaxed by Kozlowski, and a two-run single from Harris pushed the Minooka lead to 8-1.

It was more than enough offensive support from Zane Caves, who, after allowing the three consecutive hits in the first inning, was sharp against an Ironmen lineup that hadn’t had many problems producing offense before Wednesday’s contest.

Caves wouldn’t allow another hit after the first inning until the sixth, when he was relieved by Logan Mackin. Caves finished with 5⅔ innings pitched and seven strikeouts, allowing just four hits and two walks.

“This whole team, we wanted it,” Caves said. “We were ready for it, and I was just going at them and staying confident with my stuff.

“There were a couple of hits in the first, but it didn’t ruin anything for me. It was all like weak contact. I just had to stay confident throughout it all, and I had a great defense behind me.”

Mackin allowed one of those inherited runs to score, but Minooka was able to keep the Ironmen from getting any closer than 8-2 thanks to a great grab from shortstop Joey Rutz.

“Hats off to them,” Minooka coach Jeff Petrovic said. “That’s a great program. Zane pitched an incredible game, which we knew he had to be really, really good tonight.

“And we have found some offense that wasn’t maybe there earlier in the year. I feel like earlier in the year we played a lot different type of baseball, we’ve started to hit up and down the order. When you get to this time of year, you have to play great, and we’ve played pretty darn good for the last three games.”

https://www.shawlocal.com/the-herald-news/2026/03/07/benet-makes-key-plays-when-it-needs-to-in-topping-bolingbrook/