6 minute read
SPORTS Sectional semifinal victory for Putnam County baseball team
HARVEST CHRISTIAN 1A SECTIONAL BASEBALL SEMIFINAL: PUTNAM COUNTY 2, HARVEST CHRISTIAN 1 Petty, Smith pitch PC into sectional final
By J.T. PEDELTY
jtpedelty@shawmedia.com
ELGIN – When the IHSA revealed its postseason baseball seeds earlier this month, fans in Putnam and La Salle counties eyed the Class 1A Harvest Christian Sectional championship game May 28, wondering if they might get Round 3 of Panthers versus Crusaders.
Like Marquette a day earlier, Putnam County had to fight tooth and nail to earn its way to the awaited rematch.
Putnam County defeated sectional host Harvest Christian, 2-1, Thursday in a game delayed 19 hours by spring storms, riding the right arm of pitcher Troy Petty and an opportunistic offense that made the most of three hits.
“Give all the credit to Harvest Christian. They’re a heck of a ballclub,” PC coach Chris Newsome said. “Their kids played outstanding and I hate that this matchup had to happen here instead of down the road. But I am glad for our kids that we get to move on and see Round 3 against Marquette.”
The Panthers were scheduled to meet Marquette for the sectional championship Saturday on the campus of Judson University. Marquette split two regular-season thrillers with Putnam County and earned its sectional final berth Wednesday with a come-from-behind victory.
In the early going, Thursday’s semifinal didn’t seem like it would develop into a pitchers’ duel between Petty and Lions starter Jared Rodriguez. Both PC (27-8) and Harvest Christian (15-8) scored runs in the first inning.
The Panthers scored on Jackson McDonald’s RBI double that onehopped the fence in left, bringing home Drake Smith, who had reached on a walk.
“I was up 2-0 [in the count] and [Rodriguez] gave me a fastball and I missed it,” McDonald said. “I was like, ‘I can’t let him throw a fastball by me again.’ He got me to a full count and threw me a belt-high fastball and [hitting it] just felt good.”
The Lions responded, getting a run off Petty in the home half when Gavin Duran was hit by a pitch, took second on a Sam Rohlfing single, advanced to third on a wild pitch and came home on Eloy Suarez’s RBI groundout.
That early success belied Harvest Christian’s prospects. After the first inning, the Lions did not manage another run – or another hit, for that matter – off Petty (52/3 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 6 K) and PC reliever Drake Smith (11/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K), who notched the save. “I relied a lot on my slider,” said Petty, who got stronger as the game went on, recording four of his six strikeouts against the final five batters he faced. “It was really effective today, and I was able to get guys off balance early in counts and have them guessing all the way through.”
Petty’s ability to forge a scoreless bottom of the third was cited as a pivotal point in the tied ballgame.
After Rodriguez (4 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 7 K) worked his way out of a runner at third and nobody out jam in the top of the third thanks in large part to a botched suicide squeeze that led to baserunner Andrew Pyszka being thrown out attempting to steal home, Petty halted the home team’s momentum with a 1-2-3 bottom half of the third.
Putnam County then scored what turned out to be the game-winning run in the fourth. Austin Mattingly singled, took second on a passed ball, moved to third on a walk and got a free trot home when Rodriguez was called for his second balk of the day.
The 2-1 lead held up.
Newsome chose to pull Petty at 75 pitches to preserve his ability to potentially pitch in Monday’s supersectionals. The foresight may prove to be for naught, however, as Petty injured himself making a throw from third base in the seventh inning and left clutching his throwing arm. His status for the remainder of the postseason was up in the air.
“I’ve got to hand it to their No. 21 [Petty],” Harvest Christian coach Matt Ellett said. “That kid just pitched his heart out, and I hope he’s OK. What a gutsy effort by that kid because I really thought that we would get rolling today. We’ve been a good-hitting club all year, scoring in double digits most of our games.
“I was proud of our pitching staff holding them to two runs. If going into the game you would have told me we were going to hold them to two runs and lose, I would not have believed that. ... It was a great game.”
Troy Petty Jackson McDonald I relied a lot on my slider. It was really effective today, and I was able to get guys off balance early in counts and have them guessing all the way through.”
Troy Petty, Putnam County pitcher
SOMONAUK 1A REGIONAL BASEBALL FINAL: PUTNAM COUNTY 13, YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN 3
Shaw Local News Network
The Putnam County baseball team started the Monday, May 23, game with a five-run lead as the Panthers and Yorkville Christian resumed the Class 1A Somonauk Regional championship after it was suspended Saturday, May 21, because of rain.
The No. 2-seeded Panthers extended their lead and beat the No. 5 Mustangs 13-3 in six innings to win their first regional title since 2018.
Putnam County had the bases loaded with one out when the game restarted in the bottom of the fourth, but the Mustangs escaped the jam and then scored two runs in the top of the fifth to cut their deficit to 6-3.
The Panthers responded with five runs in the bottom of the inning to break the game open.
Chris Uzella and Troy Petty walked to start the inning and Ryan Hundley followed with a bunt single to load the bases. Andrew Pyszka singled home a run, Drake Smith drew a bases-loaded walk, Jackson McDonald hit a sacrifice fly, Austin Mattingly drew another bases-loaded walk and Josh Jessen hit an RBI groundout as PC batted around.
“It was a little bit of a disappointment not to score there [in the fourth],” PC coach Chris Newsome said. “Once they made the pitching change, we knew the lefty was erratic. He had good stuff but he walked people based on different scouting reports. We were patient at the plate, took our walks and got hits when we needed to.”
In the sixth, the Panthers scored on a bases-loaded walk to McDonald and an RBI single by Nicholas Currie to end the game by the 10-run rule.
Pyszka finished 4 for 5 with a home run, double, four runs and two RBIs.
Mattingly had a triple, double, three RBIs and two runs.
Smith earned the win after pitching four innings May 21. He allowed one earned run on three hits with four strikeouts and a walk.
Petty threw two innings May 23, giving up two unearned runs on no hits with four strikeouts and a walk.
Chris Newsome, Putnam County baseball coach
