Brown County junior high baseball team takes second at state tournament

EAST PEORIA, Ill. — Baseball teams in Brown County had quite a year.

In June, the Hornets finished second at the Class 1A state baseball tournament, winning the first state trophy in any sport in Brown County High School history. 

Then Saturday, the Brown County junior high team duplicated the feat.

Playing in the Class 2A state tournament at Eastside Centre, Brown County won its semifinal with a 17-0 victory over El Paso-Gridley. In the state championship game, Kankakee Bishop McNamara finished off an undefeated season with a 5-0 victory over the Hornets.

Brown County finished its season with a 25-2 record.

In the semifinal victory, the Hornets’ Matthew Boylen went 3 for 5 with two runs scored and four RBIs, while striking out 10 and allowing just three hits over five scoreless innings. Brown County collected 18 hits offensively with Jaxon Henricks going 3 for 5 with a double, three runs scored and three RBIs.

Wyatt Kassing, Evan Howell and Myer Maxwell each had a double for the Hornets.

The Hornets were held without a hit in the title game, but the Brown County pitching staff limited Bishop McNamara to just six hits.