Carthage junior high baseball team finishes third at Class 1A state tournament
EAST PEORIA, Ill. — A four-run third inning gave the Carthage junior high baseball team the lead and the Blueboys scored in every inning thereafter to beat Paris Crestwood 9-7 in the third-place game of the IESA Class 1A state tournament on Saturday.
The Blueboys finish their season with a 23-5 record.
Carthage beat Joliet St. Raymond 8-1 in the quarterfinals at Eastside Centre, scoring four runs in the fourth inning and three more in fifth. Kinnick Bliss doubled and scored three runs, while Austin Cramer doubled and drove in two runs. Gibson Bergman also drove in two runs.
In the state semifinals, Carthage lost 4-3 to eventual state champion Champaign St. Matthew, falling behind after allowing four runs in the third inning and battling back to make it a one-run game. Cramer went 2 for 2 with a double, a home run and three RBIs, while Myles Wear had two hits, including a double.
Against Paris Crestwood, Cramer went 2 for 2 with two runs scored, while Liam Murphy doubled and had two RBIs, Eli Bisby scored three runs and Bergman drove in two runs.
Murphy pitched five innings with five strikeouts to earn the victory, while Bergman and Holton Darbyshire each threw an inning of relief.
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