Championship dreams: Hornets wriggle out of seventh-inning jam, win state semifinal

PEORIA, Ill. — The tension gripping the Brown County baseball team’s dugout and its legion of fans in the stands apparently wasn’t being felt by those on the field.

“I was calm the entire time,” shortstop Colby Wort said. “I had my whole belief in our pitchers and our fielders.”

Hornets center fielder Gabe Blakeley’s heart wasn’t racing either.

“No, it wasn’t actually,” he said. “I had all my faith in Mason (Henry). I knew he was a great popup, groundout and even strikeout pitcher. He’s one of the best pitchers in the state when it comes to that.”

Henry proved it.

With bases loaded and one out in the top of the seventh inning and the Hornets clinging to a one-run lead in Friday morning’s Class 1A state semifinal at Dozer Park, Henry struck out Ottawa Marquette’s No. 3 hitter Sam Mitre and induced a popup from clean-up hitter Brady Ewers.

Blakeley camped under the ball in short left-center field and secured it for the final out in a 2-1 victory.

With it, the first team in Brown County history to reach a final four in any sport will now play for a state championship. The Hornets (28-4) face Louisville North Clay (32-6) at 11:30 a.m. Saturday with the left-handed Henry, who faced just three batters in relief Friday, getting the start.

“As a kid, you dream about being able to play in the state championship game,” Henry said. “Not just play in it, but pitch in it and be the starting pitcher in it, that’s something I never thought I’d get to say or get to do. Yet, here we are. It’s a dream.”

Consider the Hornets dream weavers then.

“Talking to my parents and my grandparents when I was little, I always wanted to go to a state championship,” Blakeley said. “I’ve made it. It’s insane. It really is.”

Blakeley has his thumbprint on the victory from start to finish.

Fulfilling the dream of getting to pitch in a stadium that is an affiliate of a major league franchise — Dozer Park is the home to the Class A Peoria Chiefs — the right-handed Blakeley induced the Crusaders into an infield popout, a strikeout and a runner-on-base flyout in the top of the first inning.

The Hornets wasted no time staking him to the lead.

Wort led off with a single, took second on Sam Carr’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Henry’s two-out single to left-center field. The Hornets loaded the bases behind Henry, but couldn’t scratch another run across in the inning.

Still, one was enough to set the tone.

“I always like to be that energizer for our team,” Wort said. “Getting that first run is everything. I took a stomp on home plate. Maybe people don’t like that, but I love it because it gives our team energy and that’s all we need.”

Brown County added a run in the third inning when Blakeley and Henry led off with back-to-back doubles.

It looked like it would be enough with Blakeley cruising. Through five innings, he allowed just five hits and struck out six. In the sixth, a leadoff single by Mitre, a wild pitch and a single by Ewers brought home the Crusaders’ first run.

Blakeley avoided any further damage with a sacrifice bunt, a flyout and a strikeout.

In the seventh, Blakeley allowed a leadoff single to Charlie Mullen, and following a sacrifice bunt, he surrendered a four-pitch walk. At that point, his day was done after 102 pitches.

“In this heat and in this situation, he burned a lot more energy,” Brown County coach Jared Hoots said. “You could tell on those last couple of pitches that his stuff just wasn’t there. He pitched way too well to be hung out to dry.”

Neither Hoots nor Henry let that happen.

Henry was greeted by a bunt single from Logan Nelson that loaded the bases. Although his players say they were calm at that moment, Hoots admitted his heart was racing.

“As fast as can be,” Hoots said. “I’m thinking through all the situations. In that situation, you’re hoping for a double play ball. You’re hoping for a strikeout. You’re hoping if it is a single you don’t throw it around so the wheels don’t fall off. You’ve got the last at-bat so you’re trying to hold them to one run there.

“There were a million things going on in my head.”

All of those things went away when Blakeley gloved the popup.

“It’s awesome,” Hoots said. “Just to see the smiles on their faces, that’s just awesome.”