Schuckman: Support of Brown County community helps Hornets see journey and legacy matter more than final outcome

PEORIA, Ill. — Disappointment lingered, but only for so long.

By the time the Brown County baseball players cleaned up their dugout and made their way to the grassy berm in the right-field corner, the green-clad wave of Hornets fans who had invaded Dozer Park on Saturday were ready to fete their conquering heroes.

The 12-4 loss to Louisville North Clay in the Class 1A state championship didn’t change that.

The journey and the legacy matter, not the final outcome.

If any of the Hornets had an inkling of doubt that was the case, it was erased by the throng of 10 and 12 year olds — the ones playing Little League right now and dreaming of one day playing for a state title — who asked for their autographs and wanted to pose for pictures.

“I got done with the game and I was all emotional,” said Mason Henry, the senior left-handed first baseman and pitcher. “It really wasn’t even the loss. It was knowing I would never get to play with these guys again. That’s a really tough thing to do.

“But after we broke, I see all these fans coming and they’re cheering. Then all these little kids come up with baseballs and hats and are asking, ‘Can you sign my hat? Can you sign my ball? Can you sign my t-shirt?’ That moment was ‘Wow.’

“I couldn’t help but smile and see all those little kids smiling back at me.”

That’s a smile that illuminates and resonates.

The Hornets finished with a 28-5 record, the most single-season victories in program history. They won the first sectional title in program history and became the first Brown County team in any sport to reach a state final four.

So no matter what happens down the road, this will always be the team that made history.

“Obviously, all of us wanted to win that last game,” senior catcher Ethan Howell said. “To know we were bringing home a state trophy and it’s second place, that’s pretty nice.”

The historical ramifications of what the Hornets accomplished stretch farther than the county borders.

Brown County is the first team from the West-Central Illinois counties of Adams, Brown, Hancock and Pike to win a state trophy in baseball other than Quincy Notre Dame. The Raiders finished second in 1952 and 2004.

“I’ve joked that I’ve smiled more in the last four days than I did in my wedding pictures,” Brown County cach Jared Hoots said. “It’s nothing against my wedding because it was great and obviously I love my wife. But seeing everyone involved in this, you can’t be happier knowing you helped create this.”

It was the embrace from the county that made the Hornets remember to take it all in.

Several shops in downtown Mount Sterling closed Saturday so the owners, workers and patrons could attend the state championship. On a warm, sunny Saturday at the start of summer, the community pool shut down for the same reason.

“I think everybody was trying to close the town so everyone could show up,” junior shortstop Colby Wort said.

This wasn’t just another game by another good team. This was infinitely bigger.

“After all the hugs and talking to everyone and getting to hold the trophy and walk out of the stadium, I kind of sat there for a minute and looked around,” Wort said. “We got to play three games in that stadium this season — two at state and one in the regular season. It was just a great experience.

“I took a moment to take it in. I know before the game I looked up at the crowd and was trying to take it in because during the game it goes really fast. I just tried to find those little moments where I could take everything in and enjoy it.”

The smiling faces of those Little Leaguers asking for autographs provided the most poignant of those moments.

“It feels great to know there are people who look up to us,” Howell said. “You know they are all proud of us and show us support. You can hear their cheering distinctively, that group of young guys who want to be here someday. It’s awesome “

It’s not just a dream they will be chasing. There’s proof now it can become reality.

“I couldn’t have been more proud of the community,” Henry said. “And I know they were proud of us, too. They were doing it for us, but we were also doing it a lot for them.”

That’s how you leave a legacy.