Blue Devils pummel Maroons with 25-hit attack to earn spot in regional championship game

BELLEVILLE, Ill. — The adage that hitting is contagious rang true with the Quincy High School baseball team on Thursday.

Every batter in the Blue Devils’ lineup had two or more hits as they collected 25 knocks overall in an 18-4 victory over Belleville West in the semifinals of the Class 4A Belleville West Regional.

Seventh-seeded Quincy (15-18) will face top-seeded Edwardsville (25-10) at 11 a.m. Saturday for the regional championship. The Tigers have won three consecutive state trophies, finishing as the Class 4A state champions in 2022 and ’23 and taking third place last season, while the Blue Devils haven’t won a regional title since 1999.

Edwardsville beat Granite City 12-0 in five innings in the other semifinal.

Quincy is expected to face Edwardsville right-hander Joe Chiarodo, who has signed with Alabama and is considered one of the 10 best high school seniors in Illinois by both Perfect Game USA and Prep Baseball Report.

Junior right-hander James Day is expected to start for the Blue Devils.

He’d gladly take the same run support Cameron Lawson received Thursday.

The Blue Devils staked the junior right-hander to a 3-0 lead in the second inning as they opened with three consecutive singles from Mason Ritter, Trace Routh and Day. One out later, Routh scored on a passed ball and Kade Parkhill delivered a two-run single.

In the third inning, Quincy scored twice as Mason Dent scored on a passed ball and Nate Konrad stole home. The Maroons scored three times in the bottom of the third — all with two outs — before the Blue Devils came right back.

A five-run fourth inning featured five consecutive hits to open the frame with Drake Gibson driving in a run with an infield single, Dent plating a run with a double to right field and Konrad knocking two in with a double to center field. Routh drove in the other run with a single to center field.

The Blue Devils put the game out of reach with an eight-run seventh inning highlighted by a two-run double by Parkhill and a two-run double by Ritter.

Parkhill went 4 for 6 with two runs scored and five RBIs, while Konrad went 3 for 5 with three runs scored and three RBIs. Lawson, Gibson, Routh and Day each had three hits, while Dent, Ritter and Jacob Salisbury had two hits apiece.

Lawson went four innings, allowing four runs while striking out four and walking three. Gibson pitched two scoreless innings of relief with four strikeouts and Chase Saalborn struck out one in the seventh inning.