Turners enjoy father-son moment in Routt’s regional championship victory over Brown County

MENDON, Ill. — Jacksonville Routt baseball coach Ryan Turner admitted the father in him came out as his son, Routt junior left-hander Brady Turner, put the finishing touches on a complete game to help the Rockets beat Brown County 7-1 on Saturday and capture their third straight Class 1A regional title.

“I’m his biggest fan,” said Ryan Turner, a father of five, including three sons. “I’m all my boys’ biggest fan.”

As happy as Dad was, Coach was even happier for Brady, who also had a two-RBI double in the fifth inning.

“To be honest with you, I think Coach is proud of him today because he’s worked on a lot of things offensively and on the mound,” Ryan Turner said. “He works hard in the offseason, so as a coach, I recognize the extra reps and time that he puts in when nobody’s looking, and for that, I’m proud of him.”

Brady Turner said Coach greeted him after striking out Wyatt Kassing to seal the Class 1A Mendon Unity Regional championship.

“(He just said), ‘Good job,’ and that he was proud of me,” Brady Turner said.

Dad will get his time, though.

“He’ll probably talk to me later when we get home, but he seemed like he was proud of me,” Brady Turner said.

Brady gave Coach and Dad plenty to be proud of on Saturday. He gave up just two hits, walked two and struck out nine on 101 pitches. The Hornets’ lone run was unearned after an error extended the sixth inning.

“He kept his composure through some infield hits and some miscues,” Ryan Turner said. “He kept his command, kept his cool and bulldogged up for me.”

Brady Turner did not throw his glove in the air or let out a celebratory yell after striking out Kassing. He simply walked back toward the Routt dugout and slapped hands with his teammates and coaches before joining the handshake line.

“It was definitely business as usual,” Brady Turner said. “My guys expect me to come out and perform like that, so I have to hold myself accountable and pitch to that standard.”

After Turner escaped a two-out, runners-on-first-and-second predicament in the top of the first, his catcher, Talon Thompson, sent a hanging curveball from Tyce Fullerton sailing over the right field fence to give the Rockets a 1-0 lead.

“I looked kind of silly on a curveball before that, and I was chasing a fastball high, so I was kind of expecting another curveball, and I sat on it,” Thompson said.

The Rockets tacked on another run on Anson Butcher’s RBI double in the second, and Turner shut down the Hornets until the Rockets busted out a five-run fifth inning to give Turner more than enough insurance.

“When our guys are hitting and putting runs on the board, that definitely helps a lot,” Brady Turner said. “I feel like I can pitch to contact a little more, and I can trust that my guys are going to make plays behind me.”

Brown County broke up Turner’s shutout when senior catcher Jack Buss blooped an RBI single down the right field line in his final at-bat as a Hornet with two outs in the sixth.

“One more RBI,” Hornets coach Jared Hoots said. “He’s had good at-bats all year. Jack can say his last at-bat ever was an RBI, and that’s a great thing for him.”

That hit was a silver lining in an otherwise bitter ending for Buss and the Hornets.

“It’s something to go out on,” Buss said. “It felt really good. I wish the game would have gone the other way, but I’ve had a hell of a time with these boys. I can’t wait to see what they do.”

Buss was a member of the 2022 Hornets team that finished second in Class 1A and part of a senior class that won 86 games and posted 21 or more victories three times.

“I’m really proud of the wins, but I’m more proud of becoming a leader, witnessing some of the best years in Brown County history and making everybody else around me better,” Buss said. “We got here, and it didn’t go our way, but it was a good lesson, and the younger guys are going to keep it going next year.”

Routt (21-12) will face Abingdon-Avon on May 28 for the right to play in the Jacksonville Sectional title game on May 31. Brown County finishes its season with a 23-11 record, tied for the second-most victories in program history behind the 2022 team.