Harmon, Wauconda top Marian Central

A hard-hitting Marian Central team wasn't the only thing Wauconda pitcher Kyle Harmon had to worry about on Wednesday afternoon.

Harmon took the mound first in the Class 3A sectional semifinal at Grayslake Central. And he was having a hard time staying there.

When the grounds crew sprayed down the infield prior to the game, the mound might have gotten a little more water than usual.

"The mound was really wet. My cleats were pretty heavy and I kept slipping," said Harmon, who frequently needed to scrape off the mud between his cleats. "But I found my mechanics. I just focused and everything started going right."

And that's when Marian Central saw its hopes of a victory slip away. The Hurricanes had scored an early first-inning run during all the slipping and sliding. But they never scored again.

Once Harmon got a grip, so to speak, he became tough to hit, which paved the way to a 3-1 victory for Wauconda.

The Bulldogs (17-15) advance to Saturday's sectional championship game at Grayslake Central against the winner of today's other semifinal between Grayslake Central and Vernon Hills. Wauconda defeated both teams during the regular season.

It will be the second time in three years that the Bulldogs have played for a sectional title.

"I just attacked the (strike) zone, went after hitters and let my defense work," said Harmon, who gave up only 2 walks and 4 hits. Both walks and two of the hits were in that shaky first inning. "I'm surprised at how I handled it."

Harmon says he normally would get a little flustered by adversity such as mud stuck in his shoes and a slippery mound. But he was determined to keep his cool and lead the Bulldogs into the sectional final.

"Give Kyle all the credit. He struggled in the first (inning) but had enough to get through it," Wauconda coach Bill Sliker said. "I think that's the experience he's gotten over the last two years of pitching. Now, he's a senior and it's like, 'OK, let's re-group, it's a long game and there's a lot of innings ahead.' He did a great job of thinking like that."

It also probably helped Harmon's psyche that his teammates erased Marian Central's lead right away, and provided a bit of a cushion to boot.

In the bottom of the second, Wauconda rolled up all three of its runs. Harmon helped his cause by leading off with a single. Joe Schaer was then walked and then Trevor Sefcik brought them both in when he ripped a double into centerfield.

In the next at-bat, Brian McFarlin also doubled, which brought in Sefcik. McFarlin had 2 hits on the day, as did Kevin Malisheski.

"I thank the coaches for that. All week, we've worked on our hitting. We've been there early and late and they've helped us a lot," Sefcik said. "I think we're on fire right now.

"I feel really good about how we're playing right now. I think we have a really good chance to even make it downstate."

Zach Teegen got Marian Central (11-24) going in that first inning. He led off the game with a single and Mike Crook followed that up with another single. Pat McCabe then drove in Teegen in the next at-bat with a sacrifice fly.

Wauconda eventually knocked out Marian Central starter Brant Gates and reliever Kolton Rominski threw 6 strikeouts against eight batters over the final two innings.

"We thought we had (Wauconda) right away, but we kind of let off the gas pedal a little bit," Rominski said. "We just couldn't come through."