Baseball: Marmion downs Kaneland for 3A regional crown

After Marmion beat Kaneland 6-1 to win the Class 3A Kaneland regional baseball title Saturday, the Cadets' record stood at 11-22.

A closer look at that mark, however, revealed that the Cadets were merely preparing for the postseason by going through the gauntlet that is the Chicago Catholic Blue for the first time.

Marmion routinely faced the top teams in the state, from top-ranked Brother Rice to Providence to St. Laurence, absorbing losses. All the while, however, the Cadets were preparing for a postseason run.

"Yeah, 100 percent, we know the CCL is just a grind," Marmion coach Frank Chapman said. "It's not just the Blue Division, it's the whole league. We knew going in we had 21 games to prepare for the postseason and we just took that approach as much as we could."

Marmion will face Rockford Christian at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the Class 3A Rochelle sectional semifinals.

Sophomore Brandon McPherson looked the part of a young pitcher who had appeared in plenty of big situations this season. He went 6 innings, allowing a run on 3 hits, striking out 5 and walking 2. His biggest weapon was his slider, which he threw with confidence in any count.

"He's probably the only guy we would let throw any off-speed pitches like that in a 3-0 count," Chapman said. "I don't know how many looks we've gotten from coaches and players and umpires when he throws that. When B is on, he's right there."

McPherson said that all the big games he pitched this year made him calm on the big stage Saturday.

"I was not worried about the outcome," McPherson said. "Me and my catcher (sophomore Chase Stanke) were just playing catch, that's how I viewed it. I didn't view it as a regional championship, just another game. We've faced adversity like this. We've seen it, so we stay calm during the pressure as a team."

Stanke got the scoring started with a home run leading off the second. A wild rundown play in the third resulted with Michael Szalek scoring what wound up being the winning run. The Cadets iced it with a 3-run seventh.

Kaneland (12-14) says goodbye to 11 seniors after failing to win a third straight regional title.

"We've got a lot to replace and get ready for next year," Kaneland coach Brian Aversa said. "We had some success last summer and it didn't translate to the season, so I'm going to see what we can do this summer to make sure it resonates."