Baseball: Timothy Christian wins first sectional crown
Despite nearing the 20-win plateau, the Timothy Christian baseball team has flown a bit under the radar this spring.
Not anymore.
Behind a complete-game pitching performance by Brian Schiff, the Trojans captured their first sectional title in program history on Saturday with a 7-2 win over Holy Trinity at the Class 2A event hosted by IC Catholic Prep in Elmhurst.
Timothy Christian (19-10) advances to take on Chicago Christian at the Benedictine supersectional at 1 p.m. Monday.
"It's awesome," said Timothy Christian coach Jim Snoeyink. "The guys have been great all year. Our senior leadership is great; they've been together all year and they deserve this."
Jimmy Allen set the tone from the opening at-bat, leading off the game with a triple. The junior came around to score on a wild pitch, and the visitors later added two more runs in the inning on a bases-loaded single by Connor Gwaltney.
Joey Davidson produced an RBI single in the second before Timothy Christian pushed across three more in the third, on an RBI triple by Jonny Strube and a double by Allen, which knocked in two.
"It's unbelievable," said Allen, who did injure his hamstring on the double and played with a limp the rest of the way. "It's such a good feeling, especially to do it with your best friends.
"We've been hitting the crud out of the ball. Last game (against Francis Parker) we jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first inning. And Brian was throwing strikes. He's been very good in the postseason."
Schiff settled down after yielding a walk and hit batsmen to the first two guys he faced. He allowed a single tally in that first inning and nothing after, giving up only five hits while throwing 90 pitches. The right-hander struck out four.
"I had to get the first pitch jitters out of the way," Schiff said. "I just had to lock in and focus. As a staff we've been throwing strikes and we've made a lot of good plays in the field. As a pitcher, it's super nice that you can trust your fielders. It's awesome to play with these guys."
The Trojans have now won six of their past seven contests. Monday's matchup with Chicago Christian will be the third meeting of the season. Timothy was shut out in both of the previous games, falling 5-0 and 3-0 back on April 17-18. The Knights beat Herscher 4-3 in 11 innings on Saturday and have just one loss.
"They have had a fabulous year," Snoeyink said. "They have excellent pitching, that's why they are 38-1 or whatever they are. But we are looking forward to it. It will be a fun time to go against a team we've played for years and years."