Heesch, Prairie Ridge nab 1st sectional
ROCKFORD -- Finally, it's Prairie Ridge's turn.
Including this postseason the Wolves have won 8 regional titles in 11 years as a varsity baseball program. Yet, the school's trophy case lacked any sectional hardware in that sport until Saturday.
Left-hander Michael Heesch and his leather-flashing teammates earned Prairie Ridge its first sectional plaque and set a new school record for victories in the process with a 4-2 victory over Hononegah at the Class 4A Rockford Guilford sectional.
"We broke the curse," said grinning PR senior shortstop Bobby Martin, who played second base in 2006 when PR lost to Cary-Grove in the Class AA Larkin sectional final. "It's nice to finally get through it. This is cool."
The victory gives Prairie Ridge (29-8) more victories than the 2003-04 club coached by Glen Pecoraro. That team finished 28-9.
The Wolves advance to the Schaumburg supersectional at Alexian Field on Monday at 7 p.m. They will face Carmel (32-5), which defeated Buffalo Grove 16-1 for the Libertyville sectional crown.
Heesch threw a complete game against the Indians (23-9). The 6-foot-5 senior allowed 2 runs on 6 hits and finished with 8 strikeouts, which helped offset 5 walks, including 3 walks in the fifth inning that helped Hononegah score twice to tie the game.
"We had our graduation (Saturday) morning," Heesch said. "I was sitting there thinking, 'I'm not going to lose today after four years of working. I'm not going to let that happen. I'd rather die before I lose.'
"I worked so hard to get to this point. I wasn't going to let it slip away."
Prairie Ridge broke free from the 2-2 tie in the bottom of the sixth when Martin led off with a double, advanced to third on Logan Olson's sacrifice bunt and scored on a passed ball with two outs.
Nolan Jacoby gave the Wolves a 4-2 lead in the sixth when he turned on a low fastball and swatted a solo home run to right field.
"I actually didn't think it would go out, but it kept on traveling," Jacoby said.
That was enough offensive support for Heesch, who surrendered a leadoff double in the sixth to Dustin Meier but escaped trouble thanks to Martin. The senior shortstop took a lined short-hopper off his chest, recovered and threw the hitter out at first while holding the runner in scoring position. Heesch then induced a popup to Will Mack in left field to strand Meier at third.
When Heesch needed a lift from his fielders, they obliged.
PR third baseman Mike Butler ended a Hononegah threat in the second inning by gloving a short-hopper right at him, which allowed him to tag the oncoming baserunner.
In the fourth inning, Butler turned a Ryan Scarpetta line drive to third base into a twin killing when he made the catch and rifled the ball to first baseman T.J. Swank in time to double off the runner.
"Scarpetta was just crushing the ball and they'd be right there to catch it," Hononegah starting pitcher Matt Carroll said. "It killed the momentum."
Heesch even helped himself by picking off Hononegah runners from first base in the first and third innings.
"We stress pitching and defense and timely hitting," said Wolves first-year coach David Haskins. "I'm most excited for the seniors. They've gone through three coaches and a lot of changes, so I'm excited for them."