Libertyville takes regional championship beating Warren 6-5
There was shock, and there was awe.
It all happened with one swing of the bat Saturday during a regional championship baseball game at Carmel between fourth-seeded Libertyville and No. 12 Warren.
In the fourth inning, senior third baseman Kevin Johns hit a 2-run homer that wound up being the difference in a 6-5 Libertyville victory.
The shock, or at least part of it, was that he is Libertyville's No. 9 hitter.
"That one was a shocker," Warren second baseman Matt Dowd said with a shake of his head. "I did not think that was coming at all. That thing just came out of nowhere."
Even Johns was shocked, and not just because he bats last in the lineup. The home run was the first of his four-year high school career. The very first.
"I'm still shocked by it," Johns said well after the game ended. "I was just trying to make contact. We had a guy on second and I wanted to get him in. But I got a good piece of it."
Indeed he did, which is where the awe part comes into play.
Johns' home run wasn't just any home run. It was hit so hard that it actually sailed clear over the scoreboard in left field, a distance that was estimated by coaches and game officials to be at least 400 feet.
"I'm loving Kevin Johns right now," said Libertyville starter Brooks McDowell, whose record on the mound improves to 5-3. "Your first home run-over the scoreboard? I mean, it was a bomb. I don't know, weird. But it was perfect timing."
Picture perfect.
Shortly thereafter, the Wildcats stood tall, in front of that very same scoreboard, as several moms happily snapped pictures of them with their newly acquired regional championship trophy.
Libertyville, which last won a regional title in 2005, moves to 23-11 on the season and will now face Barrington in the sectional semifinal that will be played Wednesday (4:30 p.m.) on Barrington's own field.
Barrington won the Highland Park regional on Saturday by edging Prospect 2-1 in eight innings.
Warren, meanwhile, closes out the season with a 20-12 record.
"We're playing really well right now, we're hitting the ball really well," McDowell said. "We expect to go to state. That's where we plan on going."
A big fourth inning helped the Wildcats get to at least the sectional.
Johns hit his 2-run bomb after left fielder Brad Martin ripped a 2-run double into left field. Second baseman A.J. Schurr also had a double in the inning.
Tally it all up and Libertyville scored 4 runs on 3 hits to rally from behind and take a 6-4 lead.
Before that, Warren was sitting pretty on a 4-2 lead and starting pitcher Jeff Johnson had given up only 2 hits.
"Once we go up 4-2, that's the time we needed to shut the door and we didn't do that," Warren coach Clint Smothers said. "You think you're alright with the No. 7, 8 and 9 guys coming up and the guy (Johns) hits a home run and it changes everything up."
Libertyville coach Jim Schurr says he knew Johns had it in him.
"A lot of people think he can't do it (hit home runs). But he hits them in practice," Schurr said. "It's just a matter of him putting the right swing on the ball, which it is for everyone.
"Kevin tends to be up front. I've been telling him that if you stay back, you're going to put the barrel square on the ball and he hit that one square."
Shortstop Tyler Schweigert also hit one square. He sent a home run over the right-field fence in Libertyville's first at-bat of the game. The Wildcats also scored on a balk later on to take a 2-1 lead at the end of the first inning.
Meanwhile, Warren wound up getting a 2-for-2 hitting performance out of Dowd, but little else. The Blue Devils missed the hitting of first baseman Sean Kennedy, who was walked three times and struck out once.
The Wildcats say they weren't necessarily trying to pitch around Kennedy, who blasted 2 home runs in Warren's semifinal victory over Carmel on Friday.
"Kennedy is a great hitter," Schurr said. "Anytime you bat three years on the varsity, you're going to have a great feel for it. We weren't trying to walk him. We were just cognizant of him."