Balanced Burlington Central snuffs out Hampshire
Top seed Burlington Central entered Wednesday's Class 3A Hampshire regional semifinal baseball game hitting .389 as a team, but the Rockets showed they are anything but one dimensional in winning their 31st game of the season.
Central pounded out 13 hits - 6 for extra bases - junior Matt Hahn tossed a complete-game 8-hitter and the double-play combination of shortstop Zack Romando and second baseman Drew Stover turned 3 of Central's 4 twin killings in an 8-2 victory over the host Whip-Purs.
Burlington Central (31-2) advances to Saturday's regional title game, which has been moved to 3 p.m., against the winner of today's semifinal between Prairie Ridge (25-10) and Crystal Lake Central (21-13).
Hampshire coach Steve Ream asked his left-handed pitcher, sophomore Luke Wians (4-4), to throw low and inside against Central's mostly right-handed offense. But the prolific Rockets were able to attack immediately with 2 first-inning runs on 4 straight hits.
Sam Klein singled, and Tanner Scott moved him to third on a hit-and-run bloop single to left field. Austin Jarvis followed with a run-scoring single to left, and Hahn made it 2-0 with a double to the left-field corner.
"The first couple of games we played them we got off to slow starts before we picked it up a little," Klein said. "We just wanted to come out early, put the ball in play and hit it hard."
The Rockets scored twice more in the second inning, keyed by the area-best eighth triple of the year by Jarvis. His long flyball hit the fence in left-center field, two feet shy of his 15th home run of the season. The triple scored Klein, who had doubled.
The RBI was the 73rd of the season for Jarvis, tying him for second place on the IHSA's all-time single-season list with Jason Richardson of Larkin and Scott Riley of Pittsfield. Jarvis trails only Gil Metzger of Matoon (80).
Hampshire (16-18) trailed 5-0 in the fifth inning but loaded the bases with no outs on singles by Ryan DeChant, Max Shaw and Jared Weinke. The Whip-Purs got a run when freshman Tyler Crater bounced into a double play, started by Stover, and they pulled within 5-2 on a single to left by junior Dan Grzywa.
"A double play takes an offense out of an inning, and they did it," Ream said. "With the bases loaded, they'll concede 1 run for two outs and they did it in (the fifth inning). I would do that, too, and they've got the defense to do it."
However, the Rockets got those 2 runs back in their half of the fifth on a solo home run by senior Nolan Anderson and a balk.
Marcus Quick led off the Hampshire sixth with a single, but Hahn induced a groundball for his fourth double-play, again started by Stover.
"It seemed like every time a guy got on, the next guy would hit a ground ball and we would make it happen," Stover said.
The Rockets added a run in the sixth, when Jeff Ehlers tripled with two outs and Anderson doubled him home.
With two runners aboard in the Hampshire seventh, Hahn used a strikeout and fielder's choice at second base to end the game. He finished with 5 strikeouts and 2 walks to improve to 11-1 this season, 22-2 as a varsity pitcher.
"He was ahead in the count the whole time," Central coach Kyle Nelson said. "He did exactly what we asked him to do: He changed speeds, threw strikes and stayed ahead in the count. It was a good day for us."