Scouting the Class 3A DeKalb sectional

Class 3A DeKalb sectional

Matchups: DeKalb (23-10) vs. Sycamore (15-21), Wednesday at 4 p.m.; Burlington Central (32-2) vs. Marmion (21-11), Thursday at 4 p.m.; Winners play for the DeKalb sectional title on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Outlook: Burlington Central makes its fifth sectional appearance in school history, all since 2003. The Rockets seek their first sectional title, armed with an offensive averaging 10.3 runs per game. They were lifted by outstanding pitching during regional play from juniors Nick Hahn (11-1) and Sam Klein (9-0). Catcher Austin Jarvis has 15 home runs, 1 shy of the Fox Valley record, and his 76 RBI are the second most in state history, 4 short of tying the IHSA record. Marmion won the Blue Division of the Suburban Christian Conference, its second straight league title. The Cadets seek the first sectional baseball title in the Aurora school's history after a 2-5 start to the season. Heading into regional play last week, the offense was paced by seniors Joe Wulff (.387), Chris Tydd (.367), and Will Sterne (.360). The Cadets won their second regional title in two years by defeating host Oswego 10-8. "We've gotten out to see them a couple of times," Rockets coach Kyle Nelson said. "They've got a couple of good pitchers, and the middle of their order can certainly hurt you if you make a mistake or fall behind guys. I feel if our pitchers go out and throw the way they did in the regional, we should have some success against them. If they're falling behind in counts, that's when we could start getting in trouble because they swing the bats pretty well in the middle of their order." Central played Sycamore and DeKalb in March and defeated each team 9-0. DeKalb, which finished in a three-way tie for the Western Sun Conference title, won its first regional title since 1996 by defeating host Sterling 8-2. Ace Ben Dallesasse notched a 3-inning save Saturday after tossing a 73-pitch 1-hitter to beat Rochelle last Wednesday, 7-0. Sycamore is the surprise team of the sectional. The Spartans sank to a record of 8-21 earlier this month but have since reeled off 7 straight wins.

Advancement: The winner of the DeKalb sectional will play the winner of the East Peoria sectional in the Rock Island supersectional at Augustana College on Monday, June 7 at 5 p.m. Teams competing for the East Peoria sectional title include Metamora, Galesburg, Rock Island and Streator.