Baseball: Kirchner blanks York, pitches Conant into 4A state title game
Despite being a bit sleep deprived, Conant’s Franklin Kirchner was able to put York to sleep Friday night in the Class 4A state semifinal at Duly Health and Care Field in Joliet.
Kirchner barely slept Thursday night in anticipation of pitching against York and its hard-throwing Ryan Sloan. Kirchner was able to stymie York and his teammates were able to scratch out a run as Conant advanced to the state championship game with a 1-0 victory in a game that lasted just 72 minutes.
“I didn’t sleep much last night (Thursday),” said Kirchner, who is a junior. “I just went out there and pitched like I was at Conant every game. I just imagined it was just the same couple of people who show up for our games and the same family members. I just ignored all the outside factors.”
Conant (30-7) will meet Providence for the 4A state title Saturday at 7 p.m. Providence (32-8) beat two-time defending 4A state champion Edwardsville 2-1 on Friday in the first semifinal.
Kirchner was able to outduel Sloan, who is expected to be a middle first round pick in the MLB Draft in July. Kirchner allowed just two hits, both of which never left the infield. He struck six and was able to pitch his way out of a trio of jams.
“I just focused on what I needed to do,” said Kirschner, who improved to 10-1 on the season.
“I have had multiple times this season where I have had bases loaded. I just pitch like I always do and found a way to battle it out.”
This will be the first trip for Conant to the state championship game. Cougars coach Derek Fivelson said the bus ride home from their supersectional win Monday set the tone for Friday’s game.
“We knew what was coming,” Fivelson said. “We knew who York pitched and we knew the challenge that was ahead of us. But we knew that we had our Franklin Kirchner going tonight and we knew that he is going to go toe-to-toe with this pitcher.”
Conant scored the game’s only run in the bottom on the sixth.
“Joliet” Jake Parpet, who had caught Sloan the last two summers during AAU ball, coaxed a walk from his former teammate with one out. It was only the fifth walk Sloan had given up all season.
Logan Gale then bunted Parpet to second to put him position for Isaiah Rhodes.
“This guy sitting next to me (Rhodes), is the RBI king at Conant,” Fivelson said. “I will always bunt a guy in scoring position with even one out to give him a chance because he is a stud and he will come through.”
Rhodes, who is the all-time RBI leader for Conant, said he came up with some confidence.
“The first two at-bats didn’t go my way,” Rhodes said. “But I was able to make pretty good contact on both of them. I knew I was just a little out front on those. It was just a confidence thing. Believing that I was going to get that hit.”
Rhodes then delivered on that confidence with just his team’s third hit of the game.
With a 1-2 count he lined a sharp single to center. Parpet came flying around third and saw the catcher moving up the third-base line for the throw, which was a bit offline.
“I was a little behind, so I needed my mechanics to go to work,” Rhodes said, “He threw me a slider and I just hit it up the middle.”
It was a déjà vu moment for Parpet. He had a similar play in the sectional finals against Stevenson and Parpet collided with the Patriots catcher. He was called out on the play, and also ejected, forcing him to miss the Cougars’ supersectional game with Glenbrook North.
All of that was going through Parpet’s mind as he raced towards home. But instead of colliding, Parpet opted to go swimming.
“It flashed in my head a little bit,“ Parpet said. “I had to do whatever I could to score. So I pulled out my little Bryce Loeger and swam around him. It felt amazing.”
Parpet’s swim move allowed him to freely move around the catcher. He then slid and his left arm touched the plate to give his team the run they needed.
York (31-10) refused to give in.
Marco Giorno was hit by a pitch to lead off the seventh inning. Pinch runner Austin Grzywa went to second on Noah Jones’ sacrifice bunt and then to third on Drew Gami’s deep fly to center.
Kirchner then induced the final York batter to ground out to second to send the Cougars to the title game.
“Our bats went cold tonight,” said York coach Dave Kalal, whose team left six runners on base, four of which were in scoring position.
Both teams leaned heavily on their pitchers to get out of early trouble.
Conant’s Cooper Hanson, who had two hits, doubled in the second with two outs. He then traveled to third on a wild pitch. But Sloan got a strikeout to end the threat.
York came back in the third when Drew Gami singled on a perfectly placed bunt. Noah Hughes followed with a walk and both runners moved up on a passed ball. Kirchner then dug in and struck out the next two hitters to end the inning.
Each team put on runners in the fifth. But again, solid pitching stopped those opportunities.
York had another solid opportunity the following inning. With two outs, the Dukes got an infield single from Josh Fleming and Owen Chael walked. Kirchner was able to escape when Rhodes snagged a hard grounder down the first-base line to end the inning.
“You have to tip your cap to their pitcher,” Kalal said. “He threw a good game. He kept us off-balance the whole game. We had plenty of opportunities. We left a ton of men on base.”
York will meet Edwardsville at 5 p.m. Saturday in the third-place game.