Baseball: Lake County All-Area captain Lockwood leads Libertyville to second straight state title by dominating on the mound

If the double play is a pitcher’s best friend, then knowing your fielders regard you as a sure thing has to rank a close second.

“When Chase is pitching and when I am playing right field, I am really confident he is going to deliver and get guys out,” said Libertyville senior Jack Cenar, referring to Wildcats’ standout Chase Lockwood. “When balls come my way, they are not hit super hard. It’s weak contact and people just miss them. He’s deceptive with his pitches and that makes us really confident in the field to make plays for him. He’s a star on the mound.”

Indeed a star on the mound and in the batter’s box, the Illinois State-bound Lockwood played an integral role in the Wildcats repeating as Class 4A state champions. He’s also the captain of the 2026 Daily Herald Lake County All-Area baseball team.

“Having that confidence in him is a huge deal,” continued Cenar, who will continue his studies at Indiana University. “We know he throws strikes. He barely walks guys. We’re always ready for the ball to come our way when he doesn’t strike a guy out. When it comes to us, we’re ready to make a play for him.”

“When Chase is on the mound, we know he is going to pitch really well,” said Libertyville senior Carson Holmes, off to the University of Tampa to study and possibly play baseball. “He’s going to strike some dudes out and make some guys uncomfortable. That makes it a lot easier in the field, for sure.”

When told how his fielders feel, Lockwood said knowing that “means the world to me.” “I love doing it for them, too,” he added. “To get that kind of confidence from them fuels the fire. It’s like, ‘OK you got this.’ We play for each other.”

How good was Lockwood on the mound this spring? He finished 12-1 with a 1.90 ERA. He allowed 19 earned runs in 70 1/3 innings of work, while striking out 69 and walking a scant 10. He finished with a 0.92 WHIP, which is walks plus hits divided by innings pitched, meaning Lockwood allowed less than a runner an inning to reach base.

He was even filthier in the playoffs where he went 3-0 with an 0.39 ERA (0.89 WHIP). He struck out 17 in 18 innings, walked one and allowed 1 earned run. Lockwood did not pitch in the state semifinals or state championship game in Joliet due to Libertyville’s supersectional game against Chicago Lane Tech at Wintrust Field in Schaumburg being moved a day later due to weather-related issues, thus taking Lockwood out of his normal pitching rotation. He threw a 7-inning complete game and struck out 7 against Lane in the supersectional win.

“For the last three years on varsity, Chase has been so consistent on the mound,” Libertyville coach Matt Thompson said. “While he continues to improve on the mound, he knows his strengths and is able to harness them on the field.”

Lockwood leaves Libertyville as its all-time wins leader with 30. He went 30-3 with 189 career strikeouts in 182 2/3 innings, while walking only 46 and posting a 1.90 ERA.

“I hold myself to a high standard,” he said. “I felt like this was a good year to go out and prove it to myself and show others why I am where I am at. I expect it from myself. The success is still surprising, but it’s kind of fun that this all happened.”

Mechanically, Lockwood said he worked on being quicker down the mound and using his body more effectively. “That led to confidence and being in a better spot to make good pitches,” he said. “I trust our defense and play for the guys behind me and try to get the next guy out — let our offense do their thing and work on getting us back in the dugout. I have a lot of faith in us.”

Lockwood helped out with the bat as well for the North Suburban Conference champions, hitting .338 this season with 5 doubles, a homer and 17 RBI to go with 12 runs scored and 12 walks.

“I worked on staying confident in myself and my swing, not overthinking and playing to my strengths of being a fastball hitter,” said Lockwood, who had a single in the state-championship game against Maine South and a double and 2 RBI in the state semifinals against Mt. Carmel. “If I get a fastball early in the count, I don’t want to miss it and I felt I didn’t miss this year and that ultimately led to success.”

Holmes said Lockwood is one of the most competitive people he’s ever met. “He’s super-determined to win, which is awesome about him,” he said. “For instance, in that supersectional game he went in knowing he would dominate and he did. We played behind him. We have his back, he has our back.”

“I hate losing more than (enjoy) winning,” Lockwood said. “I would say it is one of those things that ‘we are better than you, this is why and we will prove it to you.’ Being able to do that led to a lot of success. Being confident in yourself and telling yourself that you are not losing will end well for you and I feel I did that pretty well.”

Lockwood said the repeat state title was deserved. “We worked our butts off,” he said. “Everybody was working on the same goal and pulling on the same side of the rope. That’s really special. I was telling some of the guys about the 2025 season and this is what you have to do to be the ultimate competitor. You have to want it because other teams want it just as bad. You have to dig deep and find it in yourself. I want to win this, this is what we are going to do and now we are going to do it. To see guys compete and want it, there is nothing more special than that.”

Lockwood moved into Illinois State this past Sunday and is already playing in a summer league in the Normal area “to get some innings against some good college hitters,” he said. Thompson joked Lockwood broke the family trend of going to Valparaiso in Indiana. Brother Cole Lockwood finished his freshman season at Valpo and is competing for the Fon du Lac Dock Spiders in the Northwoods summer league. Older brother Connor finished his fifth year at Valpo, making all-Missouri Valley second team, and is looking at pro baseball opportunities.

While a new chapter is already underway, Chase Lockwood, who was part of 3 Libertyville varsity teams that went 91-24-3 and won 3 sectional and 2 regional titles, admitted it is tough leaving something as special as his Wildcats experience.

“Libertyville, yeah, there is nothing more special than playing with the guys you grew up with,” he said. “I want to be remembered as a teammate that lifted guys up and was always there when they needed it. I want to be remembered as a competitor.”

Thompson called Lockwood “a great leader for our team,” he said. “Everyone looks up to him in so many moments and so many aspects of the game. He is such a great teammate and is willing to help the guys in any way possible. We are very excited to see him succeed on the mound at the next level. He truly has what it takes to be successful in college baseball.”