Burlington C. wins 2, nabs first sectional crown
There was no doubt about the final out.
Ray Hunnicutt squeezed a fly ball off the bat of Freeport’s Tyler Olson as Burlington Central clinched a 4-2 victory and the first baseball sectional championship in school history, winning the Class 3A title at Sycamore on a day the Rockets had to win twice to advance. Two batters earlier, Hunnicutt had collided with his brother, Reed, in left field, as both chased a fly by Ryan Lane. But Ray Hunnicutt held on to the ball for the first out of the seventh inning.
Central (28-10), which beat Prairie Ridge 8-3 in the morning semifinal, take on LaSalle-Peru at 7 p.m. Monday in the Augustana College supersectional in Rock Island. L-P beat Galesburg 11-0 to win its own sectional Saturday.
The Rockets had taken the lead with 3 runs in the bottom of the sixth and Riley Jensen made it stand up. The senior right-hander retired the side in order in the seventh. He retired the final 12 batters he faced.
Jensen wasn’t too concerned with the Rockets trailing by a run heading into the final two innings. His goal was to “just keep it right where its at and come in in the next inning and get some runs,” he said. “Give your team a chance to win it.”
Ray Hunnicutt walked to lead off the bottom of the sixth. Blake Alexander drove a ball to the warning track in the deepest part of center field, only to see it caught. Hunnicutt then stole second and third, and Michael Scott walked. Jensen hit a hard grounder off the glove of Olson at second base as Hunnicutt scored the tying run. It was officially scored an error, but no one in the Rockets’ dugout seemed to care. Kevin Zasada delivered a clean single to drive in the eventual winning run. Reed Hunnicutt’s sacrifice fly provided the Rockets some insurance.
The win marked the end of a whirlwind 24 hours for the Rockets’ seniors. They opted to attend their graduation ceremony Friday night, forcing them to play twice on Saturday. No problem, as they defeated Prairie Ridge in the opener behind a complete game from Zach Ranney. Alexander had 3 hits including a home run in that one.
The nightcap started well for Burlington. The first pitch throw by Freeport’s Colin Wescott hit Ranney, who later scored on Tanner Scott’s double.
The Pretzels scratched out 2 runs in the middle innings to take the lead, forcing the Rockets to rally.
“After the regional title, we said that everything after that’s gravy,” said Rockets’ coach Kyle Nelson. “Baseball is such a random game, and there’s so much that could go right, wrong, not always the best team wins the game in a single-elimination format. So, really, anything after a regional, you just enjoy the ride.”
Tanner Scott had 2 of the Rockets’ 3 hits against Wescott. Jensen was superb, striking out 7 while walking just 1 and hitting a batter. He allowed 4 hits and one of the runs was unearned.