Baseball: Harvest Christian nails down third straight 1A regional title

There is no substitute for experience and the Harvest Christian baseball team has plenty of it.

So it was no surprise on Saturday that the Lions were not at all phased by a slow start in their Class 1A regional championship game at Judson University against rival Westminster Christian.

The Lions fell behind 1-0 in the first inning, but roared back to capture their third straight regional title with a 7-2 win. Brock Wilken went the distance on the mound for Harvest to get the win and Dayne Frederick had 3 RBI.

"This is a real senior-laden group, so they know how to handle most every situation," Harvest coach David Lockwood said. "They had a great mindset even after we got down early. They just worked through it. We were able to minimize the damage and stay under control."

Harvest will return to Judson at 7 p.m. Wednesday to face either Somonauk or Indian Creek in the sectional semifinals.

Wilken surrendered a run in the first and third innings, but then settled in to retire 15 of the last 16 batters he faced.

"I was just able to forget those runs I gave up," Wilken said. "I focused on my mechanics of staying closed and using my lower half. I just wanted to keep throwing strikes and let my defense make plays behind me. I was able to work my fastball inside and had good command of the curveball. I threw a lot of first-pitch curveballs for strikes and that kept them off balance."

Wilken needed just 88 pitches and threw 57 for strikes. He did not walk a batter and struck out 4. The Lions' defense was flawless behind him without an error.

"He started out missing some spots," Lockwood said. "But once he relaxed and settled down he really found a groove. He got some help from his defense. Grant Young made some stellar plays at shortstop. That's what this group is all about. They are always picking one another up. Really proud of the way they worked through things today.

The Lions (22-8) scored 4 runs in the second to grab a 4-1 lead and never looked back.

Frederick delivered the big blow with a bases-loaded 2-run single to left that put the Lions ahead 3-1.

"We knew it was going to be a tough fight against these guys," Frederick said. "We just tried to have a good approach at the plate. I was just trying to put the ball in play. I choked up a little and moved up in the box and let the ball fly. Everyone kept encouraging one another throughout the game."

The Lions padded the lead with single runs in each of the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. Frederick had a walk in the fourth and later scored on an error. Jack Nohava led off the fifth inning with a single, advanced to third on an error, and scored on a wild pitch. Young led off the sixth inning with a walk. Then he stole second and third base, and scored on a groundball by Frederick.

"We had the one big inning, but I liked the way we kept scratching out runs," Lockwood said. "When you have the lead you want to keep the pressure on."

The Warriors (18-13) were plagued by 5 errors. Eli Hoon had an RBI single in the first inning to score Andrew Kurcz, who had led off the game with a double. Kurcz went 3-for-3, including an RBI double in the third inning.

"You can't expect to win a game when you make 5 errors, especially against a good club like Harvest," Westminster coach Tom Polka said. "I thought we made good contact at the plate. They were just making some good plays. Considering the injuries we went through and the fact we didn't have a lot of depth I thought we made the most of it and had a good season."