Baseball: Young returns, leads Harvest Christian to 1st sectional championship
Grant Young and Brock Wilken teamed up to earn Harvest Christian Academy its first sectional title in program history Saturday at Judson University.
The duo scored all the runs and threw all the pitches in the Lions' 2-1 win over Elgin Academy to win the Class 1A sectional it hosted.
What is even more remarkable is Young returned after a serious injury earlier this month.
Harvest Christian (23-4) advances to Monday's Illinois Benedictine supersectional and will play River Ridge for a chance to advance to the state tournament in Peoria next weekend.
"The story of the day is Grant Young. He suffered a lacerated liver two and a half weeks ago. We thought he was out for the year but he got cleared on Thursday," Harvest Academy coach Matt Ellett said. "He's our bona fide ace. To have him come back and do what he did is nothing short of miraculous."
Young led off the top of the first inning with a triple. Two batters later, Wilken parked an Ethan Hill pitch over the right field fence to plate the only two runs the Lions would need.
"I was just waiting for a fastball." Wilken said. "I just saw it and hit it."
After Hill retired the side, Wilken took the mound for Harvest Christian.
The senior lefthander gave up a double to the Hilltoppers' leadoff man Christian Rodriguez, who scored on catcher Reece Zonts' two-bagger over the left fielder's head.
Those were the only hits Wilken gave up.
Ellett lifted Wilken in the bottom of the third after he issued his third walk of the game to Ethan Plantz.
"My coach told me before the game, he was only going to have me go 45 (pitches)," said Wilken. "So I got to 45, he pulled me and that's all that Grant needed to get the job done."
Young, who was playing shortstop, took over on the hill and Wilken went to first base.
The right-hander only allowed two baserunners the rest of the way. He gave up a single to Connor Reece in the fifth. The DH moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Freshman left fielder Alec Nohava ended the inning with a diving catch of Rodriguez' fly ball.
"We've got two freshmen and a sophomore starting in the outfield and the freshmen came up big today," Ellett said. "They made several diving plays that saved us, so it was a team effort all the way."
CJ Carani led off the Hilltoppers' seventh with a single up the middle and stole second and third base. Young preserved the win by striking out the side.
"I was expected to miss four weeks. It was awesome to be back with my teammates," Young said. "I stuck to a lot of curve balls, that's what was working for me today and obviously the fastball."
The Lions threatened in the fifth but were unable to score. Hill loaded the bases by hitting 2 batters and giving up a single to Wilken, his third hit of the day. Jack Nohava followed with a popup to short right field caught by Rodriguez. His bullet throw to Zonts prevented the runner on third from scoring.
Elgin Academy (25-6) coach Steve Shapiro was philosophical about the loss.
"I'm a firm believer in the baseball gods, so to speak, and when it is your time, it is your time," Shapiro said. "The reality is we just didn't put the ball in play enough and when we did they made plays. And that is just part of the game."