Baseball: Harvest Christian's comeback falls short despite Nohava's 7 RBI

PEORIA - The Harvest Christian Academy baseball team was not going to go away quietly in the Class 1A state semifinal on Friday. Senior catcher Jack Nohava was going to make sure of that.

But in the end, after scoring all their runs in the final three innings and Nohava's 7 RBI, the Lions were not able to erase an early deficit in a 10-8 loss to Ottawa Marquette.

"We faced adversity all year and these boys never quit so there was little doubt we were going to get going," Harvest Christian coach Matt Ellett said. "It was one of those days we ran out of innings. If we play a nine-inning ballgame there, it's a different outcome."

Harvest Christian (24-4) will play Steeleville in the Class 1A third-place game at 9 a.m. Saturday.

Nohava's seven runs driven in on Friday matched the state tournament single-game record. His grand slam in the sixth cut the deficit to 8-6.

"He wasn't throwing super-fast and his off-speed was recognizable," Nohava said. "I went up there looking fastball and could adjust to the off-speed. I went up there hacking."

Marquette added much-needed insurance runs on a sacrifice fly by Logan Komater and an RBI infield single by Jack Snook in the top of the seventh.

Nohava drove in the game's final two runs with a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the inning.

"You have to give that team a heck of a lot of credit. They were down 8-0 and didn't quit," Marquette coach Todd Hopkins said. "I was not comfortable in that last inning."

The Crusaders (32-2) took that lead with a combination of small-ball on offense and timely pitching and key defensive plays.

They pushed across the game's first run with a swinging-bunt single by Luke Couch, who then went from first to third on a wild pitch, a suicide squeeze bunt by Komater, which the three-hole hitter turned into a single.

Komater scored on a double by Snook. Marquette also scored twice in the third, three times in the fourth and a single run in the fifth all the while keeping the Lions at bay.

Harvest Christian had runners in scoring position in every inning but one. In the third, HCA had the bases loaded and no outs but Nohava's screaming liner down the first-base line was snagged by diving first baseman Hayden Price, who only had to reach over and tag first for an easy double play.

The catch kept Nohava from breaking the all-class RBI record.

"He pounds the baseball," Ellett said. "I get scared coaching third knowing that a rocket could be coming at me. That's the guy I want up with the bases loaded. It's a shame it was in a losing effort."

The hard-hit balls, even though not all of them fell for hits early, has Harvest Christian optimistic for Saturday's season finale.

"We never really stopped hitting the baseball, really," said junior Gil Duran, who went 3-for-5 with three runs scored. "Everybody came alive, so (today) it will just carry over."

Said Nohava: "We're blessed to have another day to go out and have some fun."