Baseball: Kaneland's Conklin no-hits Rochelle

Moments after throwing his second career no-hitter, Kaneland senior pitcher Tyler Conklin was posing for a picture with his catcher Sebastian Cabeza.

"Look at those two right there," Kaneland coach Brian Aversa motioned toward Conklin and Cabeza following Kaneland's 5-0 victory Monday over Rochelle. "It's irreplaceable. Those guys bring so much leadership. You know what [Conklin] brings on the mound, that's a given.

"But, the leadership, the camaraderie, the brotherhood ... these guys have really, without a real time to bond as a team. This was the night that was all going to come together and culminate. It couldn't have been more perfect."

The game was played at Northwestern Medicine Field, the home of the Kane County Cougars, in Geneva. With the victory, Kaneland (15-6, 12-4) clinched the Interstate Eight Conference.

Conklin, an Eastern Illinois recruit, struck out 15 and only allowed one walk. If not for Rochelle's Andy Buskohl reaching on an error in the fourth inning and the walk, Conklin would've been perfect, an instance he says happened only once while he was playing in Kaneland freshman-level baseball.

"It's crazy. There's definitely been some big names, on this field," Conklin said of the significance of his outing. "It's an honor just to throw on this field where big-leaguers have played before. It's just a blessing and special."

In the seventh inning, Conklin struck out Braden Alfano, walked Buskohl and then struck out Kyler Lara and Oscar Linares to preserve history.

"It was definitely nerve-wracking. I was shaking," Conklin said of the final inning. "I mean, I was even having trouble picking up the signs from [Cabeza] just because I was just shaking. I was nervous; just wanted to throw a no-hitter, obviously."

Cabeza caught both of Conklin's no-hitters.

"C-Bass, we're really close friends," Conklin said. "We've played together for a couple years. We've always been a dynamic duo. He's definitely one of the best - probably the best catcher I've ever had. Our relationship, it's just unmatched."

Conklin helped himself in the sixth inning with an RBI single to break the scoreless tie for the 1-0 Knights lead. Carter Askew and Brady Popovich followed with a pair of singles to load the bases. Nikolas Panico smacked a two-run single to take Alfano, the Hubs' starting pitcher, out of the game.

Alfano went five innings, surrendering three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts For the Hubs (6-8, 3-7).

Kaneland's Jack McIntire and Cabeza each hit two-out RBI singles to make it 5-0 Knights off of Linares in relief before McIntire was thrown out at home after Conklin's fielder's choice to end the threat.

"He throws pretty hard and seems like he locates his pitches well and has a good breaking ball," Hubs coach Jarrod Reynolds said of Conklin. "That's pretty advanced for a high school pitcher and he seemed like he was on his game tonight. A lot of strikes."

"I thought he did a great job," Reynolds said on Alfano. "I think he pitched his butt off for us [and] kept us in the game. I couldn't be prouder of him for the job that he did."