EHS Baseball Team Headed To Final Four At Class 3A State Tournament

The Hearts are headed to the Class 3A State Baseball Tournament.  Tonya Siner photo

The pitching was in control, the hitting was on target and the defense played strong.

Effingham High School put it all together and came out of the Class 3A Decatur Super-Sectional at Millikin University with a 4-0 win over Champaign Central and a berth in the Final Four at the Class 3A State Baseball Tournament.

The Hearts got on board in the first inning. Jack Harper singled and moved over on an error by the centerfielder. Kaden Koeberlein then grounded out and Harper came home.

That run was followed by a second run in the second inning. With two outs, the Hearts got three consecutive singles. Evan Waymoth singled and Spencer Fox followed with a base hit. Kaiden Nichiols then singled home the second run.

The final runs came in the fourth. With one out, Fox got his second single. He was sacrified over by Nichols. The Hearts' Harper then picked up his second single and drove in Fox. Koeberlein reached base after being hit by a pitch. Camden Raddatz then had an infield single that scored Harper and the Hearts led 4-0.

While the offense was clicking, the defense backed up pitcher Josh McDevitt, by not committing an error. Raddatz had the most plays in the contest with seven.

Meanwhile McDevitt was in charge on the mound. He went the whole seven innings, scattering seven hits while walking only two and striking out six.

EHS finished with 11 hits in the contest led by Raddatz with three singles and an RBI, Harper with two singles and an RBI, Fox with two singles,  Myles Maxedon with a double and Koeberlein and Nichols with a single and an RBI each.

The Hearts are now 27-10 on the season while Champaign Central finished out with a 21-16 season.

"We never lost faith," said EHS Coach Curran McNeely. "The kids continued to work hard the whole season.

"Josh is always around the zone. He had a good changeup today. He threw 103 pitches Saturday and didn't want to come out of the game. Kaden Nichols won some big games for us and he'll be up next at the State Tournament.

"We had a team meal last night and I told them to find a way to get this one and that would mean we get to play two more games. And, they found a way."

Up next for the Hearts is Grayslake Central, a 2-1 winner over Oak Park Fenwick in the Schaumburg Super-Sectional.

Also competing will be LaGrange Park Nazareth Academy, an 8-0 winner over Chicago Lindblom in the Crestwood Super-Sectional and Sycamore, also an 8-0 winner over Rock Island in the Geneseo Super-Sectional.

LaGrange Park Nazareth Academy and Sycamore will square off at noon Friday. The losers will advance to Saturday competition for third place at 9 a.m. while the winners will meet around 11:30 a.m. for the championship.

Class 3A Decatur Super-Sectional

Championship

Central                     000    000    0    --    0- 7-2

Effingham                110    200    x    --    4-11-0

WP -- McDevitt. LP -- Bartlett.

Champaign Central -- Crompton, 3 singles; Hobbs, 2 singles; Lehr, 2 singles

Effingham -- Harper, 2 singles, 1 RBI; Koeberlein, single, 1 RBI; Raddatz, 3 singles, 1 RBI; Maxedon, double; Waymoth, single; Fox, 2 singles; Nichols, single, 1 RBI

The Hearts celebrate after the last out is rung up on a fly ball.    Mandy McDevitt photo