GIBSON CITY – The day prior to its game against Bloomington Central Catholic, the Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley varsity baseball team clinched the outright Heart of Illinois Conference championship with a win over Tri-Valley.
On Thursday, GCMS earned another victory via a 5-4 score over Central Catholic.
“I was a little worried about maybe just an emotional letdown after doing that last night, but the guys came out and really played,” GCMS head coach Dustin White said. “This is the thing this team has been really good at all year – showing up every day ready to play and bringing some good energy. We did that today.”
It may have helped, White said, that some of GCMS’s players were facing Central Catholic players who are teammates with them during the summer.
“There’s a little rivalry back and forth with some of these guys who played with some of those guys in the summer,” White said. “You’ve got some friendships. It’s a friendly rivalry with guys that they know.”
The Falcons (17-6-1) rallied from a 4-1 deficit with a four-run sixth inning.
Brayden Elliott – who finished the game hitting 2-for-3 – led off with a line-drive bae hit to left field before Graydon Leonard drew a one-out walk and Altin Nettleton – who also hit 2-for-3 – got on base with an infield single to load the bases.
Isaiah Johnson lined a double to right field to send Elliott, Leonard and Nettleton across home plate, tying the game in the process.
“He’s been swinging a really good bat for us and has been more aggressive,” White said.
Johnson advanced to third base on a wild pitch. With two outs, he scored what would be the game-winning run on a passed ball.
“We stayed in the ballgame all day,” White said. “We got a big base hit when we needed it. I’m super happy for our effort and the way we played today.”
After forcing a leadoff walk, Leonard got the final three outs in the seventh inning via a fielder’s choice to shortstop Ty Cribbett, a flyout to left fielder Carter Kallal and a swinging strikeout.
Leonard pitched the final three innings in relief for GCMS, striking out four batters and walking two while giving up one unearned run on one hit.
“He kind of just shut the door a little bit and gave us an opportunity,” White said. “That’s what you want. You want your pitchers to give you an opportunity to come back offensively, and we did.”
David Hull started on the mound for the Falcons as he allowed three runs – two earned – on four hits and three walks with one strikeout through four innings.
“I’m really impressed with his effort. His last couple of outings have been really good. He threw it well against a pretty good hitting ballclub. Overall, I thought his outing was really good,” White said. “Our two pitchers did a really nice job.”
The Falcons trailed 3-0 heading into the bottom of the third inning before Zeb Greer and Cribbett each hit a one-out single and Elliott lined a base hit to right field to send Greer home.
By the game’s end, GCMS outhit Central Catholic 8-5.
“I’m super happy with the effort today offensively,” White said.
The Falcons committed two errors in rainy and windy conditions.
“It wasn’t a great day to play defense,” White said. “It was a tough pitching day with the weather today, but our kids did a nice job. I’m super happy with their effort. The energy was there all day, so I’m just super pleased with it.”
Before starting postseason play, the Falcons will face Lexington in the HOIC Showcase at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Illinois Wesleyan University.
GCMS 5, Bloomington Central Catholic 4
BCC 003 010 0 — 4 5 0
GCMS 001 004 x — 5 8 2
W – Graydon Leonard, 3 IP, H, R, 0 ER, 4 K, 2 BB. L – P. Eickhorst, IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 K, BB.
Central Catholic – J. Wisdom R. G. Schnierle R. B. Summers 1-4, 3B, R. W. Vogel 1-2, R. C. Graham 1-4, 2B, 2 RBIs. P. Eickhorst 1-3. M. Barnes 1-3.
GCMS (17-6-1) – Ty Cribbett 1-3. Brayden Elliott 2-3, RBI, R. Graydon Leonard 1-2, R. Altin Nettleton 2-3, 3B, R. Isaiah Johnson 1-3, 2B, 3 RBIs, R. Zeb Greer 1-3, R.
