PAXTON – The Paxton-Buckley-Loda varsity baseball team survived and advanced through the first round of the IHSA Class 2A regionals on Monday.
The Panthers won 7-2 over St. Thomas More in the regional quarterfinals.
“At this time of year, it doesn’t matter how. It’s just a matter of finding a way to get it done,” PBL head coach Brock Niebuhr said. “I feel like we’ve got a group that’s coming around and really learning how to be gritty and just battle, and that’s what we did.”
It was PBL’s second win over STM in a period of five days after a 30-18 victory over the Sabers the previous Thursday.
“We didn’t bang it all over the park like we did last time against them, but we found a way to score enough runs,” Niebuhr said. “There were a lot of runs scored (on Thursday), and neither coach was going to throw in a pitcher they knew the other team would see today. It was kind of an odd game, but one that I think gave us confidence at the plate. Hopefully, we can carry that momentum into Thursday.”
The Panthers took a 2-0 lead in the third inning of Monday’s regional quarterfinal game.
Tyler Cole drew a one-out walk and Bryar Cosgrove put runners on the corners with a bunt single. With two outs, Charles Cambridge doubled to center field to send Cole and Cosgrove across home plate.
Cambridge, who finished the game hitting 2-for-3, had a batting average of .452 through 73 at-bats in the regular season.
“Charles holds himself to such a high standard,” Niebuhr said. “He’s a little upset with some struggles he’s had the past couple of weeks, but he’s continued to battle and he had a big day for us today.”
In the fourth inning, PBL (15-11) extended its lead to 5-0.
Connor Murphy drew a leadoff walk before Dylan Vance got on base with a bunt. Colsen Hayden and Vance advanced into scoring position via a sacrifice bunt by Luke Krumwiede before Jack Wesslund sent Hayden home with a fielder’s choice ground ball that ricocheted off STM pitcher Nate Kaufmann. With two outs, Cosgrove hit a ground ball and reached base on an error that resulted in Vance and Wesslund crossing home plate.
“The bottom of our lineup did a great job of playing small ball,” Niebuhr said. “Different guys stepped up and got it done for us. There was some great execution. At this time of year, you’ve got to just find a way.”
Cambridge singled to center field to lead off the fifth inning before an error on a ground ball by Dylan Vance resulted in Cambridge crossing home plate to extend PBL’s lead to 6-0.
With one out in the sixth inning, Wesslund singled to left field and Cole lined a base hit to center field before a fielder’s choice ground ball by Cosgrove sent Wesslund across home plate to make the score 7-1.
On the mound, Luke Krumwiede allowed two runs – one earned – on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts in a complete game.
“Luke has really thrown the ball well in his last 3-4 outings, and today, he was really good,” Niebuhr said. “He was down in the zone and working ahead in counts and pitching to contact and getting a lot of soft contact. When he’s down in the zone like that and throwing three pitches for strikes, he’s tough to hit. It was a great job by him.”
The sixth-seeded Panthers will face third-seeded Unity in the regional semifinals at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in Tolono.
“Hopefully, we can put forth a really good effort on Thursday and find a way to get Unity,” Niebuhr said.
The Rockets defeated PBL 9-2 on April 14 in the Panthers’ last meeting with Unity.
“Unity’s got a really good baseball team,” Niebuhr said. “At this point, we both know each other pretty well. We’re going to see a good arm. We’re aware of that. We’ve got to be able to execute, play small ball and get that big two-out hit. Pitchers will have to throw strikes and work ahead. It’s going to be a challenge, but hopefully, this group is up for the challenge.”
PBL 7, St. Thomas More 2
STM 000 001 1 — 2 4 3
PBL 002 311 x — 7 6 2
W – Luke Krumwiede, 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, ER, 4 K, 2 BB. L – N. Kaufmann, 5.1 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 7 K, 3 BB.
St. Thomas More (7-23) – L. Wade 1-4. H. Bates 1-3, RBI. M. Roesel 1-3, R. B. Ruffatto 1-2, R.
PBL (15-11) – Tyler Cole 1-3, R. Bryar Cosgrove 1-4, RBI, R. Charles Cambridge 2-3, 2B, 2 RBIs, R. Johnny Rodeen 1-3. Colsen Hayden R. Dylan Vance R. Jack Wesslund 1-3, RBI, 2 R.