Baseball: Morris holds off Sycamore to earn first state trip since 1995

GENESEO – Holding a three-run lead in the seventh inning, Morris senior Cody DelFavero was confident.

“I knew we were alright,” the left-hander said.

Sycamore made it interesting as a two-out error extended the game.

But DelFavero rose to the occasion.

After Matt Rosado hit an RBI single, DelFavero threw a two-strike pitch over the outside corner against Kyle Hartmann, who had hits in his first three at-bats.

The umpire signaled strike three, DelFavero pumped his arms, leaped up, threw down his glove and hugged catcher Griffin Zweeres as the rest of the team surrounded them near the mound.

DelFavero’s strikeout closed out Morris’ 5-3 win over the Spartans in the Class 3A Geneseo Supersectional to send Morris to the state semifinals for the first time since it won the Class AA state championship in 1995.

“This is awesome,” DelFavero said. “Since the beginning of the year we’ve had this goal. I think the town of Morris and the community had the same goal in mind, so it means a lot.

“It’s great to be part of such a good group. We just grind. We work hard, and it shows.”

Morris (29-3) will play Crystal Lake Central (19-14) in the semifinals at 10 a.m. Friday at Duly Health & Care Field in Joliet.

“We’ve been close before, so finally make it there and punching our ticket feels good,” Morris senior AJ Zweeres said. “This group has always wanted it. Ever since we were young we’ve had a solid baseball team and a bunch of people who just want to get after it. It’s just a full team effort.”

Crystal Lake Central advanced to state with a 5-1 win over DePaul College Prep in the Schaumburg Supersectional.

“I’m just going to enjoy this,” Morris coach Todd Kein said. “It’s been a while since we’ve crossed this threshold, so I think all of us – our players, our parents, community members, school personnel – are going to enjoy this one and we’ll get back to work very soon.”

Morris grabbed momentum early Monday.

After DelFavero pitched around a two-out double in the top of the first, AJ Zweeres got Morris going in the bottom half with a leadoff single.

With two outs, DelFavero hit a single to right field to give Morris a 1-0 lead.

“Us scoring first was big,” Kein said. “Everybody kind of breathed a sigh of relief, especially with Cody on the mound.”

Morris scored a run in the second on a two-out single by AJ Zweeres, who also delivered a two-out, two-run double in the fourth to make it 4-0.

“AJ Zweeres, my gosh, what a performance at the plate,” Kein said.

Nazim Baftiri extended the lead to 5-0 with a two-out single to right field in the fifth that fell between the first baseman and right fielder.

After managing just two hits – both by Hartmann – through five innings, the Spartans managed to rally in the final two innings.

Hartmann got Sycamore started with a two-out single in the sixth.

Davis Collie drew a walk before Kyle Prebil smacked a ball almost to the fence in right field for a two-run double.

In the seventh, Will Klumpp drew a one-out walk before a popout put Sycamore on the verge of elimination.

Collin Severson hit a ground ball to third base, but the throw to first was offline. Rosado, who took the loss, hit an RBI single to left before DelFavero ended the game.

“I thought we played well,” Sycamore coach Jason Cavanaugh said. “I felt like our approach at the plate was very good today, better than it has been in weeks. We barreled up a lot of balls that just didn’t fall. That’s the way baseball goes sometimes is you hit balls right at somebody and they hit balls in between everywhere.

“I’m proud of the way we came back and made it interesting at the end. They kind of took it to us early, but then we got two in the sixth then were threatening with the tying run on in the seventh with the right guy up. Credit to their pitcher. He made great pitches throughout the game.”

DelFavero allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks in a complete game.

“Cody was outstanding,” Kein said. “Bad break on a couple of runs they scored, but you tell me we’re going to have a three-run cushion going into the seventh with Cody on the mound, I like our chances. He’s been lights out all year. He rises to the occasion, much like our team does collectively.”

The Spartans finished 28-8 a year after placing third in state and played in a supersectional for the third year in a row.

“I’m proud of the way our guys played,” Cavanaugh said. “We bounced back and we didn’t have to rebuild. We just reloaded with some of the guys who came up from our sophomore team. We were in almost every game this year, and we just made it tough on teams.

“I think overall it was a very successful season. We were 28-8. That’s not an easy thing to do, especially after losing all those seniors from last year. Our guys just stepped up and did a great job.”