IHSA Baseball State Tournament: 5 things to know about Sycamore and its competition

Sycamore heads to the IHSA Class 3A Baseball State Tournament for the first time in program history, meeting up with Nazareth at noon Friday in a semifinal at Duly Health and Care Field in Joliet.

Here are five things to know heading into the tournament, which also features Grayslake Central (32-7) and Effingham (22-15) playing in a 10 a.m. semifinal Friday, with the winner facing either the Roadrunners (32-6) or Spartans (33-5) for the title Saturday.

1. Sticking with what works

Sycamore coach Jason Cavanaugh has used a DH for his pitchers all year, even though both main starters can hit the ball extremely well. Jimmy Amptmann, Friday’s expected starter, is hitting .402 with seven home runs and 31 RBIs, even though he has about 30 fewer at-bats than the regular starters.

Cavanaugh said he’ll stick with that against the Roadrunners, who haven’t allowed more than one run in a postseason game.

“It’s better to keep the pitcher off his feet as much as you can so he can focus their energy while they’re out their pitching,” Cavanaugh said. “I’m confident in the hitters we have. All the guys we put in there to DH for Jimmy when he pitches have performed well. I have no hesitation in doing something like that. It’s been working well, so there’s no point in changing it now.”

Owen Piazza, who is not available until Saturday, also has been hit for in his starts this year despite the fact he’s hitting .349 with a team-best 12 doubles. Cavanaugh said the other bonus is it gets more of Sycamore’s deep bench into the game, with players such as Collin Severson and Conner Williar getting extra at-bats after playing their way to more playing time this year.

2. Sycamore’s got the power

The top three sluggers in this year’s tournament are all Spartans. Tommy Townsend has hit eight home runs, and Kyle Hartmann and Amptmann each have seven. There are three players who have five, including Lucas Winburn of the Spartans.

Nazareth’s Cooper Malamazian – hitting a tourney-best .569 – has five homers, as does Effingham’s Quest Hull.

The Spartans and Roadrunners each have eight players who have homered this year. Grayslake Central and Effingham each have four.

3. Who’s who of coaches

Effingham’s Curran McNeely has been a head coach for three years and has a career 50-40 record. The other three coaches in the tournament have 1,630 games combined.

That includes Cavanaugh, inducted into the Illinois Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame this Year. He has 564 career wins heading into the tournament and is in his 25th season.

Nazareth’s Lee Milano has 573 wins and is in his 23rd season, while Grayslake Central’s Troy Whalen has 493 wins in 20 years of coaching.

4. Effingham in first state tournament in 81 years

Sycamore is playing in its first state tournament. The Flaming Hearts have been here before, but it was probably their great-grandparents playing in the game.

They appeared in the 1942 tournament, losing their only game to Peoria Manual 6-3.

5. Streaky Grayslake Central

It’s been a roller coaster of a year for the Rams. They started 2-3, then won 25 of 27 games. They dropped their last two regular-season games before ripping off five postseason wins.

A pair of their postseason wins have been run-rule wins, including a 10-0 victory over Lake Forest to claim their home sectional final.