Baseball: Kyle Farrell dominant in Supersectional win over Peoria Notre Dame

GENESEO - Wilmington appeared to not take full advantage of a golden opportunity early in its Class 2A Supersectional matchup with Peoria Notre Dame on Monday.

After Ryan Kettman reached on a bunt single to start the game, Lucas Rink swatted a double that sent Kettman over to third. Cade McCubbin loaded up the bases after he’d been hit by a pitch and the Wildcats appeared poised for a huge inning.

But the next two batters struck out, leaving Dierks Geiss to deliver for the Wildcats with a two-out, two-run single to put them in front. Joe Allgood singled to reload the bases, but the Wildcats were unable to tack on.

In the end, however, Wilmington’s inability to blow the game wide open didn’t matter at all because it became clear that Peoria Notre Dame wasn’t going to be able to muster much of anything against Wilmington’s Kyle Farrell.

Farrell tossed a one-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts as Wilmington earned a 5-0 victory to advance the program to the Class 2A State Tournament.

It is Wilmington’s first trip to the state tournament since the Wildcats’ Class A state title achieved in 2004.

Wilmington (27-1) will play Effingham St. Anthony (25-5-1) in the state semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday at Peoria’s Dozer Park. St. Anthony defeated downstate Mt. Carmel in the Carbondale (SIU) Supersectional.

“We had that bases loaded situation and we could have blown it open, that was tough,” Wilmington coach Mike Bushnell said. “But I think all year it comes down to just trust in these guys. Everyone trusts each other, no one is going to press, we know that someone is going to come through.”

After the early Wilmington offensive onslaught, both Farrell and Peoria Notre Dame starter Bryce Seaton settled in nicely. Farrell allowed what turned out to be the only PND hit in the game to Jackson Campbell on a infield hit deep in the hole behind shortstop on which Rink nearly recorded an out, but Farrell wiped him off the books when after Campbell advanced to second on a wild pitch, Rink cut him down at third after he tried to advance on a routine infield grounder.

It was the only time all game the Irish had a baserunner beyond second base, for however briefly.

“I was just trying to throw strikes and attack,” Farrell said. “I knew my guys would make plays behind me. I was just trying to attack every guy and it worked out. We put two runs on the board in the first and that helps a lot. I just felt good.”

Farrell strung together seven consecutive outs before walking Thomas Mickels in the fourth, then ran off another seven consecutive outs before walking Lawson Alwan in the sixth. Neither came remotely close to scoring.

To his credit, Peoria Notre Dame’s Seaton galvanized his strength after the rocky first inning. Wilmington netted just two hits over the next four innings and like Peoria Notre Dame was never a serious threat to tack on any more runs.

But Seaton hit the wall in the sixth, surrendering a single to Brendan Moran and a double to Reid Juster before departing for a relief pitcher. Wilmington was happy to see Seaton go, scoring first on a wild pitch and then on RBI singles from Kettman and McCubbin to extend the lead to 5-0.

Amply supported, Farrell locked in and finished off the job retiring the side order, finishing the game by retiring 11 of the last 12 batters he faced.

“Kyle just did an outstanding job today,” Bushnell said. “He throws strikes and makes it easy for us to play behind him.”