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Morris and Lemont have reached the Class 3A state tournament this weekend at Joliet’s Duly Health and Care Field.
Both programs have experienced success in the state tournament, but it has been a little while for each. Morris won a Class AA state championship in 1995 and finished second in 1993, while Lemont won Class 3A championships in 2014 and 2016. Both are assured of bringing home a trophy and would like it to be the biggest one.
The teams have gone down different paths. Morris (29-3), which plays 20-14 Crystal Lake Central in the semifinals at 10 a.m. Friday, was a juggernaut from the start. After losing two in a row – to Mascoutah and Freeburg – on a southern trip in mid-March, they have only lost once since St. Patrick’s Day. Even that loss, a 7-2 decision to Ottawa, was a bit tainted. In the top of the sixth in that game, Morris rallied for eight runs to take a 10-7 lead, but the game was called because of weather and since Ottawa didn’t get a chance to hit in the sixth, the score reverted to the last completed inning.
Morris has not lost since the Ottawa defeat April 11, coming into the state finals riding a 19-game winning streak. While the talent is evident, coach Todd Kein said it is something else that sets this team apart.
“I would say it’s their attitude,” said Kein, who became Morris’ all-time winningest coach this season. “The attitude that they bring to the field every day, mixed with their character as people. They are able to look ahead in the right way. They don’t overlook any opponent and their focus is on that day, but as soon as it’s over they are looking ahead to the next day.
“A lot of these guys have been playing together for a long time, not just in baseball but football and basketball as well. They have such a tight bond, and they have gone all-in for this season. Winning breeds winning, and they have won a lot no matter which sport. All of that, plus their ability, just speaks for itself.”
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Captains Cody Del Favero, Keegan Waters, Anthony Xydakis and AJ Zweeres knew this team was special from the start.
“Some of us have been playing together since like 7-8 years old,” Zweeres said. “We’ve been through a lot together and have done a lot of team-bonding things. We were cross-town rivals in middle school [some went to Saratoga Middle School and some went to Morris Grade School], and we joke sometimes about the games we played against each other. It’s all in fun, though, since we are on the same team now.”
Xydakis was the only one of the captains to attend Saratoga. The Wisconsin-Parkside recruit was hitting .371 before a hamstring injury in mid-April ended his season. Waters, another Wisconsin-Parkside recruit, has been battling an arm injury that has limited his innings. However, neither has seen their enthusiasm diminish.
“I have bought into my role as a leader, if not on the field, then in the dugout,” Waters said. “If I see something that a pitcher is doing mechanically or mentally that isn’t quite right, I will take him aside and talk to him about it.
“And I am pretty much the loudest guy in the dugout.”
That dugout noise also has been a Morris hallmark, one they generally use to their advantage.
“It’s great when I am on the mound,” said Del Favero, a Parkland recruit and two-way standout who is 12-0 with a 1.38 ERA and hits .378 with four homers and 28 RBIs as the cleanup hitter. “When I’m out there our guys are cheering louder than the other team is chirping from their dugout. It gets me pumped up.”
Zweeres will continue his athletic career at Augustana where he will play football.
“We can definitely hear the guys in the dugout,” he said. “Once we get a few runs, it just kills any momentum the other team might have.”
The finality of this weekend has yet to hit the players, but Kein is well aware of it.
“Saturday is our last day with this group,” he said. “It’s a weird feeling. Most years, you don’t know it’s your last game until you play it and lose. This year, we know our last game is Saturday, no matter what the result.
“I think our kids will be fine. I was a little worried after the JCA game [a 7-0 win in the Washington Sectional championship]. That was the most emotional win for us in my 25 years here. On that stage and against that opponent, I was a little worried about a letdown. That these kids didn’t have a letdown and went out and beat Sycamore in the supersectional speaks a lot to the mentality that these kids have.”
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Lemont was 7-6 at one point this season, one of the losses coming to Morris. Since then they have gone 23-3 and are hitting their stride.
“We finally started to find guys you know where their positions are, they just got comfortable, they stopped stressing, and we got experienced,” Lemont coach Brian Storako said. “Because pretty much we virtually have a entire new team this year.
“So they got confident and then it started clicking. We knew we always had the talent, it just needed to come around.”
Lemont has been at its best in the postseason, beating St. Laurence, St. Rita and De La Salle in its past three games. They will face a stern test in the semifinals at 1 p.m. Friday against Highland (32-6-1).
A closer look at the teams competing in this weekend’s Class 3A State Tournament:
Morris
Enrollment: 848
Conference: Interstate Eight
Record: 29-3
Current win streak: 19 games
Head coach: Todd Kein (19 years, 349-241-1)
Previous state appearances: 1995 first in AA; 1993 second in AA; 1992 DNP in AA.
Top arms: LHP Cody DelFavero, sr., 12-0, 61.0 IP, 1.38 ERA, 83 K, 14 BB; RHP Brett Bounds, jr., 8-0, 55.0 IP, 1.15 ERA, 60 K, 15 BB; RHP Colin Pfeifer, jr., 4-1, 24.0 IP, 2.33 ERA, 31K, 9 BB.
Top bats: RH Jack Wheeler, jr., .414, 40 RBI, 42 R, 4 HR; RH AJ Zweeres, sr., .392, 25 RBI, 42 R, 1 HR; LH Cody DelFavero, sr., .378, 34 RBI, 32 R, 4 HR.
Lemont
Enrollment: 1377
Conference: South Suburban
Record: 30-9
Current win streak: 6 games
Head coach: Brian Storako (10 years, 258-99-2)
Previous state appearances: 2014 1st in 3A; 2016 1st in 3A.
Top arms: LHP Cannon Madej, so., 7-2, 40.0 IP, 1.93 ERA, 44 K, 24 BB; RHP Shea Glotzbach, jr., 6-3, 50.0 IP, 3.50 ERA, 48 K, 22 BB; RHP Donovan Moleski, jr.., 5-0, 28.0 IP, 2.25 ERA, 28K, 21 BB.
Top bats: LH Jacob Parr, jr., .415, 35 RBI, 37 R, 3 HR; RH Max Michalak, sr., .402, 25 RBI, 40 R, 0 HR; RH Noah Tomaras, sr., .379, 29 RBI, 30 R, 3 HR.
Crystal Lake Central
Enrollment: 1467.5
Conference: Fox Valley
Record: 20-14
Current win streak: 10 games
Head coach: Cal Aldridge (1 year, 20-14)
Previous state appearances: 2008 3rd in 3A; 2003 DNP in AA.
Top arms: RHP John Gariepy, jr., 6-2, 56.0 IP, 4.00 ERA, 60 K, 28 BB; RHP Tommy Kom, sr., 2-3, 32.0 IP, 2.41 ERA, 36 K, 13 BB; RHP Rhett Ozment, jr.., 4-0, 19.0 IP, 1.84 ERA, 20 K, 10 BB.
Top bats: RH Jaden Obaldo, sr., .373, 22 RBI, 31 R, 1 HR; LH James Dreher, jr., .363, 20 RBI, 24 R, 1 HR; RH Sean Kempf, sr., .333, 28 RBI, 7 R, 4 HR.
Highland
Enrollment: 897.5
Conference: Mississippi Valley
Record: 32-6-1
Current win streak: 6 games
Head coach: Joel Hawkins (31 years, 695-377-2)
Previous state appearances: 2015 1st in 3A; 2008 1st in 3A; 1958 DNP.
Top arms: LHP Chase Knebel, jr., 11-0, 68.0 IP, 0.31 ERA, 63 K, 7 BB; RHP Trent Clemons, sr., 7-3, 61.0 IP, 1.72 ERA, 52 K, 15 BB; RHP Alex Howard, jr., 5-0, 34.0 IP, 3.09 ERA, 24K, 14 BB.
Top bats: LH Jake Ottensmeier, sr., .397, 26 RBI, 49 R, 2 HR; lH Chase Knebel, jr., .340, 38 RBI, 16 R, 0 HR; RH Garrin Stone, jr., .314, 25 RBI, 18 R, 1 HR.