CARPENTERSVILLE, Ill. (WTVO/WQRF) — The Hononegah baseball team remains the lone NIC-10 left in the postseason. They took to the diamond again Saturday morning with a 4A sectional championship on the line. It was them versus Algonquin Jacobs at Dundee-Crown.
It came down to the final two outs of the 7th inning, but the Indians came up victorious 3-2. That marks win number 29 on the season.
Senior Maddux Hibbard got the start on the mound for Hononegah.
The runs came in early in the first inning for the Indians — Jerimiah Olson fired first with an RBI single to bring in Landen Seymour. Next batter, Austin Dresser gets an RBI of his own with a knock through the right-field gap to give Hono an early 2-0 lead.
They’ll add another in the third with a sack fly from Olson, that gave Hononegah a three-run cushion with four innings left to play.
Hibbard found himself in a bit of a jam with two on base and two outs on the board in the fourth — but he’ll strikeout Jacobs’ Nathan Gerritsen to close the inning, big things on the bump from the senior in this one.
Hibbard hit the pitch limit (115) in the top of the seventh to close out his no-hitter. He was just a few pitches shy of a complete game shutout. He allowed no runs or hits through the six innings he pitched and had 6 strikeouts. Head coach Matt Simpson said it was the best pitching they’ve seen from him in two years.
Jakob Deleo replaced Hibbard to try and close this one out. But a two-run blast from Jacobs’ Jack Celler brings the Eagles within one, 3-2.
The Indians would get the final two outs and secure the 4A sectional championship, only their second in school history. What a game for Hono, especially Hibbard on the hill.
“I would have liked it dragged out two more outs to make it a complete game, but it still cool,” said Hibbard. “I knew my stuff was going to be working today, prepared early, so kind of got locked in early, kind of kept the groove going, so felt happy with how I left it.”
Hononegah will travel to Northwestern Medicine Field to play in the Kane County Super-Sectional on Monday at 6 p.m. against Elmhurst York.
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