By Fred Kroner
For the St. Joseph Panthers junior high baseball team, the IESA Class 2A regional semifinal game looked a lot like the regional championship contest.
Both were wins for the Panthers.
Both were by 12-0 shutouts.
Both were games where the St. Joseph pitchers didn’t issue a walk.
On Saturday (Sept. 18) St. Joseph blanked Holy Cross at home, 12-0. Logan Rosenthal pitched three innings, allowing one hit and fanning two. Trevor Ames worked one inning, yielding one hit and striking out one batter.
On Monday (Sept. 20), Bryson Houchens scattered two hits over four innings, picking up his fourth win in a seven-strikeout performance against Westville.
Leading the offense against Holy Cross was Cam Schluter with three hits.
Schluter drove in three runs. Tim Blackburn-Kelley had two RBI. Luke Smith, Asher Pruemer and Houchens all scored two runs.
The Panthers put the game away with a nine-run second inning.
Against Westville, Schluter, Rosenthal, Ames, Will Haley and Jake Carlson struck two hits each.
Rosenthal, Haley and Carlson knocked in two runs. Rosenthal and Haley scored twice. Ames stole three bases.
In his first two postseason games, Schluter is 5-for-5.
A four-run first inning put St. Joseph in command early.
St. Joseph (17-3) has won nine consecutive games. The last six wins have all been by at least 10-run margins.
The Panthers return to action in the IESA Class 2A sectional on Saturday (Sept. 25) at home against Hoopeston Area (18-2), which scored a 1-0 regional title-game win over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley.
The winner secures a berth in the state tournament, which starts on Oct. 1 in Peoria.
