Panther baseball headed to IESA State Tournament
By FRED KRONER
For the third consecutive year and the sixth time in the past nine years, the St. Joseph Middle School baseball team has qualified for the IESA Class 2A state tournament.
The Panthers secured their berth in the Elite Eight on Saturday (Sept. 23), recovering from a 4-0 deficit with a five-run fifth inning that resulted in a 5-4 triumph over Iroquois West.
St. Joseph (12-6) will tackle the lone undefeated entry in the state quarterfinals, Staunton (14-0) on Friday (Sept. 29) at noon at Eastside Centre, in East Peoria.
The winner will return the following day for a semifinal contest.
Against Iroquois West (16-2), the rally started with runs scored by Landon May, Lucas Barton, Kiptyn Rosenthal, Ike Shelato and Trey Divan.
Ryder Van Meenen, Owen Wall, Rosenthal and Shelato all drove in runs.
Eight players in the Panthers’ lineup contributed either a run, a hit or an RBI. Brock Franzen also had a hit as the Panthers won their fourth consecutive game.
Van Meenen pitched 5 2/3 innings and earned the win. He permitted five hits, four walks and recorded eight strikeouts.
Shelato worked the last 1 1/3 innings, giving up one hit and one walk. He fanned one hitter.
St. Joseph’s other state tourney appearances came in 2022, 2021, 2018, 2016, 2015 and 2009.
