For the fourth time in the past seven years, the St. Joseph Junior High baseball team has qualified for the IESA Class 2A state tournament.

The Panthers secured their berth on Saturday (Sept. 25) with a 7-0 win at home over Hoopeston Area in the sectional championship game.

The shutout was the third in succession for St. Joseph in the postseason.

The team (18-3) returns to action in the state quarterfinals on Friday (Oct. 1) at 4:30 p.m. in East Peoria against Pleasant Plains (22-4).

In the sectional finals, Bryson Houchens didn’t get credit for a complete game even though he made every pitch for the Panthers in the game.

Houchens reached his pitch limit after working 6 2/3 innings. He yielded one hit, walked three and struck out nine batters.

Trevor Ames was summoned to finish the game, but before he could throw a ball to the plate, he picked off a runner at first base to end the game.

Houchens received all of the offensive support he would need when his teammates staked him to a three-run first-inning lead.

Ames, Will Haley, Luke Smith and Tim Blackburn-Kelly all belted two hits for the Panthers. Haley’s hits were a double and a triple. He also scored two runs.

Houchens and Asher Pruemer both drove in two runs.

Since 2016, St. Joseph and Teutopolis are the only schools with two title-game appearances in the Class 2A segment of the IESA baseball event. The Panthers won the 2018 state crown and were the runners-up in 2016.

Friday’s winner will play in a noon semifinal game on Saturday (Oct. 2). The trophy games will be played later in the day.

The Panthers are coached by Josh Haley.

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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.

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The St. Joseph Panthers collected a 9-1 baseball win on Monday (Aug. 23) over Champaign Edison, the team’s third straight win.

Bryson Houchens picked up the win. In six innings, he allowed five hits, no walks and struck out seven.

Gary Page pitched the final inning to close out the win.

Houchens also delivered a two-run single in the first inning to get the Panthers on the board.

Houchens and Logan Rosenthal each had three hits. Cam Schluter and Luke Smith contributed two hits apiece. St. Joseph pounded 13 hits in all.

Smith and Trevor Ames drove in two runs apiece.

On Friday (Aug. 20), St. Joseph blanked Jefferson 20-0 in Champaign.

Schluter pitched four innings of two-hit ball, walking no one and striking out five. Finn Miller pitched the fifth inning and retired all three batters he faced.

Houchens knocked three hits. Ames had two hits as did teammates Tim Blackburn-Kelley and Hunter Van Meenan.

Will Haley had three RBI. Ames and Rosenthal also drove in three runs. Van Meenan and Nolan Franzen both knocked in two runs.

On Thursday (Aug. 19), Asher Pruemer pitched a three-inning no-hitter in a 15-0 win at home over Villa Grove. He struck out eight batters.

Finishing with two hits apiece were Jake Carlson, Rosenthal, Houchens, Ames, Smith and Cameron Buskirk. Smith had three RBI.

The Panthers (7-2) return to action on Wednesday (Aug. 25) at Mahomet.

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