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Winnebago hoists the 4 in Class 2A Tournament
By Christopher Johnson
Within the next week, baseball playoffs across the State of Illinois will be underway and in the end four classes, covering student populations from barely 100 to well past 2000, will feature the best of the bunch.
The Four Class system helps to separate area teams based on the number of available bodies, which can suit up on a daily basis.
Many of the northern Illinois teams participate in smaller school conference play, which mostly features 1A stand-out programs.
Teams such as Dakota, Lena-Winslow, Forreston, and Freeport Aquin tip off in the second season, in the weeks ahead as well.
In the smallest-school design, Lena-Winslow is the top seed in the Rockford, Rivets Stadium, Class 1A Super-Sectional set-up.
They won the one in Sub-Sectional A courtesy of a 10-0 showing in the Northwest Upstate Illini East Conference, which was good enough for a one win victory over the rest of the field..
Eastland finished in second place with a one-loss mark and a 12-8 season total in the East. The are playing in Sub-Sectional B, where they start game play with a four-seed as well.
NUIC-familiars Warren, picked up the two-seed, with East Dubuque collecting the three under Lena-Winslow’s one-seed designation.
In the Class 2A Playoff Realm both four-seed Winnebago and seven-seed Pecatonica-Durand will be playing as participant-hopefuls in the Stillman Valley Sectional.
With a season mark of 15-9, heading into the final game of the year, the top-tier Indians faced down the top team in the 2A Sectional, Byron, in the 2022 spring regular season closer this past Friday, May 13.
The match with Byron was a perfect warm-up for Winnebago, which is hoping to improve upon its own 15 win season as second chance games commence.
The Indians played strong over the past few weeks of the 2022 spring campaign. Since a 7-4 loss to open game play in May, Winnebago only came up short one time, and that was to the eventual Big Northern Champion Byron Tigers..
Over the final six games of the regular season, the Indians were 5-1 and outscored their opponents by a margin of 54-9 through the stretch.
Just northwest of Winnebago, the coop of Pecatonica and Durand readied for their opening game play in 2A Regional action.
The Rivermen, including a 3-1 victory over Pearl City on Tuesday, April 26, won five of their final seven games of the 2022 spring season.
Major conference take downs of both Pearl City and Dakota helped guide the Rivermen to its final resting place of third place in the NUIC-East.
In its last contest ahead of the post-season, daylight was saved as the Rivermen let loose an attack that featured a scorecard with a double-digit total of 13-1, ahead of the match being called for the day, due to “slaughter rule” applications.
If both the Rivermen and Indians advance in the 2A Stillman Valley Sectional, a potential showdown could arise that would result in the end of a season for one of the neighborly contestants.
The Illinois High School Association’s Boys Baseball State Championship Tournament ends when the 1A and 2A ‘s best collect the final out at Dozer Park in Peoria, on Friday, June 3 and Saturday, June 4.
The IHSA larger school combatants, including the 3A and 4A student populations, will crown their champions a week later at Duly Health & Care Field in Joliet, Friday, June 10 and Saturday, June 11.
