ROCKFORD – With DeKalb’s lead trimmed from five runs to three and reliever Eric Nelson battling back from a 3-0 count with no outs in the sixth, Noah Valin was getting antsy in center field.
Nelson dealt a pair of strikes to Hononegah’s Jackson Engel to run the count full. Then it was Valin’s moment Wednesday evening.
On the next pitch, Engel smacked a ball to left-center field. Valin got a perfect jump on the hit and robbed Engel of extra bases with a sliding grab. His defensive play swung momentum back into the Barbs’ dugout. DeKalb recorded six straight outs to finish the game and upset Hononegah, 5-2, in a Class 4A Guilford Regional semifinal.
“When we’re only up three runs, that could be the difference in the game,” DeKalb coach Dedric Wright said. “He saved us from a double or probably a triple.
“That was a great play.”
The Barbs advance to the Class 4A Guilford Regional championship, where they'll play at 10 a.m. Saturday against the winner between Rockford East and Guilford.
Valin said he called his shot moments before he made the play of the day.
“Just before that play happened, I was talking to [left fielder] Charlie Roberts about how we want that next ball – we want to be that guy to make a play,” Valin said. “Right when I saw it leave the bat, I knew it was mine.”
Valin scored DeKalb's first run in the second inning off an RBI single from Bryce Wheeler. Two batters later, Nelson scored on an error by Hononegah catcher Noah Goddard to give DeKalb a 2-0 lead.
Hononegah committed five errors compared with DeKalb's zero.
“[Errors] were a big difference today,” Wright said. “We were pretty much able to capitalize on all of their mistakes.”
Wheeler earned the win for the Barbs. He pitched five innings, giving up five hits and two runs and striking out three. Nelson threw two innings of relief, not allowing a hit or run, while fanning two.
Wright said Wheeler gave DeKalb exactly what it needed.
“I told him after a couple innings, ‘Hey dude, you don’t have your stuff today but just keep dealing. I need you get through five,’ ” Wright said. “Even without his best stuff, he was able to battle.”
The Barbs doubled their advantage in the fourth, when Eric Nelson cracked an RBI grounder to score John Balli. Valin, who reached earlier on a fielder’s choice, scored during the same sequence as he beat out a throw from first at the plate. Ryne Kerschke and Valin led DeKalb with two hits each.
DeKalb ballooned its lead to 5-0 in the fifth, when Roberts crushed a sacrifice fly to right field to bring in Glendon Williams.
Hononegah mustered three straight hits to right field to begin the bottom of the fifth, trimming the deficit 5-2. However, that would be all the offense it could manage as Wheeler retired the next three batters.
“I didn’t have my best stuff, but ... I worked it in and tried to throw strikes and pitch to contact” Wheeler said. “My defense was really behind me there today. That’s all I can really ask for.”
By the numbers: Hononegah concludes the 2018 season with a record of 22-10. The Barbs have won five straight and improve to 9-24.
Beyond the stats: Wright expects Nelson to start on the mound Saturday for the Class 4A Guilford Regional championship.
They said it: “It's playoffs; we're focused in,” Nelson said. “I’m sure I’ll be a little bit nervous since its a regional championship, but once I’m in the game, I’ll be fine. I just have to treat it like any other game.”