BLOOMINGTON — For Saturday’s Class 1A Illinois Wesleyan University Sectional championship, the coin flip made Henry-Senachwine the away team.
That was fine with Mallard coach Max Kirbach.
Henry scored two runs in the top of the first inning, added runs in the third and sixth innings and got a solid outing on the mound from Mason Johnson to beat Heyworth 6-1 to claim the sectional title.
“I don’t mind being the away team because we come out aggressive and we come out ready to go,” Kirbach said. “It settles the team down when you get those first couple. It gets the nerves out a little bit.
“These guys have played well. We’ve executed the small ball and today we got the bats going finally, which we needed to do. It’s just great for the program and great for Henry-Senachwine.”
It’s the Mallards’ first sectional championship since qualifying for the state tournament in 1993 under legendary coach Robert Newell.
“It’s amazing,” Henry senior Colton Williams said. “It means a lot, especially for Henry. We’re a small town. I’m kind of speechless.
“I felt like I was floating (when I got the final pitch for a game-ending strikeout). I was so happy.”
Henry (22-6) returns to Wesleyan’s Jack Horenberger Field on Monday to play Milford (15-12-1) in the supersectional. The Bearcats advanced with an 8-1 win over St. Thomas More in the St. Thomas More Sectional championship Saturday.
“It feels amazing,” Johnson said. “I never would have thought (we’d win a sectional), but here we are. We did it. We’re taking it game by game.
“Monday, we’re not looking ahead. We have to make our plays, pitch strikes and hit the ball and we’ll be good.”
After recording only three hits — including two bunt singles — in Thursday’s semifinal, the Mallards got their bats going early Saturday.
Leadoff hitter Mason Guarnieri started the game with a single for the first of his four hits. No. 2 hitter Preston Rowe walked before the Mallards executed a double steal.
After a strikeout and a walk, Johnson hit a sacrifice fly to center field and Carson Rowe followed with a RBI single to center.
“They squared it up today,” Kirbach said. “They were focused and ready to go from the get-go. We saw they were into the game. We know we’re going to throw strikes. We know our defense is solid. When we score, we’re a tough team to beat.”
The Mallards tacked on a run in the third when Williams led off with a double and his courtesy runner came home on a groundout by Johnson.
After the Hornets got on the board with a run in the bottom of the fifth, the Mallards immediately responded with three in the top of the sixth.
Teegan Williams walked to start the inning and Guarnieri and Preston Rowe had back-to-back bunt singles to load the bases.
Williams doubled to right field to score a pair of runs, and after an intentional walk to Lance Kiesewetter, Johnson delivered a sacrifice fly for his third RBI of the game.
“That was huge,” Williams said. “We were just calm. We didn’t try to do too much. We put the ball in play and it worked out.”
With plenty of run support, Johnson did the rest as he threw a complete game, allowing one run on six hits with five strikeouts and one walk.
“I just tried to throw strikes and our defense is amazing, so it works out,” Johnson said. “I was hitting my corners and the ump was calling the outside corner. They didn’t like that, but it was awesome.”
