By Fred Kroner
Mateo Casillas and his Mahomet-Seymour baseball teammates showed on Wednesday (May 24) that they are primed for the postseason.
The Bulldogs registered their school-record 30th win of the spring as pitchers Casillas and Kody Ackman combined for a one-hitter in the Class 3A regional semifinals, a 19-1 Bulldog win at home over Danville.
Casillas also helped his cause at the plate. He bashed a double and a home run.
“Mateo hit one of the hardest balls I’ve seen all year,” M-S head coach Nic DiFilippo said. “He crushed it into the wind (to straight-away center field).”
Top-seeded M-S (30-5) will return to action at 2 p.m. on Saturday (May 27) in their home-finale against either fourth-seeded Lincoln or seventh-seeded Centennial, which play their regional semifinal game on Thursday (May 25) in Mahomet. Danville was the No. 9 seed.
The Bulldogs are seeking third consecutive regional crown.
DiFilippo was on the M-S coaching staff as an assistant in 2005 when the Bulldogs set the previous baseball season wins record with 29.
“Thirty is a special number,” he said. “It’s a number I hold close to the heart.
“(Former) Coach (Nathan) Seal used to say if you win 15, it was a good season, if you win 20, it was a great season and anything over 25 is special.
“You don’t win 30 with just one pitcher. And the weather has to cooperate. When Joe Kenney was a junior (2014), we were 26-6 and had five games rained out that I thought we would have won.”
Danville got on the board first, scratching out an unearned run in the top of the first inning.
The Bulldogs responded quickly, piling up six runs in both the first and second innings and then adding seven in the third frame. They didn’t bat again as the game was called by the run rule after Danville hit in the fourth inning.
M-S knocked 10 hits, including two each by Casillas and Blake Wolters. Alex McHale drove in three runs and Carter Johnson recorded two RBI.
Significantly, every Bulldog batter put the ball in play, drew a walk or was hit by a pitch. No one struck out.
“The kids are swinging the bats well,” DiFilippo said. “The hitting is fantastic.”
Wolters, Casillas and Carter Selk all scored three runs. Braden Houchin and Cade Starrick each crossed home plate twice.
The Bulldogs were 9-for-9 on stolen base attempts with Selk, Ben Wagner and Wolter all swiping two bases.
On the mound, Casillas (3-1) allowed one single in three innings. He issued one walk and struck out six batters.
Ackman, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, worked one inning in his second outing of the spring.
He walked one hitter, but faced the minimum number of batters as M-S ended the game with a double play.
“Mateo did a fantastic job,” DiFilippo said. “The one hit was about six inches out of the reach of (first baseman) Ben Wagner or we could have had our sixth no-hitter.”
DiFilippo said it wasn’t an easy decision to select his pitcher for the regional semifinals. Casillas is the fifth squad member with at least three pitching wins this spring.
The team’s cumulative earned run average through 35 games is 1.58.
“We have so many who are pitching well,” DiFilippo said. “Part of it was who do we want in relief, if we need someone, and who do we want to keep fresh.
“The thought was we’d give a couple guys a chance.”
DiFilippo was pleased by the attendance, with an estimated 500 people watching the game.
“You wouldn’t believe the fan support,” he said. “The whole hillside was full, and they were lined up two deep along the fence.”
Saturday’s opponent will be one which M-S has beaten at least once this season in a no-hit performance.
Wolters (6-1), who will be the regional championship game starter, fired a no-hitter against Centennial. Alec Bergman tossed a no-hitter against Lincoln, completing a week-night sweep of a 20-win team.
DiFilippo is not going to commit in advance to how many innings Wolters will throw on Saturday.
“If he throws 75 (pitches) or less, he can throw again on Wednesday (in the sectional semifinals),” DiFilippo said, “but the goal is to win and that is the priority.”
