Could the 2022 M-S baseball team be the best in program history?
By FRED KRONER
A case can be made – even in the wake of a loss in the sectional finals – that the Mahomet-Seymour baseball team that stepped on the field at Champaign’s Spalding Park on Saturday (June 4) was the best in school history.
The 7-4 loss to Chatham Glenwood brought an end to the Bulldogs’ season in the Class 3A sectional championship game, but not to the argument about the school’s best-ever baseball team.
The credentials are there to at least put the 2022 team in the conversation as No.1 all-time.
Consider the qualifications of the 27-6 squad that completed its season as a member of the Sweet Sixteen after capturing regional and conference titles.
Only one M-S baseball team in history has won more games. The 2003 team captured 29 wins, but did not win a regional title.
Only two M-S baseball teams have advanced further in the postseason series. The 1988 and the 2000 teams won sectional titles and advanced to state, but finished with 23 and 19 wins, respectively.
And then, there is the performance of players on coach Nic DiFilippo’s 2022 team.
Ten Bulldogs took the pitching mound this spring. Nine averaged more than one strikeout per inning, led by junior Blake Wolters, who set the school record for strikeouts in a season with 115.
“Any time you have a kid like Blake, that sets the bar high for the other kids,” DiFilippo said, “and we have to credit our pitching coach, Brian Bajer.”
Offensively, eight M-S players had at least 80 at-bats. All eight compiled season batting averages of at least .300.
Those players were: Wolters (.460), Brayden Smith (.455), Carter Johnson (.433), Carter Selk (.371), Mateo Casillas (.354), Chase Wagers (.337), Alex McHale (.336) and Braden Houchin (.301).
Adding fodder to the debate: This year’s senior class is the first in school history with back-to-back regional crowns. And, the team’s postseason success included a win over the defending state champions (Springfield).
“It was absolutely a great year,” DiFilippo said.
Saturday’s sectional showdown with Chatham Glenwood started well for the Bulldogs. Zach Courson struck out the first batter he faced. However, before the inning ended, M-S made two pitching changes.
The Titans put five runs on the scoreboard before any Bulldog player stepped into the batter’s box.
“After that inning, we outscored them 4-2,” DiFilippo said. “Our kids battled and found ways to score.”
M-S loaded the bases in the fourth inning, but didn’t score. The Bulldogs plated two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and had the tying run on deck when the game ended.
Smith – a catcher who will continue his baseball career at Mattoon’s Lake Land Community College – led M-S with two hits.
The Bulldogs and the Titans each swatted eight hits in the game.
Other M-S hits were by Johnson, Jaedon Lager, McHale, Selk, Wagers and Wolters. Johnson, Smith, Wagers and Wolters all drove in runs.
Scoring runs were Camden Heinold, Lager, Jacob Waldinger and Wolters.
The team’s seven seniors were Courson, Jacob Creel, William Jones, Lager, Evan Ruzich, Smith and Wagers.
Ruzich and Wagers both have offers to play in college, but are uncommitted.
“How exciting was this for the seniors,” DiFilippo said. “They lost their sophomore year to COVID and went from playing freshmen ball (in 2019) to varsity athletes as juniors (in 2021).
“We saw these kids push, grind and develop.”
Wagers, a third baseman, is the first recipient of the Bulldogs’ defensive award.
“The kids call him The Vacuum,” DiFilippo said. “He has continued the Wagers’ legacy.”
While the seniors will be missed, DiFilippo said there is a strong nucleus in the Class of 2023.
“Three or four of those kids will end up playing somewhere (in college),” he said.
Wolters – a Purdue recruit – was 10-0 as a pitcher and shattered the school record by hitting 21 doubles. His five triples tied a school record.
He also led the team in hits (52), runs scored (49), runs batted in (43) and shared the lead in stolen bases (19) with Houchin.
Selk swiped 18 bases. Casillas and Waldinger each had 15 steals. Selk and Wolters hammered six home runs. Casillas and Houchin both socked four home runs.
Courson (7-3 record) led the team in pitching appearances (16). Wolters pitched in 12 games and Ruzich in 11.
