The Triad Knights fell in the IHSA 3a State Semifinals as Ben Geary delivered an RBI single helping St Laurence knock off the Knights 11-6 at Duly Health & Care Field in Joliet. Wisconsin-Stout recruit Connor Marina added 2 hits and 4 RBI to lead the way for the Vikings who improve to 36-5. They will try to win the program’s first ever state title at 1pm today when they take on Lisle Benet Academy who beat Cary Grove 11-6 in the other semifinal.
Triad had their six game winning streak snapped as they will play in the 3rd place game today still looking for the program’s first win at state in their 3rd trip. The Vikings jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the 2nd inning and led 8-0 before Triad tried to mount a comeback. The Knights came alive in the bottom of the sixth with back to back singles by Hayden Bernreuter and Hayden Bugger. Keegan Seipp was then hit by a pitch to load the bases and Nolan Keller singled home a run. Carter Gaskill then added an RBI single and Braxton Yates walked with the bases loaded to make the game 8-3. Triad would mount a comeback in the 7th inning when Bernreuter reached on an error and went to 2nd on a Bugger single. Seipp’s 3-run homer made it 11-6 but that would be as close as they would get. The Knights are 33-7 and will take on Cary Grove this morning at 10am for 3rd place.
In the 4a semifinals, Libertyville needed 8 innings to knock off Normal Community 2-1, they will take on McHenry in the finals after they knocked off Brother Rice 4-1. The 3rd place game is at 4pm with the state title and final game of the IHSA baseball season at 7pm.
