Swaney fans 9 as Rochester beats Mahomet-Seymour
LINCOLN — Jack Swaney faced adversity a few times on the mound in Wednesday’s Class 3A Lincoln Sectional semifinal baseball game but he turned the strikeout into a rally-preventing weapon when he needed to.
Swaney, a junior, got seven of his nine strikeouts as Mahomet-Seymour had runners in scoring position to deliver Rochester a 6-2 win and advance to the 3A Lincoln Sectional championship game against either Chatham Glenwood or Champaign Central. Glenwood and Central meet on Thursday in Lincoln at 4:30 p.m. The championship game is scheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m.
“It’s not necessarily changing strategy, it’s about minimize and try to get outs and try and stop the bleeding a little bit and go into bulldog mode and get outs,” Swaney said.
Swaney allowed two runs on five hits, two walks and two hit batters to improve to 3-2. His first inning was a harbinger of the night.
Mahomet-Seymour's Alex McHale led off the bottom of the first with a double to right-center field but Swaney fanned the next two batters before he got out of trouble with a ground out. In the second inning, Swaney had runners on first and second with one out but got his fourth and fifth strikeouts to end that threat and leave the Bulldogs in their place.
After Mahomet-Seymour pulled within a run in the bottom of the third and had a runner on third with two outs, Swaney caught Tyson Finch looking to keep Rochester ahead 2-1. Finally, in the fifth, the Bulldogs loaded the bases with two outs but Swaney got Finch to swing through strike three to keep momentum on Rochester’s side after the Rockets busted out for four runs in the top of the fifth.
Rochester coach Matt Carlson credited catcher Parker Lyons’ defensive ability to allow pitchers to be comfortable going to their entire arsenal.
“I think it helps to have (Lyons) back there because you know you can throw any of your pitches for strikes and feel like if I bury a curveball here, PL’s going to do a good job blocking it,” Carlson said. “That gives him a lot of confidence to throw whatever pitches he needs to.”
Freshman Jorey Myren had three RBIs from the Rockets’ No. 8 spot in the lineup. In the second inning, his single to center with two outs scored Lance Ingold to give Rochester a 1-0 lead. He came around to score as No. 9 hitter Mason Wheeler doubled down the right-field line.
In the fifth, his two-out single scored junior Parker Gillespie and Ingold for a 6-1 lead. Gillespie’s single with one out played Tyson Binion and Jett Myren for a 4-1 lead.
Rochester improved to 20-15 as Mahomet-Seymour finished the season 31-6.
Carlson said his Rockets, seeded No. 3 in their sub-sectional side, will once again be an underdog no matter if they face No. 1 Chatham Glenwood or No. 2 Champaign Central on Saturday. But after taking out the other No. 1 in the sectional complex, Mahomet-Seymour, or the other No. 2 — Springfield High in the regional title game — Swaney said the struggles the team experienced all season has helped the Rockets now.
“I think from the very start — even from February — people were counting us out even in the conference,” Swaney said. “It’s really just about getting hot and we got hot at the right time. It was a rocky regular season — I think we can all admit to that — but the last couple of weeks in the postseason is really all that matters."
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Rochester pitcher Jack Swaney saved his best for the right moments in Rockets' win
