Trojans top Sages in Class 2A sectional final
May 25—DECATUR — A historic season for Monticello's baseball team drew to a close on Saturday afternoon at Millikin University's Workman Family Field.
Facing Maroa-Forsyth with a Class 2A sectional championship on the line, the Sages were unable to muster a response to Trojans' pitcher Kaiden Maurer in a 5-0 setback.
"They were a buzzsaw. We knew they were a buzzsaw," Monticello coach Chris Jones said. "Really, truly, the difference was just Maurer. He was dealing, and we couldn't get anything really going."
Monticello's offense carried a pair of hits into the sixth inning, when Ike Young and Eli Craft led off with singles to inspire hope.
But Maurer — who finished with 10 strikeouts in throwing a complete-game shutout — worked out of the jam and kept the Sages off the board.
"If anyone was going to do it, it was going to be him," Maroa-Forsyth coach Sean Martin said. "That's what that kid is made of."
Maroa-Forsyth's offense backed up Maurer's effort with a three-run outburst in the top of the second inning that saw Zayn Giles, Andy Munjoy and Connor Kelly cross home plate.
Koyie Williams was Monticello's pitcher and was pulled after placing Giles and Munjoy on base to start the third inning. Before Williams recorded the final out of the second inning, he fell behind Brandenburg 2-0 and Luke Teschke came over from second base for a quick meeting.
"I told him that he's one of our aces," Teschke said. "We have all the confidence in him and he should believe in himself."
Teschke — along with Dylan Brown, Jacob Long and Raiden Colbert — played his final game in a Monticello uniform on Saturday. Jones spent time with each of them in the moments after the game, while the rest of the Sages' roster gave them an ovation on their way back to the dugout.
"With having only four seniors, there's not a huge gap to fill on the field," Brown said. "But there is a big gap to fill at practices and just with overall team chemistry. It's on these young guys to keep working hard and pick up where we left off."
Tate Bradenburg hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Ian Reid in the fourth inning, an act he followed by doubling in Mitch Williams in the sixth to pad Maroa-Forsyth's lead.
"If you get one or two early when you know you have one of your stars on the mound, everyone relaxes," Martin said.
The Sages (31-5) had never won more than 30 games in a season prior to the 2024 campaign, which started with 22 consecutive wins.
A 26-win season in 2014 was the Sages' previous high mark.
"It was fun the whole year because we always knew we were going to put up a fight," Colbert said. "By getting all those wins in a row, we knew we were something special."
Much of Monticello's roster will remain intact in 2025 thanks to a small, if influential, senior class.
"I'm just really proud of (this team)," Jones said. "It was a joy to be with them every day at the ballpark. They're just that kind of a group of young men."
