Visions of success: Litchfield's historic ride still going after upset win over Gillespie
GILLESPIE, Ill. — A record-setting season for the Litchfield baseball team isn’t over yet.
After setting the program record with its 25th win on Thursday with an eight-run victory over No. 6 Pana in the Class 2A Gillespie Regional semifinal, No. 3 Litchfield got a rematch with another South Central Conference foe, second-seeded Gillespie, and this time was for the regional championship.
On April 5, Gillespie shut out the Purple Panthers in an SCC game in Litchfield. Litchfield sophomore pitcher Ethan Saathoff was tagged for five runs — one unearned — in the loss.
Flash forward to Saturday in Gillespie. Once again, it was Saathoff against Gillespie’s Bryce Buhs, who had no-hit Litchfield in his previous two outings.
Saathoff and Litchfield avenged the Miners with a 6-0 win to claim the program’s first regional title since 2012. Saathoff allowed just one hit in a complete-game shutout. He struck out four and walked three.
Litchfield’s offense got nine hits and all six earned runs off Buhs in just 3 2/3 innings. Buhs finished his career with six strikeouts against one walk.
“When we lost that one (on April 5), we tracked every single pitch Buhs threw,” Litchfield’s second-year coach Rocky Giannuzzi said. “I had a feeling there was a chance we’d see them in regionals. It sucks to lose, but it’s also kind of good at the same time because I was praying they’d throw (Buhs) at us again.
“We had a good game plan coming in: the last couple of days, I put the pitching machine up to 75 (mph) and I put it like 45 feet so (the ball) was probably coming in at like 95 (mph). Today, the boys were saying (Buhs’ pitches) looked pretty slow (in comparison).”
Saathoff was also 3-for-3 at the plate. But it was Mount Olive sophomore Matt Bywater who jump-started the Purple Panthers’ offense.
Bywater singled to lead off the game before senior Drake Gasperson hit a one-out single to deep center field, allowing Bywater to score
It was just the way Giannuzzi envisioned.
“It was weird: we came in three hours before the game to get some swings in and I told them, “All right, I’ve got a vision,’” Giannuzzi told his team. “Bywater starts off with a single, mentally you guys break that no-hitter you’ve had (against Buhs for 14-straight innings) and from there, we all get rolling.
“And that’s exactly how it happened.”
In the top of the fourth, Bywater hit a one-out single to center before senior Tate Dobrinich doubled to center, scoring Bywater and giving Litchfield a 2-0 lead. Gasperson singled and Saathoff walked to load the bases ahead of Max Leitschuh bunted home Dobrinich to make it 3-0. Carson Saathoff, a senior, hit a sacrifice fly to plate Gasperson. Titan Hires added a two-run single to center to give the Purple Panthers a commanding 6-0 lead.
Since Litchfield finished second in the Class A 1985 state tournament, the Panthers have won just five regional titles. Giannuzzi has been a part of three of them: twice as a player in 2010 and 2012 and now as a coach. Litchfield also won regional championships in 2000 and 2006.
He said the team celebrated the regional win more than setting the school record for wins.
“I told them, 25 wins is great but we don’t have anything to show for it,” Giannuzzi said. “I’m so happy we won this because now we get (2024 on the school’s baseball banner).”
Litchfield will face No. 1 Pleasant Plains in the Plains Sectional semifinals on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Hopefully, Giannuzzi has a chance to sleep before the next game. Last week, his wife Kelsey gave birth to their first baby, Mia Jane, five weeks early. The family was released home on Thursday and Giannuzzi made it just in time for the regional semifinal game against Pana.
“My wife knew I had a big one (game), I think I slept four straight hours (Saturday morning) while she took care of the baby. That’s the most sleep I’ve had (since going to the hospital on Tuesday),” Giannuzzi said.
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: IHSA baseball: Litchfield adds regional title to banner season
