TILTON — Winning the Fourth Division Tournament has become an annual occurrence for the Post 210 Speakers.
Their bid for an seventh straight title and their seventh consecutive appearance in the Illinois State Tournament got off to a spectacular start on Friday night.
“This part of the process for us,’’ Post 210 manager Brent Hart said. “We know that we are the best team in the Division, but we still have to go out there and prove it.
“Our goal is to win a state title and you can’t do that until you win the Division title.’’
Gavin Parkerson and Payton Young combined to toss a five-inning no-hitter as the Post 210 Speakers defeated Post 287 from Rantoul 10-0 at Gruber Park in Tilton.
Parkerson struck out 10 of the 15 batters he faced in four innings, as he walked one and hit two batters.
Young had two walks and two strikeouts in his one inning of work for the Speakers, who improve to 30-5 with the victory.
“We pretty much scripted it this way,’’ Hart said. “Gavin did a great job of setting the tone for us. We wanted to limit his pitches so that he is able to come back and start the first game at state for us.
“He went out and did his job over four innings and then Payton came in to get those final three outs.’’
Post 210 got all the offense it would need in the second inning as designated hitter Braxton Waller smashed a 2-run homer to right.
The Speakers would extend their lead to 5-0 with a 3-run third inning. Drew Pinkston, who went 2-for-3, had a 2-run double in the frame and Tuff Elson, who was 3-for-3, had an RBI double to right.
While that was more than enough offense for the Post 210 pitching staff, the Speakers added 4 more runs in the fourth inning.
Dalton Hobick, who went 3-for-4, had a 2-run homer to left in the frame, followed by an run-scoring hit from Pinkston and a sacrifice fly by Blake Norton.
Post 210, which finished with 13 hits, sealed the mercy rule victory on an RBI single to center from Hobick in the fifth inning.
“Hobick hit the ball really well tonight,’’ Hart said. “When we get this kind of run production, we have the potential to be one of the better teams in the state.’’
Post 210 will play Shelby County Shelbyville at 11 a.m. today in the winner’s bracket semifinals. The winner automatically advances to Sunday’s championship gamew.
Rantoul will face Shelby County Stewardson-Strasburg at 1:15 p.m. in an elimination game. All of the remaining games will be at Gruber Park in Tilton.
Junior Speakers 5 Junior Thunder 4
WHEATON — Cruz Dubois delivered a one-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh as the Post 210 Junior Speakers advanced in the Illinois State Tournament with a win over Wheaton Junior Thunder at Wheaton College.
Dubois came off the bench to produce the game-winning hit for Post 210 as Cian Moore scored from third with the game-winning run.
“At the time the bases were loaded and we just needed a simple hit to get the winning run across the plate,’’ said Junior Speakers manager Jonathan Heck. “Cruz is one of the quietest kids on the team, but he can hit baseballs.
“We’ve been used him sparingly because of a nagging leg injury, but this was the perfect situation for him.’’
With the victory, the Post 210 Junior Speakers advance into the winner’s bracket semifinals against Jerseyville today. The winner automatically advances into the championship game.
The Junior Speakers (17-6) built a 4-0 lead in the first inning highlighted by a 2-run triple by Moore. Leadoff hitter Josiah Watson got things started with a triple and he scored the game’s first run on a passed ball.
“Josiah got things going for us and we really jumped on their pitcher in that first inning,’’ Heck said. “After that he really settled down and pitched a good game. But in that first inning when he left something over the plate, our guys were on top of it.’’
Cade Schaumburg went the first 5.1 innings for the Junior Speakers, allowing four runs only three earned. Jacob Onnen got the final five outs to secure the victory for Post 210.