East Peoria has punched its ticket to the Class 3A baseball state finals.
The Raiders rolled to an 8-1 win over Geneva at the Class 3A Geneseo Supersectional on Monday, June 8. East Peoria (27-13) now heads to Slammers Stadium in Joliet for the state semifinals, facing Chicago St. Rita (28-12) at 10 a.m. Friday, Jun 12.
This marks East Peoria’s first state finals trip since a 1974 single-class state runner-up finish.
“In all of those years, we had those expectations,” East Peoria coach Matt Plummer told the Journal Star in April, “and I felt like they kind of suffocated us. … That expectation in the past has created a fear of not meeting (it). I think they deserve better than that. We’ll accept our fate and we’ll just live in the moment and enjoy every day.”
Two runs in the first inning were the only runs East Peoria needed, sending eight players to the plate. Auggie Lohnes’ bases-loaded single to right scored Jackson Ahrens and Breyon Maroney after they led off the game with back-to-back hits.
After Geneva got a run back, EP added three more runs in the third. Eli Martin tripled to start the frame, scoring on a wild pitch. The Raiders tacked on a pair thanks to Roman Moody’s RBI triple and Maroney’s run-scoring infield single.
Three combined runs by East Peoria in the fifth and sixth innings set the final score.
Dalton Oakman tossed a four-hitter with two strikeouts and one walk on 74 pitches. The senior southpaw relied on his defense, turning double plays in the first, second and third innings. He retired 10 in a row before Martin came in the seventh to get the final two outs.
Ahrens (3-for-5), Maroney (3-for-5), Lohnes (2-for-4) and Moody (2-for-2) combined for 10 of EP’s 12 hits. Illinois State signee RJ Duncheon was walked three times.
Geneva (32-8) got its lone run off an RBI single from Alex Abraham.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: East Peoria cruises to IHSA baseball state finals for the first time since 1974
Reporting by Adam Duvall, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Adam Duvall, Peoria Journal Star | USA TODAY Network
