Darren Kinnard
Section618.com

It was a tough weekend for our three area teams in Peoria at the state baseball and softball tournaments, and a very frustrating one for me as well.

Heading into last week, as I looked at the matchups for the 1A and 2A baseball and softball supersectionals, the four teams from our immediate area (Goreville and Nashville in baseball along with Goreville and Johnston City in softball) would likely be considered underdogs. Add to that, Carbondale softball and Mt. Vernon baseball faced super-competitive 3A sectionals.

As I thought about it, I was kinda bummed that if no area teams made it out of the supers, it would be two straight years of not having teams at state to cover. And if things didn’t go well for Carbondale or Mt. Vernon, my coverage season could be over Wednesday.

Then Monday happened.

Goreville baseball upset Effingham St. Anthony, winning the SIU 1A Supersectional 6-5. Goreville softball knocked off mighty Casey-Westfield 5-1 to win the Johnston City 1A Supersectional. A few hours later, on the very same field, the host Lady Indians shut down a powerful Freeburg squad 2-0 to win the Johnston City 2A Supersectional.

All three teams were headed to Peoria.

A couple of days later, Mt. Vernon knocked off Mascoutah 4-2 to advance to the Centralia 3A Sectional championship game.

Now we had state baseball and softball semifinal games on Friday with state trophy games, along with a baseball sectional championship, set for Saturday.

But my coverage season did indeed end Wednesday.

I started feeling awful Wednesday night into Thursday. It turns out my 3+ year streak of being Covid-free had ended. I was really bummed not to be making the trip to Peoria. You see covering state tournaments never gets old for me. While I love covering state tourneys and meets for all sports, for some reason, state baseball and softball have always hit a little differently. Perhaps it’s the time of year–these are the final acts of the high school sports year. Whatever the reason, it stunk that I was stuck in bed sick and not with a camera on my shoulder in the Peoria sunshine.

Fortunately, I felt a little better Friday and kept tabs on the area teams. It was a tough day as Goreville (x2) and Johnston City all lost, ending their dreams of state championships. The Blackcats fell to eventual state champion Waterloo Gibault 7-6, leaving the bases loaded to end the game. The Lady Blackcats had an early lead, but lost to St. Bede 4-1, and the Lady Indians’ late rally came up short in a 7-3 loss to Beecher.

Saturday, as I continued to improve, it was another tough day for the area teams, as all three lost their third place games at state. Mt. Vernon also fell in the Centralia Sectional championship game.

We all had rough weekends.

As I continue to feel better, I realize how blessed and fortunate I am that this was a mild case, and that I have not had the experience so many others have had when dealing with this. Big picture, this weekend was merely an inconvenience for me.

What about the teams?

Many of my colleagues don’t like the third place games at state tournaments. We’ve argued frequently about the value of said games. I believe that if you earn a trip to state, it should not be one and done, just so others may have some greater convenience.

Winners of the third place games get to end their season on a positive note, but what about the losers of third place games? What does it mean to make it to state, only to lose twice?

It means those teams took home the trophy all supersectional winners are guaranteed of getting. It means that things didn’t go their way over the course of about 26 hours as they tried to play their way to a better trophy. Nothing more. It certainly doesn’t take anything away from the season of work it took to get there. There are hundreds of teams and thousands of players who would change places in a heartbeat.

The memories made by the players and coaches representing their schools and communities on the state’s biggest stage will not soon be forgotten, regardless how the games finished. For Goreville, it was the sixth trip each to state for the baseball and softball teams, but first for the seniors on either of this year’s teams. For Johnston City, this marked the first time the team has been able to play in its own supersectional since it started hosting, and first trip to state since 2010.

So congratulations Blackcats, Lady Blackcats, and Lady Indians for your great seasons!

I, like so many teams and players around the state, can attest it’s no fun not being there.