The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
The LaHarpe-Northwestern varsity baseball team played host to a Class A Regional Tournament this past week. Two strong team performances later, the Thunder walked away as regional champs for the first time in 5 years. On Tuesday, May 14, L-N battled the Carthage Blueboys. Behind the pitching of senior lefty Jason Siegworth and strong offensive support, the Thunder posted a 12-2 victory. Siegworth allowed only 3 hits and struck out 13 in 4 2/3 innings of work. Jason Myers recorded the last 4 outs in order to preserve the win. Offensively, the Thunder were led by Jensen Jones and Kyle Duffie with 3 hits apiece. Lane Metcalf and Jesse Ferguson each had 2 hits, while Jason Apt, Siegworth and Myers all added one hit. Jones tallied 3 RBI's. Myers, Duffie and Chase DeCounter each had 2 RBI's. Apt and Metcalf also had one RBI each.
On Saturday, May 18, the Thunder took on the Colchester Indians for the regional title. Timely hitting and the left arm of Jason Siegworth proved to be too much for the Indians, as L-N posted a 5-0 victory to capture their first regional championship since 1997. Siegworth threw a complete game 5-hitter, striking out 13 in the shutout. The Thunder gave Siegworth all the support he would need in the 3rd inning. Jensen Jones walked to lead off the inning. After stealing second base, he crossed home plate on an RBI single by Jason Myers. Myers then scored after the Indian shortstop bobbled a ground ball off the bat of Kyle Duffie. In the 4th inning the Thunder pushed across another run. Jason Apt reached on an error, stole second base and scored on a Chase DeCounter single. The Thunder pushed across the final two runs of the game in the 5th inning. Duffie singled, stole second base and scored on a Lane Metcalf double. Courtesy runner Michael Palmer later scored the game's final run on a fielder's choice off the bat of A. J. Huston.
The Thunder now advance to the Monmouth Sectional. Their opening contest of the Sectional will be Thursday, May 23, at Monmouth College's Glasgow Field. LaHarpe-Northwestern enters the Sectional with a record of 27-3.